Foreword by Bill Gates Sr.

Brian Miller and Mike Lapham have very effectively debunked the pervasive self-made myth that lies at the core of our public policy debates today. When pundits or candidates describe progressive taxes as “punishing success,” the implication is that success is achieved by the entrepreneur alone, with little or no help from others. I don’t subscribe to that view.

Miller and Lapham provide an important new narrative—one that accounts for the immense role that government plays in business success. Anyone interested in public policy, and particularly tax policy—including our politicians in Washington, DC, and statehouses across the country—should read this book and reflect on its message.

The reader will be edified by the book’s thorough examination of the ways that government investment supports business success. To choose just one example, publicly funded research from government agencies like the National Institutes of Health has produced economically and medically valuable products that financially benefit both the research institution itself and the entrepreneurs who develop those products. You may agree with me that this public investment also delivers an enormous benefit for all of us.

As an attorney for almost 50 years, I worked closely with entrepreneurs and saw how their business enterprises are boosted by government efforts to create a stable and positive business environment. I also had a front-row seat for the creation and the growth of my son’s business (Microsoft), and I observed the many ways our country’s publicly supported infrastructure, tax laws, government-funded research, education, patent protection, and so forth helped the company grow. As I’ve said numerous times, I have no doubt that growing the company in the fertile soil of the United States accounts for a significant portion of the value of that enterprise; and if you had plunked Bill down in some developing country, even with all of his intelligence, creativity, and hard work, the company would probably have gone nowhere. Being born in this country is the ingredient that most reliably determines whether a person has the opportunity to become wealthy.

The Self-Made Myth recapitulates and reinforces the government’s role in supporting business and makes the case for progressive taxation and a robust public sector. With a deeper understanding of the roots of individual and business success, one can no longer see progressive taxes as “punishing success” but rather as giving back to support the nation that made one’s wealth possible and laying the foundation for the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Some readers may be aware that I have spent a good bit of my time since 2001 advocating for a strong estate tax. I also co-chaired the effort to enact the first-ever income tax in Washington State in 2009. It’s critical that we rethink our tax structure in this country, and Miller and Lapham take an important step in that direction by upending the self-made myth and the anti-government narrative that flows from it.

A quick glance at the past 80 years shows that we have had periods of tremendous economic growth in this country when top marginal tax rates were high, putting a lie to the notion that raising taxes on upper-income taxpayers will stunt growth.

At a time when our country is cutting and canceling all sorts of the most basic relief for our disadvantaged citizens, there is a need for our wealthy class to pay income tax in a sum commensurate with the major contribution our society has provided for them. The work of the authors here has made so very clear the need in this difficult era to provide a level of public support that invests in the future of our country.

It is critical to change the conversation about how wealth is created, who creates it, and the role of government, and this book does that effectively and importantly. And it couldn’t be timelier. I urge you to read this book and get engaged in the debate about progressive taxes.

Bill Gates Sr. worked for many years as a successful attorney in Seattle, Washington, and is active in philanthropy. He has been an active leader in both the national and Washington State debates around progressive tax policies.