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Capitalism was for many years much more than an economic system – it was the promise, that everybody can better his conditions of life, that there will be endless progress, that there will be liberation from feudalistic structures etc. In view of environmentel destruction and neofeudalistic tendencies: Is the dream over? And what comes next? The capitalist dream is not over – but capitalism needs to be reformed. If capital taxes go to zero and nothing is done to seriously deal with climate change, then yes there’s a serious risk of witnessing a return to extreme wealth inequalities in the decades ahead, and extreme environmental damage. However, we’re not doomed. Our capitalist and democratic societies can prevent these outcomes from happening, with the right policies, in particular by taxing wealth and taxing carbon emissions.
Do you consider initiatives like The Giving Pledge, that was initiated by Bill Gates and Waren Buffet, as a possibility to reduce the concentration of capital? Charitable giving can help reduce the concentration of capital, but it would be a grave mistake to rely on that force only. Today, despite all the pledges made, the wealth in US private foundations is only 1% of total household wealth – and no more than 5% of the wealth of the top 0.1% of the population. Charitable giving is not substitute for progressive taxation. Gabriel Zucman Gabriel Zucman hat Wirtschaftswissenschaften studiert und ist Assistant Professor an der London School of Economics.
H O R I Z O N T
I don’t agree with your premise that „not so many people fight against rising inequality“. When you vote for a government, for a Parliament that enacts tax laws, in effect you vote for some types of redistributive policies. Our tax and transfer systems do achieve a fair amount of redistribution – one that might be insufficient in many ways, but still, one that makes today’s societies fundamentally different from the aristocratic societies of the past.
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