The Triumph of Injustice: How the Rich Dodge Taxes and How to Make Them Pay

by Emmanuel Saez, Gabriel Zucman

Overview

“The most important book on government policy that I’ve read in a long time.” —David Leonhardt, New York Times

Even as they have become fabulously wealthy, the ultra-rich have seen their taxes collapse to levels last seen in the 1920s. Meanwhile, working-class Americans have been asked to pay more. The Triumph of Injustice presents a forensic investigation into this dramatic transformation, written by two economists who have revolutionized the study of inequality. Blending history and cutting-edge economic analysis, Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman offer a comprehensive view of America’s tax system alongside a visionary, democratic, and practical reinvention of taxes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393531732
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	10/20/2020
Pages:	284
Sales rank:	203,704
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Emmanuel Saez is professor of economics and director of the Center for Equitable Growth at the University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses on tax policy and inequality from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. With Thomas Piketty, he has constructed long-run historical series of income inequality in the United States that have been widely discussed in public debate. He received his PhD in economics from MIT in 1999. He was awarded the John Bates Clark Medal of the American Economic Association in 2009 and a MacArthur Fellowship in 2010.

Gabriel Zucman is professor of economics and public policy at the University of California, Berkeley. His research analyzes the accumulation and distribution of wealth through global and historical perspectives. He received his PhD in economics from the Paris School of Economics in 2013. He was awarded the Bernácer Prize in 2018 and a Sloan Research Fellowship in 2019. He is the author of The Hidden Wealth of Nations: The Scourge of Tax Havens, which has been translated into eighteen languages.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Introduction Reinventing Fiscal Democracy xi

Chapter 1 Income and Taxes in America 1

Chapter 2 From Boston to Richmond 24

Chapter 3 How Injustice Triumphs 45

Chapter 4 Welcome to Bermuland 67

Chapter 5 Spiral 88

Chapter 6 Row to Stop the Spiral 110

Chapter 7 Taxing the Rich 128

Chapter 8 Beyond Laffer 154

Chapter 9 A World of Possibility 177

Conclusion Tax Justice Now 195

Acknowledgments 199

Notes 201

Frequently Asked Questions 217

Bibliography 227

List of Illustrations 241

Index 243

Editorial Reviews

"In an age when the primary instinct of many left-leaning people is to yearn for a time machine, [The Triumph of Injustice] is a bracing and brave formulation of a radical new approach to public funding."

Guardian - Oliver Bullough

"America is tired of inequality and oligarchy. Armed with eye-popping new data, Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman reveal how tax injustice is fueling the oligarchic drift. But above all, they propose bold solutions to help America reconnect with its tradition of tax justice, from the taxation of extreme wealth and giant corporations to the funding of health care for all. This is a brilliantly argued book that is an essential contribution to the global economic and political debate of the twenty-first century."

Thomas Piketty

"The Triumph of Injustice is a groundbreaking work that uncovers a diabolical driver of America’s shocking and growing inequality: unfair and regressive tax policies and a tax-avoidance industry that serves the wealthy at the expense of everyone else. Until we reverse this topsy-turvy regime—where ordinary workers may pay a larger share of their income than the very richest Americans—we can’t hope to address our biggest social problems. Anyone who hopes for a better future for everyday Americans needs to read this book."

Joseph E. Stiglitz

"One of the best books I’ve read this year. Crystal clear, rigorously empirical. Should be read by policymakers from around the globe, especially in the US. It’s the to-do-list for the next president."

Rutger Bregman

"[T]he most important book on government policy that I’ve read in a long time."

New York Times - David Leonhardt

"In 2018, for the first time in more than one hundred years, billionaires paid a lower tax rate than ordinary workers, crowning the dismantling of America’s system of progressive taxation. In this eye-opening book, Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman show that there is no iron law of economics that led us there, just many whose self-interest or misunderstanding of economics make them claim the opposite. Their radical proposal to reinvent taxation for a globalized world will become an unavoidable starting point to any intelligent conversation."

Esther Duflo