Capital levy

[citation needed] The latter view was popular in the World Wars; in the 2010s, it has also gained some acceptance as more heavily indebted nations struggle to raise revenues.

[2][3] Athens also had a wealth tax called eisphora (see symmoria), and for this purpose the city required each rich person give an estimate of his fortune (τίμημα).

The Economist, a British publication, opposed capital levies, but supported "direct taxation heavy enough to amount to rationing of citizens' incomes"; similarly, the American economist Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague, in the Economic Journal, argued that "conscription of men should logically and equitably be accompanied by something in the nature of conscription of current income above that which is absolutely necessary".

[8][9] In October 2013, the International Monetary Fund released a report[10] stating, "The sharp deterioration of the public finances in many countries has revived interest in a 'capital levy' – a one-off tax on private wealth – as an exceptional measure to restore debt sustainability.

"[11][10] The next year the Bundesbank proposed that Eurozone countries should attempt a one-off levy of bank deposits to avoid bankruptcy.

[12][13] A February 2014 report by Reuters showed the idea had gained traction in the European Commission, which will ask its insurance watchdog later that year for advice on a possible draft law "to mobilize more personal pension savings for long-term financing".