Any serious policy agenda geared towards combating inequality and raising living standards for the vast majority must look to ultra-high earners in the top 0.1 percent, who wield disproportionate economic and political power.

The Economic Policy Institute and the Institute for Policy Studies held a day-long conference on Taxing the (Very) Rich with tax policy experts, activists, advocates, organizers, and elected officials who made making the case for taxing the very rich—and debated how best to do that.

Watch the playlist here:

When: Tuesday, June 25
8:15 a.m. Registration
9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Eastern
5:00 p.m.–6:30 p.m. Reception

Where: The Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue Northwest, Washington, DC 20036

Agenda

[8:15 a.m.] Registration and coffee

[9:00 a.m.] Welcome / Overview
Thea Lee, Economic Policy Institute

[9:15 a.m.] Keynote: Dangers of Excessive Wealth Disorder
Paul Krugman, Graduate Center, City University of New York

Remarks: Alan S. Davis, The WhyNot Initiative 

[10:05 a.m.] How Excessive Wealth Disorder Hurts Economic Growth
Heather Boushey, Washington Center for Equitable Growth

Capturing Democracy
Nancy MacLean, Duke University

[10:25 a.m.] Coffee break

[10:45 a.m.] Keynote: Rep. Jan Schakowsky

[11:10 a.m.] Panel: Ways We Can Tax the Very Rich
Moderator: Sarah Anderson, IPS
Chye-Ching Huang, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Greg Leiserson, Washington Center for Equitable Growth
Lily Batchelder, New York University School of Law
Josh Bivens, Economic Policy Institute

[12:15 p.m.] Lunch (and video mashup)

[1:00 p.m.] Keynote: Sen. Chris Van Hollen

[1:30 p.m.] Rich Wrecking Things
Barbara Ehrenreich 

How Excessive Wealth Disorder Hurts the Environment
Jacqueline Patterson, NAACP Environmental & Climate Justice

[2:10 p.m.] Panel: How We Can Move the Agenda to Tax the Very Rich
Moderator: Thea Lee, Economic Policy Institute
Celinda Lake, Lake Research Partners
Erica Payne, Patriotic Millionaires
Frank Clemente, Americans for Tax Fairness
Dorian Warren, Community Change

[3:15 p.m.] Coffee break

[3:30 p.m.] Corrupting Philanthropy: Fixing the Rules to Curb Billionaire Influence
Ray Madoff, Boston College Law School

The Racial Wealth Divide
Valerie Wilson, Economic Policy Institute

[3:55 p.m.] What a Campaign to Tax the Very Rich Looks Like in the Field
Moderator: Chuck Collins, Institute for Policy Studies
Stephanie Taylor, Progressive Change Campaign Committee
Shailly Gupta Barnes, Kairos Center and Poor People’s Campaign
Sarita Gupta, Jobs with Justice
Connie Razza, Center for Popular Democracy

[4:50 p.m.] Closing Remarks
Thea Lee, Economic Policy Institute
Chuck Collins, Institute for Policy Studies

[5:00 p.m–6:30 p.m.] Cocktails

Remarks from Rep. Pramila Jayapal

Members of the media please RSVP to news@epi.org.

Taxing the (Very) Rich is co-hosted by: