Taxation and the superrich
Oct
21
05:00 PM - 05:45 PM
Lecture video
Further reading
Income and wealth inequality
The recent increase in income and wealth inequality, led by an extraordinary concentration among the very richest swath of households, has focused policy attention on the superrich. Politicians in many countries have called for increasing the tax burden on these households, in the form of both higher top rates for existing income taxes as well as new tax levies targeting the superrich. In his inaugural lecture, Florian Scheuer discussed his research that aims at illuminating whether such proposals constitute good policy.
Florian Scheuer was appointed to the Professorship of Economics of Institutions, endowed by the UBS Center, in 2017. His work in public finance focuses on inequality and tax policy.
Professor Scheuer’s inaugural lecture was open to the public and was followed by a cocktail reception in the Lichthof.
The recent increase in income and wealth inequality, led by an extraordinary concentration among the very richest swath of households, has focused policy attention on the superrich. Politicians in many countries have called for increasing the tax burden on these households, in the form of both higher top rates for existing income taxes as well as new tax levies targeting the superrich. In his inaugural lecture, Florian Scheuer discussed his research that aims at illuminating whether such proposals constitute good policy.
Florian Scheuer was appointed to the Professorship of Economics of Institutions, endowed by the UBS Center, in 2017. His work in public finance focuses on inequality and tax policy.
Taxes, taxes, taxes...
Speaker
UBS Foundation Professor of Economics of Institutions, Research Fellow CEPR
Florian Scheuer received his PhD from MIT in 2010. He is interested in the policy implications of rising inequality, with a focus on tax policy. In particular, he has worked on incorporating important features of real-world labor markets into the design of optimal income and wealth taxes. These include economies with rent-seeking, superstar effects or an important entrepreneurial sector, frictional financial markets, as well as political constraints on tax policy and the resulting inequality. His work has been published in the American Economic Review, the Journal of Political Economy, the Quarterly Journal of Economics and the Review of Economic Studies, among other journals. In 2017, he received an ERC starting grant for his research on “Inequality - Public Policy and Political Economy.” Before joining Zurich, he was on the faculty at Stanford, held visiting positions at Harvard and UC Berkeley and was a National Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He is Co-Editor of Theoretical Economics and Member of the Board of Editors of the Review of Economic Studies. He is also a Co-Director of the working group on Macro Public Finance at the NBER. He has commented on tax policy in various US and Swiss media outlets.
UBS Foundation Professor of Economics of Institutions, Research Fellow CEPR
Florian Scheuer received his PhD from MIT in 2010. He is interested in the policy implications of rising inequality, with a focus on tax policy. In particular, he has worked on incorporating important features of real-world labor markets into the design of optimal income and wealth taxes. These include economies with rent-seeking, superstar effects or an important entrepreneurial sector, frictional financial markets, as well as political constraints on tax policy and the resulting inequality. His work has been published in the American Economic Review, the Journal of Political Economy, the Quarterly Journal of Economics and the Review of Economic Studies, among other journals. In 2017, he received an ERC starting grant for his research on “Inequality - Public Policy and Political Economy.” Before joining Zurich, he was on the faculty at Stanford, held visiting positions at Harvard and UC Berkeley and was a National Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He is Co-Editor of Theoretical Economics and Member of the Board of Editors of the Review of Economic Studies. He is also a Co-Director of the working group on Macro Public Finance at the NBER. He has commented on tax policy in various US and Swiss media outlets.
Venue
University of Zurich
Main Auditorium, KOL-G-201, Rämistrasse 71, 8006 Zurich
(Google Maps)