Economist bites back, insists Ireland is still America’s favourite tax haven

‘Denying this reality is like denying that 2+2=4,’ Gabriel Zucman says of Dept of Finance’s criticism

Gabriel Zucman, the Berkeley economist who raised the hackles of the government by calling Ireland a tax haven, has doubled down on the suggestion, saying that disputing his work is “like denying 2+2=4”.

The research, which he published last week, suggested that US companies’ Irish operations’ low effective tax rates partially explain the extraordinarily high returns America makes on foreign investments, an economic problem known as ‘exorbitant privilege’.

Responding to questions from The ...