Thomas Piketty – Why we need a global wealth tax (video)


Jeremy Paxman discusses wealth inequality and a global wealth tax with Thomas Piketty author of “Capital In The 21st Century” on Newsnight (30 April 2014).

 
Video © BBC

Business week Piketty wealth tax

Photo credit: Business Week

***********************************************

Wealth inequality and other things we don’t have to learn from America
(re-published 9 April 2014)

Social Mobility in the US Pew Charitable Trusts Business Insider

It is said that what happens in the US happens in the UK shortly afterwards. This clip of the Daily Show was broadcast in August 2011 and touches on many of the same arguments used by the Conservative Party in the UK to justify a form of austerity that attacks the incomes and the dignity of the weakest and the poorest in society whilst claiming that the government has “no choice” in the matter. And anyway, the “poor” are just moochers who can’t really be poor if they have a flat screen TV, refrigerator, mobile phone and a microwave oven….

In an attempt to comply with copyright restrictions as interpreted by Vimeo, to watch the clip you need to type or copy and paste the passwordimincorrigible

*The income inequality table referenced in the video can be found at the end of this post

The irrationality, particularly as espoused by the Tea Party and Fox News, that surrounds the philosophical and economic argument of the right in the United States is quite extraordinary and seems, to my mind, extreme; yet these US caricatures are now broadly what the British public believe to be a fair assessment of the UK’s socio-economic landscape. The accusations and the diatribe spewed out several times a week in the Daily Mail and from Fox News’ UK News Corporation stable mates (The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times)  and others has come to be seen as the truth – the rich are the ‘producers’, the ‘makers’ and the ‘workers’ (no irony there) and the poor are the ‘scroungers’, the ‘takers’ and the ‘shirkers’ although few have gone as far as Ann Coulter whom, amongst a number of vile opinions she holds, also thinks that the poor are “utterly irresponsible animals“.

It is these pervasive attitudes that simply will not countenance the possibility that ever widening and entrenched gap between the über wealthy and the rest of society represents one of the worst possible outcomes on almost every level.  This  new plutocracy under which most of the population of the industrialised world now lives is destroying the cohesive social fabric that once bound nations together as a people.

Chrystia Freeland, Managing Director and Editor of Consumer News at Thomson Reuters, has studied our Plutocratic overlords in her book Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else.

“She argues that technology and globalisation are creating winner-take-all superstars in many sectors who join a cosy, conformist bubble……..Freeland highlights the danger when a small, self-serving and self-satisfied group dominate public discourse, then seek a system tilted even more in their favour. “I think the ultra-wealthy actually have an insufficient influence,” says one billionaire Republican donor. Another says taxes should be virtually abolished, arguing that the government should pay the likes of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs for their contributions to society. “It’s that top 1% that probably contributes more to making the world a better place than the 99%,” he concludes outrageously.” (Ian Birrel, The Observer Book Review)

The plutocrats and everyone else should recognise that they didn’t build their businesses on their own:

Any suggestion of a narrative that sees a better quality of life for all through less extreme income and wealth inequality (as convincingly demonstrated in The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett) for example is shut down with the accusation that the proposer must be a “socialist” engaged in “class warfare” – even when the proposer happens to be stock market investor and Forbes’ 4th richest billionaire in the world (net worth US$54bn) Warren Buffett!

Warren Buffett - Class Warrior?

Warren Buffett – Class Warrior?

We are not America. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Reference:

Related articles

Wealth Inequality by Country Sorted By Level of Inequality (Ascending CIA Gini %):
*US & UK HIGHLIGHTED IN RED

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_equality

Country

UN R/P 10%[3]

UN R/P 20%[4]

World Bank Gini (%)[5]

WB Gini (year)

CIA R/P 10%[6]

Year

CIA Gini (%)[7]

CIA Gini (year)

 Sweden 6.2 4.0 25.0 2000 6.2 2000 23.0 2005
 Slovenia 5.9 3.9 31.2 2004 5.9 1998 23.8 2011
 Montenegro 30.0 2008 24.3 2010
 Hungary 5.5 3.8 31.2 2007 5.6 2002 24.7 2009
 Denmark 8.1 4.3 24.0 2005 12.0 2000 est. 24.8 2011 est.
 Norway 6.1 3.9 25.8 2000 6.0 2000 25.0 2008
 Austria 6.9 4.4 26.0 2007 6.8 2004 26.0 2007
 Luxembourg 30.8 2000 6.8 2000 26.0 2005
 Slovakia 6.7 4.0 26.0 2009 6.7 1996 26.0 2005
 Finland 5.6 3.8 26.9 2000 5.7 2000 26.8 2008
 Germany 6.9 4.3 28.3 2000 6.9 2000 27.0 2006
 Belarus 6.9 4.5 27.2 2008 6.9 2002 27.2 2008
 Malta 27.4 2011
 Belgium 8.2 4.9 33.0 2000 8.3 2000 28.0 2005
 Iceland 28.0 2006
 Serbia 27.8 2009 28.2 2008
 Ukraine 5.9 4.1 26.4 2009 7.6 2006 28.2 2009
 Kazakhstan 8.5 5.6 29.0 2009 8.0 2004 est. 28.9 2011
 Cyprus 29.0 2005
 Afghanistan 27.8 2008 29.4 2008
  Switzerland 9.0 5.5 33.7 2000 8.9 2000 29.6 2010
 Ethiopia 6.6 4.3 29.8 2005 6.5 2000 30.0 2000
 Australia 12.5 7.0 30.5 2006 12.7 1994 30.3 2008
 European Union 30.4 2009 est.
 Pakistan 6.5 4.3 30.0 2008 6.6 2002 30.6 2007–2008
 Armenia 8.0 5.0 30.9 2008 25.8 2004 30.9 2008
 Netherlands 9.2 5.1 30.9 2007 9.2 1999 30.9 2007
 Czech Republic 5.2 3.5 26.0 2005 5.2 1996 31.0 2009
 Estonia 10.8 6.4 36.0 2004 11.0 2003 31.3 2010
 Italy 11.6 6.5 36.0 2000 11.7 2000 31.9 2011
 Timor-Leste 31.9 2007 31.9 2007 est.
 Croatia 7.3 4.8 33.7 2008 7.2 2003 est. 32 2010
 Spain 10.3 6.0 34.7 2000 10.2 2000 32.0 2005
 Canada 9.4 5.5 32.6 2000 9.5 2000 32.1 2005
 Tajikistan 7.8 5.2 30.8 2009 7.8 2003 32.6 2006
 France 9.1 5.6 32.7 2008 8.3 2004 32.7 2008
   Nepal 15.8 9.1 32.8 2010 15.6 2004 32.8 2010
 Greece 10.2 6.2 34.3 2000 10.4 2000 est. 33.0 2005
 Bangladesh 7.5 4.9 32.1 2010 7.5 2000 est. 33.2 2005
 Romania 7.5 4.9 30.0 2009 7.4 2003 33.2 2011
 Kyrgyzstan 6.4 4.4 36.2 2009 6.4 2003 33.4 2007
 Azerbaijan 9.7 6.0 33.7 2008 9.5 2001 33.7 2008
 Ireland 9.4 5.6 34.3 2000 9.4 2000 33.9 2010
 Niger 46.0 20.7 34.6 2008 44.3 1995 34.0 2007
 Poland 8.8 5.6 34.1 2009 8.7 2002 34.1 2009
 Taiwan 6.1 2002 est. 34.2 2011
 Egypt 8.0 5.1 30.8 2008 8.0 2000 34.4 2001
 Albania 7.2 4.8 34.5 2008 7.2 2004 34.5 2008
 Latvia 11.6 6.8 36.6 2008 11.6 2003 35.2 2010
 Algeria 9.6 6.1 35.3 1995 9.6 1995 35.3 1995
 Lithuania 10.4 6.3 37.6 2008 10.3 2003 35.5 2009
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 5.4 3.8 36.2 2007 5.5 2001 36.2 2007
 New Zealand 12.4 6.8 36.2 1997 36.2 1997
 Benin 9.4 6.0 38.6 2003 9.4 2003 36.5 2003
 Mongolia 8.2 5.4 36.5 2008 8.2 2002 36.5 2008
 Laos 8.3 5.4 36.7 2008 8.4 2002 36.7 2008
 India 8.6 5.6 33.4 2005 8.6 2004 36.8 2004
 Indonesia 7.8 5.2 34.0 2005 7.9 2002 36.8 2009
 Uzbekistan 10.6 6.2 36.7 2003 10.6 2003 36.8 2003
 Japan 4.5 3.4 38.1 2002 4.5 1993 37.6 2008
 Tanzania 9.2 5.8 37.6 2007 9.3 2000 37.6 2007
 Vietnam 6.9 4.9 35.6 2008 10.0 2004 37.6 2008
 Yemen 8.6 5.6 37.7 2005 8.6 2003 37.7 2005
 Cambodia 12.2 7.3 37.9 2008 12.0 2004 37.9 2008 est.
 Moldova 8.2 5.3 33.0 2010 8.3 2003 38.0 2008
 Liberia 12.8 38.2 2007 38.2 2007
 Portugal 15.0 8.0 38.5 2007 9.2 1995 est. 38.5 2007
 Malawi 10.9 6.7 39.0 2004 11.0 2004 39.0 2004
 Mauritania 12.0 7.4 40.5 2008 11.8 2000 39.0 2000
 Mauritius 39.0 2006 est.
 Venezuela 18.8 16.0 44.8 2006 50.3 2003 39.0 2011
 World 12.0 2002 est. 39 2007
 Israel 13.4 7.9 39.2 2001 11.8 2005 39.2 2008
 Ghana 14.1 8.4 42.8 2006 13.7 1999 39.4 2005–2006
 Guinea 10.5 6.6 39.4 2007 21.6 2006 39.4 2007
 Burkina Faso 11.6 6.9 39.8 2009 11.5 2003 39.5 2007
 Jordan 11.3 6.9 35.4 2010 11.3 2003 39.7 2007
 Tunisia 13.4 7.9 41.4 2005 13.7 2000 40.0 2005 est.
 United Kingdom 13.8 7.2 34.0 2005 13.6 1999 40 2008-2009
 Mali 12.5 7.6 33.0 2010 12.6 2001 40.1 2001
 Turkey 6.6 4.6 39.0 2008 17.1 2003 40.2 2010
 Nicaragua 31.0 8.8 40.5 2005 15.4 2001 40.5 2010
 Turkmenistan 12.3 7.7 40.8 1998 12.2 1998 40.8 1998
 Morocco 11.7 7.2 40.9 2007 11.9 1999 40.9 2007 est.
 Senegal 12.3 7.4 39.2 2005 12.4 2001 41.3 2001
 Côte d’Ivoire 16.6 9.7 41.5 2008 17.0 2002 41.5 2008
 Russia 12.7 7.6 40.1 2009 12.8 2002 41.7 2011
 South Korea 7.8 4.7 31.3 2007 8.6 2005 est. 41.9 2011
 Burundi 19.3 9.5 33.3 2006 19.3 1998 42.4 1998
 Kenya 13.6 8.2 47.7 2005 18.6 2000 42.5 2008 est.
 Macedonia 12.5 7.5 43.2 2009 12.3 2003 43.2 2009
 Nigeria 17.8 9.7 48.8 2010 17.5 2003 43.7 2003
 Uganda 16.6 9.2 44.3 2009 16.4 2002 44.3 2009
 Iran 17.2 9.7 38.3 2005 16.9 1998 44.5 2006
 Cameroon 15.7 9.1 38.9 2007 15.4 2001 44.6 2001
 Guyana 44.5 1998 26.0 1999 44.6 2007
 Philippines 15.5 9.3 43.0 2009 15.5 2003 44.8 2009
 United States 15.9 8.4 45 2007 15.0 2007 est. 45.0 2007
 Bulgaria 7.0 4.4 28.2 2007 8.8 2005 45.3 2007
 Uruguay 20.1 10.2 45.3 2010 17.9 2003 45.3 2010
 Jamaica 17.3 9.8 45.5 2004 17.0 2004 45.5 2004
 Mozambique 18.8 9.9 45.7 2008 18.8 2002 45.6 2008
 Argentina 31.6 17.8 36.4 2012 35.0 2007 Jan.-Mar. 45.8 2009
 Georgia 15.4 8.3 41.3 2008 15.2 2003 46 2011
 Peru 26.1 15.2 48.1 2010 31.5 2003 46.0 2010
 Malaysia 22.1 12.4 46.2 2009 28.0 2003 est. 46.2 2009
 Rwanda 18.6 9.9 50.8 2011 18.2 2000 46.8 2000
 El Salvador 38.6 20.9 48.3 2009 55.4 2002 46.9 2007
 Dominican Republic 25.3 14.3 47.2 2010 29.4 2005 47.2 2010 est.
 China, People’s Republic of 21.6 12.2 47.0 2007 21.8 2004 47.4 2012
 Madagascar 19.2 11.0 44.1 2010 19.3 2001 47.5 2001
 Ecuador 35.2 17.3 49.3 2010 17.5 2006 Oct.[10] 47.7 2012 Dec.[11]
 Singapore 17.7 9.7 48.1 2008 17.3 1998 47.8 2012
 Sri Lanka 11.1 6.9 40.3 2007 36.1 2003/04 fiscal year 49.0 2010
 Zimbabwe 50.1 1995 50.1 2006
 The Gambia 20.2 11.2 47.3 2003 20.6 1998 50.2 1998
 Costa Rica 23.4 15.6 50.7 2009 37.4 2003 50.3 2009
 Swaziland 25.1 13.0 51.5 2010 25.4 2001 50.4 2001
 Brazil 40.6 21.8 54.7 2009 37.1 2007 50.8 2012
 Zambia 54.6 2006 50.8 2004
 Papua New Guinea 23.8 12.6 50.9 1996 23.8 1996 50.9 1996
 Mexico 21.6 12.8 48.3 2008 24.6 2004 51.7 2008
 Panama 49.9 23.9 51.9 2010 61.4 2003 51.9 2010 est.
 Chile 26.2 15.7 52.1 2009 32.1 2003 52.1 2009
 Bolivia 93.9 42.3 56.3 2008 157.3 2002 53 2010
 Paraguay 38.8 25.7 52.4 2010 65.9 2003 53.2 2009
 Thailand 12.6 7.7 40.0 2009 12.4 2002 53.6 2009
 Hong Kong 17.8 9.7 53.3 2007 53.7 2011
 Guatemala 33.9 20.3 55.9 2006 48.2 2002 55.1 2007
 Honduras 59.4 17.2 57.0 2009 35.2 2003 57.7 2007
 Colombia 60.4 25.3 55.9 2010 56.3 2008 58.5 2011
 Haiti 54.4 26.6 59.2 2001 68.1 2001 59.2 2001
 Namibia 12.8 56.1 63.9 2004 129.0 2003 59.7 2010
 Central African Republic 69.2 32.7 56.3 2008 68.1 1993 61.3 1993
 Sierra Leone 87.2 57.6 42.5 2003 87.2 1989 62.9 1989
 Botswana 43.0 20.4 61.0 1994 63 1993
 Lesotho 10.5 44.2 52.5 2003 48.2 2002 est. 63.2 1995
 South Africa 33.1 17.9 63.1 2009 31.9 2000 65.0 2005

 

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