36
BloombergBusinessweek July 29, 2019L
astfall,ElizabethWarrengotanemailfrom
KlausSchwab,founderoftheWorldEconomic
Forum,invitinghertospeakatthegroup’sannual
meetinginDavosinlateJanuary.Hewastaken
withWarren’ssweepingmoralcritiqueofwinner-
take-allcapitalismandlookingtojolttheheads
ofstateandglobalfinancialtitansathisglitteringconference
intheSwissAlps.WouldshecometoDavosandaddressthem?
TheMassachusettssenator,whowasthenpreparingtorun
forpresident,understoodimmediatelytheattentionsucha
showdownwouldbringandthoughtsheneededanideabig
enoughforthemoment.A fewweekslater,shesettledonone:
anannual“wealthtax”of2%onfortunesover$50million,
slightlyhigheronbillionaires.WorkingwithEmmanuelSaez
andGabrielZucman,theeminentUniversityofCaliforniaat
Berkeleyeconomists,Warren’sstaffcalculatedthathertax
wouldhittherichest75,000peopleintheU.S.whileraising
$2.75trillionina 10-yearperiod.
It wasa characteristicallybig,boldideathatwouldrevolu-
tionizehowgovernmenttaxestherich,shiftingthebasisfrom
incometothemuchbroadercategoryofwealth.These“ultra-
millionaires,”asshecallsthem,wouldnolongerpayonlyon
whattheyearn,whichcleveraccountantscanminimize,but
ontheentiretyofwhattheyhave.Thismassiveinfusionof
revenuewouldfundeventhemostzealouspackageofliberal
programswithbillionstospare.
Buttheproposal’sprincipalattraction,inthemoment,
wouldbethesheerspectacleofWarren’sunveilingit ata gath-
eringofDavosplutocrats—oneimagineshorrifiedgaspsanda
Champagnefluteshatteringonthefloor.Ata timewhenU.S.
politicsandelectoralfundraisingareincreasinglydrivenby
viralmediamoments,herewasoneguaranteedtomakeevery-
onesitupandnotice.Schwabthoughtso,too.
“HewasgoingtogiveusalloftheCEOsina room,”Warren
toldmerecently,witha twinkle,overhomemademango
lemonadeatherWashingtoncondominium.Schwabeven
droppedbyherSenateofficetolobbyherpersonally.
Butaftera longperiodofconsideration,shedecidednot
togo.HerpresidentialcampaignwassettolaunchonNew
Year’sEvewitha swingthroughruralIowa,andherstafffret-
tedabouttheopticsofleavingthetrailtogojoina gathering
ofbankers,eventochallengethem.Asit turnedout,though,
Schwab’sconferencestillfocusedoncapitalistinequityand
stillfeatureda dramaticconfrontationovertaxingthewealthy
thatinstantlywentviral.It justdidn’tinvolveWarren.Instead,
RutgerBregman,a youngDutchhistorian,scoldedtheDavos
crowdforstudiouslyignoringtheonemeasureguaranteedto
mitigatewealthinequality—theverythingWarrenhadiden-
tified.“Taxes,taxes,taxes,”Bregmandeclared.“Alltherest
is bullshit.”Withinhours,hewashailedas“thefolkheroof
Davos,”anda clipofhisremarksdrewmillionsofviews.
Themissedopportunityseemedtosymbolizea candidacy
thatlookeddestinedtofail.Inherfirstweeksonthecam-
paigntrail,Warrendidn’tgeneratenearlytheexcitement or
fundraising other candidates did. The activist progressiveswho once hung on her every word appeared to be shopping
for someone else. And she was dogged by her decision to
take a DNA test to determine her American Indian ancestry,
which offended potential supporters and drew a fresh wave
of “Pocahontas” taunts from President Trump. Joe Biden and
Bernie Sanders led the polls and the news coverage, while
Warren languished in single digits. “I hit her too hard, too
early,” Trump crowed to Fox News in March. “Now it looks
like she’s finished.”
He spoke too soon. Since then, Warren has not only put
herself into the top tier of Democratic hopefuls but forced the
others to follow her lead. Although she missed her star turn
atDavos,Warrenmadethewealthtaxthecenterpieceofher
campaign.It’spartofa fusilladeofproposalsthataremore
aggressive,far-reaching—andexpensive—than any previous
Democratic front-runner would have dared venture: break up
big tech companies like Google and Facebook; abolish private
healthinsuranceandgiveeveryoneMedicare;starta $2tril-
lionindustrialpolicybuilton“economicpatriotism”toboost
exports;crackdownonprivateequity’s“WallStreetlooting”;
overhaul corporate governance by putting workers on boards;
eliminate the filibuster; cancel student loan debt; and establish
free public college and universal child care. Together, Warren’s
platform amounts to a giant leap in Democratic ambition—
some would say radicalism—that dwarfs the steady but safe
achievements of the Clinton and Obama eras.If Warren is a revolutionary, she sure doesn’t look the part.
When I arrived at her sleek, sunny Washington condo on a
scorching July afternoon, she was wearing a striped Vineyard
Vines button-down and tinkering with her lemonade recipe.
“How ya doin’?” she greeted me. Her husband, Bruce Mann,
a Harvard Law School professor, was tapping on a laptop and
excused himself so we could get down to business.
When the conversation turned to politics and her cam-
paign, Warren snapped into a whole different gear: evange-
list for a Democratic revolution. Her wealth tax and all that’s
followed is her attempt to apply shock paddles to a party that
she believes has lost its way. “You could wake somebody up
in the middle of the night and ask them what a Republican
stands for, and you’d get pretty consistent answers,” Warren
said. “Ask what Democrats stand for, and it’s always a more
difficult explanation. That makes it harder to pull people into
the fight, because they’re less sure it’s their fight.”
One way to understand her urgency is as the result of a radi-
calizing moment: Trump’s victory. Four years ago there was talk
of a Warren presidential campaign, but she decided not to run,
wagering that the best shot to enact her agenda was by working
through a powerful Democrat she believed could win—Hillary
Clinton. People close to her say Trump’s surprise election left
her shocked and filled with regret. “If you went back to 2014
and told Elizabeth that Donald Trump would be elected presi-
dent as a right-wing populist,” a close adviser told me, “there’s
no question she would have run for president.”
It’s one of very few topics that leaves Warren short of