In a new episode of their podcast Capitalisn’t, Luigi Zingales and Kate Waldock interview UC Berkeley professor Emmanuel Saez on tax policy, the wealth tax, and his work with fellow Berkeley economist Gabriel Zucman.

 

 

Emmanuel Saez. Photo by Cayce Clifford

 

UC Berkeley professor Emmanuel Saez is one of the most accomplished—and, thanks to his work on taxation with Gabriel Zucman which inspired both Elizabeth Warren’s and Bernie Sanders’s plans for a wealth tax—controversial economists around these days.

 

In this episode of their podcast Capitalisn’t, Luigi Zingales and Kate Waldock dig into tax policy, the wealth tax and why Saez’s work is so controversial. Listen to it here: 

 

 

The Stigler Recent recently hosted a debate between Saez and Chicago Booth professor Steven Kaplan, moderated by Zingales. Check it out: 

 

 

 

In an interview with ProMarket on inequality and taxation, Saez argues that: 

 

“Economists belong to the happy class of the winners of these modern times. We are very well paid. We are part of the intellectual elite. For us, the world as it is works pretty well, and I think it influences the way we think about the system.”

 

 

The ProMarket blog is dedicated to discussing how competition tends to be subverted by special interests. The posts represent the opinions of their writers, not necessarily those of the University of Chicago, the Booth School of Business, or its faculty. For more information, please visit ProMarket Blog Policy.