Opportunity Zones
David Wessel talked about his book, Only the Rich Can Play: How Washington Works in the New Gilded Age, on the promise and reality of Opportunity Zones, created in 2017 to attract investment to poor communities across the U.S. David Wessel is a Brookings Institution senior fellow and a former Wall Street Journal economics editor.
Description
This bel ringer features David Wessel talking about his book, "Only the Rich Can Play: How Washington Works in the New Gilded Age," on the promise and reality of Opportunity Zones, created in 2017 to attract investment to poor communities across the U.S.
Bell Ringer Assignment
- CLIP 1: According to David Wessel, who can participate in Opportunity Zones?
- CLIP 1: What does Wessel say was Sean Parker's role in the development of Opportunity Zones?
- CLIP 1: How do Opportunity Zones allow individuals to "squeeze and stretch the tax code?"
- CLIP 1: Why does the Opportunity Zone legislation require participants to pay taxes in 2026? According to Wessel, how much may the United States lose in tax revenue?
- CLIP 1: What does Sean Parker say were his goals in the development of Opportunity Zones?
- CLIP 2: How many Opportunity Zones currently exist?
- CLIP 2: According to Wessel, under what two conditions are investors able to avoid paying capital gains taxes on the funds they invest in Opportunity Zones?
Additional Resources
Participants
Vocabulary
- Benign
- Capital Gains
- Census Tract
- Governor
- Hacking
- Opportunity Zone
- Reconciliation
- Senate
- Silicon Valley
- Stock