A world where someone pays $6.2 million for a banana duct-taped to a wall is a world that needs wealth taxes. But when wealth taxes are considered by politicians and governments, unsubstantiated spin and myth making dominates the debate. (If you can call it a debate). We look at the Tax Justice Network's modest wealth tax proposal which could help governments increase their national budgets by 7 percent a year, a potential global revenue of more than 2 trillion US dollars annually. And we discuss what research really says about so-called 'tax flight' by the very wealthy because of tax reforms. Will they really leave in droves?

Featuring:

Mark Bou Mansour, Tax Justice Network

Alison Schultz, Tax Justice Network

Victoria Gronwald of the London School of Economics. She's co-author of their report, Tax Flight. Britain's wealthiest and their attachment to place.

Various AI-voiced excerpts from interviews with High Net Worth Individuals from the LSE report.

Hosted and produced by Naomi Fowler, Tax Justice Network

Transcript of the show is here (some is automated) https://podcasts.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/6m-banana-transcript_Dec_24.pdf 

Further reading:

Texas Judge Wrongly Halts Enforcement of Landmark Anti-Money Laundering Law https://thefactcoalition.org/texas-cta-injunction/ 

An update from FACT Coalition in the US on the US Treasury appeal against the Texas Judge’s Nationwide Injunction Against Corporate Transparency Act https://thefactcoalition.org/just-the-facts-12-12-24/

The Guy Who Bought (and Ate) That Banana Art https://slate.com/technology/2024/12/justin-sun-banana-art-crypto-billionaire-criminal-comedian-maurizio-cattelan.html 

Countries can raise $2 trillion by copying Spain’s wealth tax, study finds https://taxjustice.net/press/countries-can-raise-2-trillion-by-copying-spains-wealth-tax-study-finds/ 

Tax flight? Britain’s wealthiest and their attachment to place, LSE report https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/121396/

Infographic: The extreme wealth of the superrich is making our economies insecure https://taxjustice.net/2024/08/19/infographic-the-extreme-wealth-of-the-superrich-is-making-our-economies-insecure/

Wiki: How to tax the superrich (with pictures) https://taxjustice.net/2024/08/19/wiki-how-to-tax-the-superrich-with-pictures/