"You can sometimes have this debate about whether certain profits are the result of the exploitation of 'circumstances' or whether they reflect the merit of having invested, but in this case there is no debate," lamented the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics during a meeting at the Paris School of Economics on Thursday.

"It is very clear that the big oil companies have done nothing to deserve such high oil prices, it is Putin's invasion of Ukraine that is at the root of the problem," he said. insisted.

The oil majors are facing a Europe-wide revolt due to the windfall profits they have made thanks to soaring oil and gas prices since the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine.

For example, the British Shell recorded 18 billion dollars in profits in the second quarter of 2022 alone, the French TotalEnergies 5.7 billion dollars, and the Italian Eni 3.8 billion euros.

– “Simple answer” –

"There is a simple answer. Tax windfall profits and use some of those resources to help those who are hurting," the 79-year-old economist said ahead of a Friday conference by the supportive international think tank ICRICT. like him, to a taxation of superprofits.

This think tank, which counts among its members the French Thomas Piketty, cantor of the fight against inequalities, recommends in a report published Friday other measures such as a surcharge on companies that surf on inflation to unduly increase their price.

Europe has gradually taken up the problem in recent months: some countries like Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom have announced measures, while the European Commission made several proposals on Wednesday which could bring in up to 140 billion euros.

According to Joseph Stiglitz, the situation is also worrying in the United States, which is much less dependent on Russian energy imports but where soaring prices have enormously enriched the oil majors ExxonMobil and Chevron.

The first recorded a profit of 17.9 billion dollars in the second quarter and the second of 11.6 billion dollars.

"What is happening there is a phenomenon of redistribution of income from consumers to the rich fossil fuel companies", regretted the former chief economist of the World Bank from 1997 to 2000 and former chief economic advisers to Bill Clinton in the White House.

"We have analyzed the intensity of the price increases. Overall it is very clear that these increases cannot be justified solely by an increase in (production) costs. There is something more", underlines- he.

– Beyond Energy –

Deeming this situation "totally unjustified", the author of the best-selling book "La grande disillusion", published in 2002 and in which he scratched the policy of the International Monetary Fund, affirms that taxation should not stop at the giants of the energy sector.

In its report, the ICRICT also reviews the international agreement of the OECD on the taxation of multinationals adopted last year which provides for a minimum tax rate of 15% on the profits of multinationals as well as a localization of tax, where the activity is carried out.

This international agreement faces resistance, particularly in Europe with Hungary, which refuses to sign a draft European directive.

Pending a favorable outcome, the ICRICT, which calls for an overhaul of international tax governance, recommends that States impose nationwide taxation of digital multinationals, among other measures.

Saying he was "very pleased with the progress made until the adoption" of the OECD agreement "but disappointed with the details", the professor at Columbia University and former teacher at Stanford, Princeton, Yale and Oxford on notes: "unfortunately I must say, this agreement does not seem close to being adopted, as weak as it is, as favorable to the developed countries as it is".

© 2022 AFP