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In remarks this morning to the Clinton Global Initiative, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton proposed a radical idea: a global tax on elites around the world.

"One of the issues that I have been preaching about around the world is collecting taxes in an equitable manner, especially from the elites in every country," Clinton said to laughter from the audience. "You know I’m out of American politics, but – (applause) – it is a fact that around the world, the elites of every country are making money."

Clinton continued her rift on the rich. "There are rich people everywhere. And yet they do not contribute to the growth of their own countries."

The secretary of state suggested that the rich around the world do not give back to their communities. "They don’t invest in public schools, in public hospitals, in other kinds of development internally," said Clinton.

She continued, saying that it is up to foreign leaders to make the change. "And so it means for leaders telling powerful people things they don’t want to hear," Clinton said.

"It means being transparent about budgets and revenues and bringing corruption to light. And when that happens, we shouldn’t punish countries for uncovering corruption. We should reward them for doing so. And it means putting in place regulations designed to attract and protect investment."

Clinton's boss, Barack Obama, has made raising taxes on the rich--at least, raising taxes on wealthy Americans--a centerpiece of his reelection campaign.