Oct 8, 2026 · 33 min · 10 segments
Over a decade ago, **Eric Zwick** got assigned an unusual project at the U.S. Treasury: Find out how much tax businesses were paying. But the data was a mess, so Eric and two friends helped comb…
Eric ZwickGuest
Mary ChildsHost
The way this information comes in to the IRS, the business files tax returns that have all the information for the business.
Then the owners have their individual tax returns when they file at the end of, you know, in April or in September.
Or it's sort of like very indirect, like the way the stuff gets stored, the links are getting chopped up into different columns and stuff.
And what potential did you see in this project? Like, what would this knowledge unlock for you? What was the promise of it?
Yeah, so we're interested in, first of all, understanding how the tax code affects the economy.
We are interested in understanding entrepreneurship, sort of what drives growth and economic activity in new businesses.
And so we're starting initially with how much tax these business owners pay and who owns them.
And just in the process of answering that question, we realize, oh, this is a new way to look at income inequality in the country.
This is a new way to look at the changes in income inequality over the last 30 years.
The way this information comes in to the IRS, the business files tax returns that have all the information for the business.
Then the owners have their individual tax returns when they file at the end of, you know, in April or in September.
Or it's sort of like very indirect, like the way the stuff gets stored, the links are getting chopped up into different columns and stuff.
And what potential did you see in this project? Like, what would this knowledge unlock for you? What was the promise of it?
Yeah, so we're interested in, first of all, understanding how the tax code affects the economy.
We are interested in understanding entrepreneurship, sort of what drives growth and economic activity in new businesses.
And so we're starting initially with how much tax these business owners pay and who owns them.
And just in the process of answering that question, we realize, oh, this is a new way to look at income inequality in the country.
This is a new way to look at the changes in income inequality over the last 30 years.
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