Panel Discussion: HOW TO TAX THE RICH?

Discussion with Felix Rohrbeck and Evan Horowitz

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An intense dispute is raging on both sides of the Atlantic about whether rich people should make a greater contribution to financing the welfare state and, if so, how this could be done. The debate reflects a profound sense of dissatisfaction in both the USA and the EU. The general feeling is that inequality is on the rise and that, in many cases, the rich pay hardly any tax. How can policymakers respond to this? And what kind of (joint) approach could be used to ensure greater participation by the rich?

It seems that the state of Massachusetts has found a way: in last year’s midterm election on November 8, Massachusetts voters approved the so-called millionaire’s tax which would apply a 4 percent surtax to annual income over $1 million, potentially reducing economic and racial inequality.

This panel brings together two economic experts to discuss the implications of taxing the rich in a transatlantic context: Felix Rohrbeck, Economic Journalist and Evan Horowitz, executive director of Tufts University’s Center for State Policy Analysis (cSPA) which issued a non-partisan report on the millionaires tax.

Felix Rohrbeck currently a fellow at the Thomas Mann House, is a business journalist. He has received many awards for his investigative research, elaborate reporting and cross-media stories. Between 2014 and 2019, he edited the economics desk at DIE ZEIT, the largest weekly newspaper in Germany with over two million readers. In this capacity he was involved in exposing the cum-ex scandal, the biggest tax robbery in Europe. Since 2020, Felix Rohrbeck is co-founder and editor-in-chief of media-startup Flip. As a 2023 fellow at the Thomas Mann House, he explores what a heavier taxation for the exceptionally wealthy, which is currently being debated both in the USA and in Europe, could look like. To put it very simple, the question at the center of his project is: How to tax the rich?

Evan Horowitz, executive director of Tufts University’s Center for State Policy Analysis (cSPA) has led the center since its launch in early 2020.

He had been the "Quick Study" columnist for the Boston Globe, using data to tell stories about policy issues affecting Massachusetts and the nation as a whole. He also contributed data-heavy stories for FiveThirtyEight, NBC's Think, and the Washington Post, and briefly served as fill-in host for WBUR's Radio Boston.

Evan has worked at several Massachusetts think tanks, one focused on equitable economic outcomes and another dedicated to improving long-term thinking in capital markets.

In the bygone past, Evan was a professor of English Literature, with stints at Stanford, Harvard, Brandeis, Princeton, and the University of North Texas. He also attended the Cordon Bleu, where he learned a set of French cooking techniques that he now uses to keep his family happy at dinnertime.

In cooperation with the Thomas-Mann-House.

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