It was a pleasure to be featured in R. Paul Herman’s (CEO, HIP Investor) recent CNBC article, which covered the potential of tax-free investments in Opportunity Zones.

More than $2 trillion in unrealized gains sit on the ledgers of investors and corporations, according to the Economic Innovation Group, based in Washington, D.C., and partly funded by investor Sean Parker of Napster and Facebook fame. Investing directly in 8,700 Opportunity Zones (or 1 in 8 U.S. Census tracts) for 10 years or more would eliminate any federal taxes due on those gains – and potentially reduce poverty via job creation and income growth related to those investments.

As I mentioned in the article, the big policy question is whether Opportunity Zone investments will move beyond simply driving capital to low-income census tracts and actually improve the lives of those who live there. While there are no reporting or impact measurement requirements in the current regulations, we are relying primarily on the self-interest of investors not to abuse the system.