Should billionaires be taxed more?
Many people on the left think so.
I don't think that we should have billionaires because frankly, it is so much money in a moment of such inequality.
Gabriel Zucman is the intellectual mastermind behind the movement to tax the rich.
The French economist has spent his career arguing that the ultra-wealthy should pay more.
But do his ideas withstand scrutiny?
I'm Henry Curr, and this is Inside Economics.
Gabriel Zucman, thank you for joining me on Inside Economics.
You have a new book, We Need to Tax Billionaires.
I was struck, reading your book,
that compared to some of your other work, you're basically taking a shot at specific tax loopholes here.
It's quite technocratic.
It's not a broad-based blast at wealth inequality.
But I was wondering if we could start on the big picture with wealth inequality.
So in your campaigning on wealth taxation, generally, what is the problem you're trying to fix?
First, thanks a lot for having me.
Pleasure to be here.
The problem that the book tries to solve—I mean, it's a modest contribution to the debate—is a problem
that has come to light relatively recently, thanks to an international research effort
that has established the facts about how much tax the super rich truly pay.