Pascal Salin is a free-market economist and a follower of Frédéric Bastiat, Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek. A specialist in monetary theory, he is a professor emeritus at Paris-IX-Dauphine University and a former president of Mont Pelerin Society. He is the author of Libéralisme, Français, n’ayez pas peur du libéralisme and Revenir au capitalisme pour éviter les crises (all published by Editions Odile Jacob).

French public finances are reportedly in a deplorable state, yet there is a widespread feeling in France that the rate of taxation, in all sectors, has become unbearably high. According to the author, it is unfortunate that such feelings of discontent took so long to emerge.
For decades, Pascal Salin has regularly denounced the destructive, plundering and arbitrary character of the French system of taxation. Although fiscal pressure has grown constantly, public deficits have increased continuously and the flaws in the system have only worsened. Salin argues that nonstop tax increases and their increasingly arbitrary character are the major causes of the persisting economic crisis and of the rise in unemployment. If France does not adopt a totally different fiscal policy it will be unable to recover economic growth, he argues.
A major reform is a priority. Progressive taxation, taxes on capital and on businesses, death duties, social VAT, financing of health and social welfare: on all these issues, which are increasingly subjects of debate, Salin gives us his radical, hard-hitting views which aim to move ahead and put an end to dated reforms and solutions.

• Pascal Salin’s book launches the discussion on France’s upcoming great fiscal reform.
• A radical book with some drastic proposals such as blocking maximum taxation at 20%.
• A clear, accessible and provocative book of political economy.