Joseph Stiglitz's visit to Paris had been planned well in advance to prepare a report on inequality commissioned by the G20's South African presidency. The American economist, who won the Nobel Prize in economics in 2001, also arrived in the middle of a heated debate in France over the so-called Zucman tax, a wealth tax that would apply to assets over €100 million. It has become a major political and media issue. He considers the tax an obvious thing to do.

"It's such a conservative tax, not a radical tax," he told Le Monde on Wednesday, October 1. "These billionaires, if they're not making [an annual return of] 10%, something's wrong with them. A 2% minimum tax is saying they should pay a 20% income tax rate. Now, every country in the world is nominally charging 20%."

But can France implement such a tax unilaterally, without international cooperation? Is there not a risk that the super-rich would flee? "No. There's no need for a worldwide agreement. France can go alone, it would make it a leader to follow." The economist stressed that all studies on wealth taxes in other countries showed there was some outflow of very wealthy people, but that the effect was limited.

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