Hillary Clinton to Call For the Raising of Some Capital Gains Taxes

Hillary Clinton will on Friday propose raising some short-term capital gains tax rates, a campaign aide has said.

The call is one of a series of proposals intended to spur long-term economic investment, said the aide.

The Democratic frontrunner will announce the tax plan during a speech at New York University, the aide added, where Clinton is expected to discuss the pitfalls of business short-termism and the “tyranny of today’s earnings report.”

Business leaders “say everything’s focused on the next earnings report or the short-term share price,” Clinton said in a speech last week. “The result is too little attention on the sources of long-term growth: research and development, physical capital, and talent.”

The campaign has so far provided few details about Clinton’s capital gains tax plan, but it appears she would significantly raise capital gains tax rates on wealthy investors holding short-to-medium-term investments.

Investments taxed at 24%—that’s the rate currently paid by top earners on investments held for more than one year—would be taxed at a higher rate, an aide said Thursday. More details about the plan will be laid out on Friday.

The goal, the campaign says, is to encourage stock traders to hold their investments for longer periods of time, and allow companies to hold more capital for long-term investments in hiring and facilities.

Clinton will call for a review of securities rules to address excessive shareholder activism, as well as greater stock buyback disclosure and a new scrutiny of executive compensation.

She will also point to figures to show that expenditures on dividends and stock buybacks doubled among the biggest American companies over the last decade, while investment in new plants and equipment dropped.

In laying out her economic vision for the country last week, Clinton said she is focused on pursuing fairer, long-term growth that focuses on growing middle-class incomes.