May 3, 2010 8:44AM # The Capital Gains Tax Rate Should Be Zero By [Daniel J. Mitchell](https://www.cato.org/people/daniel-mitchell) --- SHARE Every economic theory — even socialism and Marxism — agrees that saving and investment (a.k.a., capital formation) are a key to long-run growth and higher living standards. Yet the tax code penalizes with double taxation those who are willing to forgo current consumption to finance future prosperity. This new video, narrated by yours truly, explains why the capital gains tax should be abolished. Unfortunately, Obama wants to go in the wrong direction. He wants to boost the official capital gains tax rate from 15 percent to 20 percent — and that is after imposing a back-door 3.8 percentage point increase in the tax rate as part of his government-run healthcare scheme. The video concludes with six reasons why the tax should be abolished, including its negative impact on both jobs and competitiveness. ##### Related Tags [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).