No, the point of estate tax is to prevent generational inheritance, not to re-coupe failed cap gains.<p>The purpose is to prevent a class of non-working super rich that live for generations off of the estate.<p>So you can be rich and have lots of fancy toys and swim in pools of money while you&#x27;re alive, but once you die that&#x27;s it. Your children benefit by starting with a (very large) head start relative to their peers, but they shouldn&#x27;t necessarily be set-for-life. It&#x27;s economically bad to have a vast pile of money sitting in one place for a long time, you want to get that back into circulation. And success should be earned, not granted at birth.<p>The only alternative would be something like actively taxing net worths that exceed some amount, which is less palpable.