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Cited by 544Global Financial Crisis and PoliciesEconomic Theory and PolicyFiscal Policies and Political Economy

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The Missing Wealth of Nations: Are Europe and the U.S. net Debtors or net Creditors?*

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Zucman, Gabriel·2013·The Quarterly Journal of Economics
DOI 10.1093/qje/qjt012
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Abstract

This article shows that official statistics substantially underestimate the net foreign asset positions of rich countries because they fail to capture most of the assets held by households in offshore tax havens. Drawing on a unique Swiss data set and exploiting systematic anomalies in countries’ portfolio investment positions, I find that around 8% of the global financial wealth of households is held in tax havens, three-quarters of which goes unrecorded. On the basis of plausible assumptions, accounting for unrecorded assets turns the eurozone, officially the world’s second largest net debtor, into a net creditor. It also reduces the U.S. net debt significantly. The results shed new light on global imbalances and challenge the widespread view that after a decade of poor-to-rich capital flows, external assets are now in poor countries and debts in rich countries. I provide concrete proposals to improve international statistics.

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  • Alstadsæter, Johannesen, and Zucman (2019) argue that the top 0.01 percent evades about 25 percent of its tax liability by moving assets and investment income abroad.

    “Combining the micro data from specific leaks with estimates of the aggregate amount of offshore wealth from macroeconomic statistics (Zucman 2013), they argue that the top 0.01 percent evades about 25 percent of its tax liability by moving assets and investment income abroad.”

    From Taxation and Migration: Evidence and Policy Implications (2020) · cites this paper as Zucman 2013

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Research works printed but not linked: 49

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Metadata

Authors
Zucman, G.
Affiliations
Paris School of Economics (FR)
Corresponding author
Zucman, Gabriel
Venue
The Quarterly Journal of Economics
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2013-06-07
Volume
128
Issue
3
Pages
1321-1364
ISSN
  • 0033-5533 (ISSN-L)
  • 1531-4650
DOI
10.1093/qje/qjt012
OpenAlex
W2144173116
Cited by
544
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 62 · 2024: 46 · 2023: 48 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 67 · 2020: 63 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 31 · 2017: 40 · 2016: 37 · 2015: 28 · 2014: 29 · 2013: 8
FWCI
55.24
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
other-oa
Locations
  • The Quarterly Journal of Economics (publishedVersion)
  • London School of Economics and Political Science Research Online (London School of Economics and Political Science) (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • HAL (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • HAL (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Finance › Global Financial Crisis and Policies
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › General Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economic Theory and Policy
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Fiscal Policies and Political Economy
Keywords
net foreign assets, household wealth, tax havens, global imbalances, capital flows, euro area, United States, international statistics, The Wealth of Nations

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