Gabriel Zucman

tax billionaires like that, and then to log off and not answer any questions.

No, no, no.

I think it's also part of the job to explain, well, okay, sure, there are potential questions and problems, but here are the answers.

And so for me, it's really a natural

part of the job of what it means to be a researcher in the social sciences.

Not everybody in the field agrees with that view.

Some people think that they should not be involved in public conversation and this should be two separate spheres, but that's not how I view all of that.

There are, you know, positive and less positive aspects to it.

So let's say, so it's true that, you know, for my sins, this tax proposal has come to be known as a segment tax, which was not, you know, something.

Clearly not.

Okay.

What's the positive side to it?

The positive side is that it forces everybody to try to understand what this is about.

It's a new proposal.

It's a new idea.

For instance, France used to have a wealth tax for a very long time.

It's not recreating the wealth tax.

It's something else.

It has a new name, so everybody has to try to make an effort.

Sometimes the