Closing this loophole ought to be popular, since it benefits only the rich (see chart; most family homes, the main middle-class assets, are not subject to capital-gains tax).
In a preview of the political risk that the government would face if the market continued to drop, an essay circulated on Chinese sites, credited to an unnamed investor, who lamented that the falling prices had "thoroughly damaged middle-class assets from a decade of striving".
The cost varies, but David G. Dietze, president of Point View Financial Services, a fee-only money manager based in Summit, N.J., said a typical fee is one-quarter of 1percentt, or $2,500, for a $1 million winner with no more than the usual other middle-class assets.
A volatile stock market and a major housing bust pummeled middle-class assets, decreasing their net worth by almost 30percentt and "erasing two decades of growth," according to the report.
The major assets of the middle-class asset are their homes, whose values continue to drop.
And it gave the new middle class an asset base that would soar in value until, that is, the deflation of China's property bubble last year and the onset of the current crisis.Restless citizens, dangerous studentsNow the party faces broader discontent.
When it comes to membership in the middle class, earnings and assets are just part of the definition.
It is a new law on property rights which is mainly intended to reassure the country's fast growing middle class that their assets are secure.
It was certainly far from being a revolution; it looked more like a collective revulsion at the wealthiest Americans, as the middle class watches its assets dwindle along with its fantasy of ever joining the ranks of the 1percentt.
In addition, this shift leads to a more equitable growth model, and has the potential to better allocate resources, and income generation and redistribution, helping a rising middle class to accumulate assets.
Mr. Davison divided the firm's clients into three groups: those with assets of more than $2 million, whom he termed first class; those with assets of $300,000 to $2 million, the middle class; and those with assets of less than $300,000, the "poor".
