Should Energy Companies’ Windfall Profits Be Taxed?

While many households wonder whether they will be able to afford to heat their homes this winter, energy companies are raking in record profits, and governments in a growing number of economies, from the United Kingdom to the European Union, want a cut. Is this an obvious way to appease a public reeling from inflation and help replenish state coffers, or is it market-distorting populism at work?

In this Big Question, we ask John H. Cochrane, Daniel Litvin, Yanis Varoufakis, and Isabella M. Weber whether the benefits of a one-off tax on the energy sector’s war-fueled windfall would outweigh the costs.