Left-wing figures in France on Sunday, September 21 reacted with uproar after the country's richest man, the luxury goods tycoon Bernard Arnault, described an academic behind a wealth tax plan as a "far-left activist" who wanted to "destroy the French economy." With France under pressure to erode its growing debt pile and budget deficit, French economist Gabriel Zucman has suggested the ultra-rich pay at least a 2% tax on their fortune.
The idea has been enthusiastically taken up by the left including the Socialist Party, whose support new Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu could need to ensure the survival of his government. But it has been denounced by the right, who fear that such a scheme could force the wealthy to flee France.
"This is clearly not a technical or economic debate, but rather a clearly stated desire to destroy the French economy," said Arnault in a statement to the UK's Sunday Times. Arnault, whose family fortune is currently estimated at $157 billion by Forbes, described Zucman as "first and foremost a far-left activist... who puts at the service of his ideology (which aims to destroy the liberal economy, the only one that works for the good of all) a pseudo-academic competence that is itself widely debated."
Arnault, whose LVMH conglomerate includes brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dior and Moët Hennessy has long underlined the importance of the taxes he pays personally that his companies pay to the French state.
Hitting back at Arnault, Socialist leader Olivier Faure wrote on X: "What destroys our economy and even more so our society is the absence of any form of patriotism on the part of the ultra-rich who beg for help from the state but refuse to submit to any form of solidarity."
Greens leader Marine Tondelier said: "We're close to the goal and he's getting nervous." She added with irony: "To be fair, he has a big conflict of interest when he speaks on the subject."
The tax, according to Zucman, could raise around €20 billion per year by targeting 1,800 households.
Zucman himself hit back at Arnault with a long thread on X, saying "nervousness does not authorize slander." "I was very surprised by the caricatural nature of your attacks. Your remarks targeting me fall outside the realm of rationality and are without foundation," said Zucman, adding he had never been an activist in any movement nor a member of any party.
"You are attacking the very legitimacy of research free from any financial pressure," said Zucman, who has held academic posts in London, the United States and Paris.
Best-selling French economist Thomas Piketty, seen as Zucman's mentor, also stood up for his former student, accusing Arnault of "talking nonsense" and rubbishing the suggestion the tax would "bring the French economy to its knees."