All Else Equal: Making Better Decisions

Rerun: Ep6 "Can (and Should) Corporations Be Taxed?" with Larry Summers

Jun 26, 2024

Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers discusses the complexities of corporate income tax, arguing for its retention as an effective tool to ensure the wealthy pay their fair share. He suggests improvements but advises against abolishing it without a superior alternative. The podcast delves into the burden shift of corporate taxes onto shareholders and examines practical challenges in taxing corporations, including collection from foreign entities. The speakers debate the pros and cons of corporate taxation policies, considering issues like tax avoidance and moral considerations.

27:37

Creator website

Episode guests

Larry Summers

AI Summary

Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Taxing corporations is crucial for ensuring the wealthy contribute fairly.

Current corporate tax structure promotes debt financing over equity financing, causing economic distortions.

Deep dives

Corporate Income Tax and its Impact on Stakeholders

Corporations pay taxes based on profits, but ultimately individuals bear the brunt of these taxes. Equity holders often bear the corporate income tax burden as reduced profits lead to fewer dividends. However, the impact extends to various stakeholders, such as workers and customers, affecting wages and product prices in the market.

Optimizing Tax Strategies for Corporations

01:25

Taxation on Profit Income and Debt Payments

01:29

Taxing Corporate Equities and Wealthy People

01:27

Intro

2min

Corporate Income Tax Implications on Stakeholders

9min

Taxing Corporations and Practical Challenges in Taxation

2min

Debating Corporate Taxation Policies

12min

Exploring the Challenges and Possibilities of Taxing Corporations

3min

This summer break, we'll be taking a pause from uploading new episodes. However, Jules and Jonathan have handpicked some favorite past episodes for new listeners to enjoy and subscribers to revisit!

In this episode, hosts Jules van Binsbergen and Jonathan Berk discuss the complexities of the corporate income tax with former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who argues for retaining the tax.

Summers explains why taxing corporations is one of the most effective tools the federal government has in making sure the wealthy pay their fair share. Might there be room for improvement? Yes, Summers says, but don’t abolish it. “Before we are critical of that tax, we better make awfully sure that we have a superior alternative.”

Submit your questions to the show here: https://bit.ly/AllElseEqual

Find All Else Equal on the web: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/business-podcasts/all-else-equal-making-better-decisions

All Else Equal: Making Better Decisions Podcast is a production of Stanford Graduate School of Business and is produced by University FM.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.