“The more you allow wealth to accumulate unequally, the more unbalanced the economy becomes—and the harder it becomes to take it away. Economic power consists of the ability to resist redistribution. That’s why a policy focused on only growing the pie was also likely, on a systemic basis, to have prevented it from being cut in the first place.” (Wu, Age of Extraction)

Wu makes a good argument against relying too heavily on redistribution as a plan to combat extreme wealth inequality. His point is that it depends on the willingness—or enforcement—of the upper class to keep paying out. I am absolutely a proponent of wealth taxation; however, I appreciate what he is saying here about it not always being so easy or simple to get those with wealth to part with it. They are skilled at finding ways to keep it for themselves. Wu's suggestion seems to be to build a system that more evenly distributes wealth to begin with and using redistribution primarily for caring for those who most need it.