The rich by any other name…

We call them the rich. They call themselves High Net Worth Individuals.

So who are these NNWI’s?

To qualify, you need liquid assets of at least $1 million. That doesn’t include property or consumable goods. It only includes cash assets, which may be held in bank account, or in shareholdings or bonds.

In Britain, HNWI’s account for around 1 per cent of the total population. Across Europe, their combined cash wealth amounted to $10 trillion. Worldwide, HNWI’s own a total of $50 trillion worth of cash assets – enough to Make Poverty History 1000 times over.

And that’s not all. There is an elite within the elite, who call themselves Ultra High Net Worth Individuals. These are people who own at least $30 trillion. The crème de la crème of global capitalism.

According to research, a single, one-off ten per cent tax on Europe’s HNWI’s would raise $1 trillion dollars to create or £670 billion to create and lift Europe out of recession.

But can it be done? Won’t they just move their money elsewhere?

It can be done, easily and instantly. In October 2008, the Icelandic Financial Services Authority froze all accounts above a certain cash threshold in the country’s failing banks.

And in 2001, within days of the attack on the Twin Towers, law enforcement froze the bank accounts of individuals and organiuisations across the world remotely suspected of being involved in terrorism.

To those politicians who say we can’t impose a wealth tax, we say:
Don’t say you can’t. Say you won’t.