Latest news with #Zucman
Forbes
04-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Watch Opportunity Skyrocket As Wealth Concentrates With The 0.00001%
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 04: Jeff Bezos, founder and executive chairman of Amazon and owner of ... More the Washington Post, takes the stage during the New York Times annual DealBook summit at Jazz at Lincoln Center on December 04, 2024 in New York City. The NYT summit with Ross Sorkin returns with interviews on the main stage including Sam Altman, co-founder and C.E.O. of OpenAI, Jeff Bezos, founder and executive chairman of Amazon and owner of the Washington Post, former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, among others. The discussions will touch on topics such as business, politics and culture. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) 'It took four decades for the top 0.00001% of Americans' share of total U.S. household wealth to grow from 0.1% in 1982 – when 11 households made up that rarefied group – to 1.2% in 2023.' The previous statistics come from the Wall Street Journal's Juliet Chung, and are based on an analysis by Cal-Berkeley economist Gabriel Zucman. Zucman is plainly aghast at the growing wealth gap, and he's also plainly wrong in his disgust. The simple, undeniable truth that evades economists is that as wealth at the top soars, so grows opportunity for those not at the top. The greater the gap, the much greater the opportunity. This statement of the obvious confuses economists because they studied for years to master a mode of thought that worships at the altar of consumption. Economists believe consumption powers economic growth, which reveals the problem…with economists. They don't grasp that consumption is an effect of economic growth. As in consumption is what happens after the growth. Production always and everywhere precedes consumption, which explains the endless bullishness of the stats that give Zucman, Thomas Piketty, and countless other PhDs the vapors. Still, it's useful to address what gives Zucman et al discomfort on their terms to see precisely why their thinking is so backwards. Let's start with consumption. A major reason economists prefer tax cuts directed at low and middle earners has to do with what's undeniably true: low and middle earners will be much more likely to spend (think consume) what governments don't take. Conversely, economists struggle with reductions in tax rates for the rich for the exact reasons they cheer them for the poor and middle classes: the rich, by virtue of already being rich, won't spend what governments don't take. And since economists once again view consumption as the instigator of growth, they fear so much wealth being 'controlled' by individuals who couldn't possibly spend even a fraction of what they have. Except that the joke is on economists. No act of saving ever subtracts from demand, rather it just shifts it into the hands of others. The previous truth is crucial. To see why, never forget that there are quite simply no jobs, no companies and no entrepreneurs without unspent wealth. Stating the obvious, someone must not spend so that businesses can expand and 'impossible' ventures envisioned by the entrepreneurial can be given life. Similarly, the explosion of work opportunities that correlates with unspent wealth being matched with businesses and new vision similarly can't materialize without unspent wealth. In other words, the concentration of wealth in the hands of the few that scares economists precisely because the wealth won't be consumed is the surest sign that enormous opportunity and progress is in the process of being created. For technological, transportation and health advances to morph from idea into reality, existing wealth must be consumed less so that new ideas can attain capital. The simple, beautiful truth is that the richest of the rich only 'control' their wealth as Zucman et al imagine so long as they spend it. If they don't, and they don't because they can't reasonably spend tens to hundreds of billions on themselves, their only real option is to place the money in banks, brokerage accounts, private equity and venture capital funds where financial intermediaries can direct what's copious to its highest perceived use. Put another way, if you want wealth created to reach as many people as possible to their certain economic and living standard betterment, cheer economic policies that reward the most creative and that relieve the creative of the fruits of their creativity the least. Once again, the greater the gap in wealth the greater the opportunity for those without it.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The 19 richest households in America added $1 trillion in wealth last year
A stunning $1 trillion in wealth was created for America's richest families in 2024, according to a new analysis. Gabriel Zucman, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley and the Paris School of Economics, analyzed the massive increase in wealth and shared the data with The Wall Street Journal. He found that the richest people in the U.S. control a record amount of the country's total wealth — and that their share of that wealth is accelerating like never before. According to the analysis, it took more than 40 years for the top 0.00001% of Americans to grow their share of the total wealth from 0.1% in 1982 to 1.2% in 2023 But in 2024, that 0.00001% — or 19 households — saw its share of the total wealth increase to 1.8%. Total U.S. household wealth in 2024 was around $148 trillion, according to Zucman. 'You see this gradual rise and then, very recently, dramatic acceleration in the rise of the share of wealth owned by the truly superwealthy,' he told the Journal. The 19 households include some familiar names, such as Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Stephen Schwarzman, and Warren Buffett. Their growing share of the country's total wealth comes as the U.S. has seen a record number of billionaires. Forbes released its 2025 World Billionaires List earlier this month, finding more than 3,000 billionaires who have a collective $16 trillion — at minimum — making it their biggest and richest class of billionaires ever. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Sign in to access your portfolio
Euronews
21-02-2025
- Business
- Euronews
French lawmakers back tax on ultra-rich proposed by Ecologist Party
French lawmakers in the National Assembly have voted in favour of a 2% wealth tax on the assets of the super-rich. The bill, adopted by 116 votes to 39, was proposed by the Ecologist Party and supported by green and left-wing MPs on Thursday evening. Lawmakers from the far-right National Rally party abstained, while turnout from the centrist government was low. Although the bill has passed a key legislative hurdle, it's not expected to pass through the Senate. Tackling tax optimisation The so-called 'Zucman tax', named after economist Gabriel Zucman, would impose a minimum tax on the richest 0.01% of France's citizens. More specifically, it would apply to around 4,000 people in France with assets of more than €100 million. This could bring in between €15 and €25 billion per year, according to the proposal. Proponents also underlined that this minimum tax would only apply to citizens who aren't paying enough tax already, topping up gaps in contributions. Due to tax optimisation strategies, they argued that the super rich in France are currently paying proportionally less tax than the majority of citizens. The bill therefore includes provisions targeting trusts and holding companies that are often used to lower tax contributions. The ethics and the economics 'Tax immunity for billionaires is over,' lawmaker Éva Sas of the Ecologist party said, commenting on the vote's passage. Amélie de Montchalin, Budget Minister in the incumbent government, took a different approach, labelling the proposal "confiscatory and ineffective". The tax 'would have one grave consequence for our country and that is that the investment, entrepreneurship and corporate growth that we are trying to promote because it's good for the French, for jobs and everyone's wealth, would drop, and that's not tolerable,' Montchalin said on Friday in an interview with media channel TF1. Montchalin added that the government is currently working on an alternative strategy to tackle tax optimisation strategies. Macron, wealth champion? While the driving aims of President Emmanuel Macron have shifted over his two-term tenure, France's leader has continuously presented himself as a pro-business champion. Since 2017, the President has reduced the corporate tax rate, made it easier for firms to hire and fire workers, and scrapped the ISF wealth levy. In 2018, the ISF was replaced with the IFI, which only taxes real estate assets and not investments. Supporters of the move argued it would boost investment in more useful parts of the economy and encourage wealthy individuals to remain in the country. This would then drive economic growth and job creation. A committee reviewing the tax reform in 2023 nonetheless found that it had not affected the redirection of wealth away from real estate. France is currently home to the world's fifth richest man and the CEO of LVMH, Bernard Arnault - worth around $195bn or €186bn.
