Yves Jacquin-Depeyre, an economist and attorney by training, is a recognised expert in fiscal issues. During the 2012 French presidential campaign he followed the fiscal debate for CEVIPOF, the political research centre of Sciences Po. He created and, for many years, directed the first private French organisation charged with collecting taxes from foreign millionaires and French tax exiles.

Economic growth, unemployment and national debt have put taxation at the centre of public debate. Yet French politicians and their economic advisers make little use of taxation. Instead, for them, taxation has become a purely electoral ploy — witness François Hollande’s 2012 electoral victory, which was largely assured by the publication of Thomas Piketty’s La Révolution fiscale.
Future presidential candidates should realise that voters will not fall for such tactics again. Why? For the simple reason, argues the author, that we are now living in a fiscal-economy, in a world where citizens make financial decisions based not only on how much they hope to earn, but also on how much tax they can expect to pay. In our globalised world, taxation has become the first economic weapon of state opposition.
What is needed argues Yves Jacquin-Depeyre, are intelligent fiscal policies to encourage wealth, including taxing non-residents, reviewing capital gains tax, and rethinking treaties that enable states to fish for taxes in neighbouring states.

• A radical new approach to taxation which will serve the general interest.
• Previously unpublished statistics on the loss of tax revenue due to tax exiles, a figure that has been seriously underestimated in official government reports.
• A view of taxation that is both comprehensive and technical, accompanied by concrete, practical solutions.