The Triumph of Injustice
A Book Talk with Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman
Even as they became fabulously wealthy, the ultra-rich have had 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 revolutionized the study of inequality. Eschewing anecdotes and case studies, Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman offer a comprehensive view of America’s tax system, based on new statistics covering all taxes paid at all levels of government. Their conclusion? For the first time in more than a century, billionaires now pay lower tax rates than their secretaries.
Join us to hear from professors Saez and Zucman present their work and take questions from the audience.
“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, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics and author of People, Power, and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
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.
Hosted by the UC Berkeley Department of Economics. Co-sponsored by Social Science Matrix along with the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, the Stone Center on Wealth and Income Inequality, and the Center for Equitable Growth.
