47

Minimumamount

Zucmancalculated

thewealthy

stashinoffshore

accounts

A decadel n,32,is anassistantprofessoratthe

UniversityofCaliforniaatBerkeleyandtheworld’sforemost

expertonwherethewealthyhidetheirmoney.Hisdoctoral

thesis,advisedbyPiketty,exposedtrillionsofdollars’worth

oftaxevasionbytheglobalrich.Forhismostinfluential

work,heteamedupwithhisBerkeleycolleagueEmmanuel

Saez,a fellowFrenchmanandPikettycollaborator.Their 2016

paper,“WealthInequalityintheUnitedStatesSince1913,”

distilleda centuryofdatatoansweroneofmoderncapital-

ism’smurkiestmysteries:Howricharetherichintheworld’s

wealthiestnation?Theanswer—farricherthanpreviously

imagined—thrustthepairdeepintotheAmericandebateover

inequality.TheirdatabecametheheartofVermontSenator

BernieSanders’sstumpspeech,recitedtotheoutrageofhis

supportersduringthe 2016 Democraticpresidentialprimary.

ZucmanandSaez’slatestestimatesshowthatthetop0.1%

oftaxpayers—about170,000familiesina countryof 330 mil-

lionpeople—control20%ofAmericanwealth,thehighest

sharesince1929.Thetop1%control39%ofU.S.wealth,and

thebottom90%haveonly26%.ThebottomhalfofAmericans

combinedhavea negativenetworth.Theshiftinwealthcon-

centrationovertimechartsasa U,droppingrapidlythrough

theGreatDepressionandWorldWarII,stayinglowthrough

the1960sand’70s,andsurgingafterthe’80sasmiddle-class

wealthrolledintheoppositedirection.Zucmanhasalso

foundthatmultinationalcorporationsmove40%oftheirfor-

eignprofits,about$600billiona year,outofthecountries

wheretheirmoneywasmadeandintolower-taxjurisdictions.

Likemanyeconomists,ZucmanandSaezhaveembraced

thepoliticalimplicationsoftheirresearch.Unlikemany,they

championpolicyrecommendationsthatareboldandaggres-

sive.BeforeMassachusettsSenatorElizabethWarrenstarted

her 2020 presidentialcampaignbyproposinga wealthtax,

sheconsultedthepair,whoestimatedthathertaxwould

bringin$2.8trillionoverthenextdecade.Sheconferred

withthemagainbeforefloatinga corporatetaxonprofits

above$100million,whichtheycalculatedwouldraisemore

than$1trillion over 10 years. Sanders came looking for

May 27, 2019

Zucman

$ 7. 6