Expert panel says report on gap in global wealth between rich and poor highlights need for intervention by G20
More than $70tn (£53tn) of inherited wealth will pass down the generations across the world over the next decade, widening inequality and highlighting the need for intervention by the G20 group of leading nations, a group of economists and campaigners have warned.
In a report ahead of the G20 meetings in Johannesburg, hosted by the South African government later this month, the expert panel said the gap in global wealth between rich and poor will widen over the next decade without a permanent monitoring group such as the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said the report, commissioned by the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, found inequality growing in more than eight in 10 of the world’s countries.
This one is easy. Inheritance tax at 95%, and then add on top a wealth tax for those with net worth over $5mil of 5% yearly. Boom, Medicare funded, wealth inequality reduced, and humanity lives on.
We are trying 50% above 50 Million in Switzerland right now. It does not have the slightest chance to become law. A huge majority of the population is against it even though it would basically affect no-one.
Glad you’re giving it a go, are there any cogent arguments being made against it or just the usual “I got mine, it’ll trickle down if you’re a good consumer” nonsense?
Hope ya’ll find a way to make it work!
Most ads I see against it claim that our taxes will increase because all the rich people will simply leave. And that it is to radical, should have gone with a far higher number than 50 Million and a lower tax rate. Pretty sure they would still say that no matter what the numbers are.
This is where the reverse mortgage is really going to start fucking over the poor.
Oh look, the banks got your inheritance and your family’s real estate.
Can it be avoided if the remainder of the estate pays off the home?
Though I guess if that were the case maybe they wouldn’t have gotten a reverse mortgage to begin with…
Inheritance absolutely widens inequality, all unearned income does. Here in the US I’m pretty sure most of that money will land in the pockets of long term care providers though. People expecting a bailout when their parents die may be disappointed.
And I’m sure that $ won’t mostly end up in the hands of the aides actually DOING the care, that would help inequality. No, it will go to execs and owners and make it even worse.
Inheritance taxes are pretty high where I am. I won’t get much of what my parents have earned.
With all the free time in retirement my father has actually tried looking for more optimal ways to structure their wealth. There is none for average normies like us without getting butt fucked by the tax man. This kind of thing no doubt gatekept to millionaires and above. Those who can afford to hire people to do accounting tricks. And to buy politicians to make favorable legislation.
I’m pretty sure a big reason for the massive right wing shift over the past decade is in no small part due to this generational wealth transfer. The rich are fighting economic war that the rest of us don’t even know about.
People are distracted by the current bullshit of politics. Nobody ever talks about this generational wealth transfer. It’s the big one.
In the US they’ve already given what is it like trillions in tax breaks to the rich. The poor are funding it basically.
Everyone thinks things are bad already. I think this is only the beginning.
my father has actually tried looking for more optimal ways to structure their wealth.
There is none for average normies like us
Hate to break it to you, friend, but if your parents are talking about “structuring their wealth,” I don’t think you’re an “average normie”
This is the very first time I’ve seen the word trillion abbreviated.
I don’t like this trend. When did human civilization become this complacent?
How the fuck are these parasites not concerned about more and more Luigi’s popping up???
How does this widen the gap? The gap is already there, at worst it’s staying the same through inheritance. It’s more likely to dilute somewhat as there tend to be multiple inheritors splitting up the fortune their parents amassed
I suppose it’s because when the trillions go to the rich, they tend to stay there even after death. And that too supports the trend of trickle up economy. Trickle down is a myth.
It will be interesting to see if the people that are seemingly some of the most critical of “boomers” are somehow magically any different than prior generations…once history’s largest wealth transfer in history has transpired.
Knowing human nature, and very critical of the notions commonly bandied about in conversations regarding “generations”, let’s just say I’m very dubious.
Yeah, I doubt it. People talk a big game, but at almost every opportunity they will chose convenience and price despite what they say, and there are few things more convenient than wealth and the ability to use money to make problems go away.
Yup. The boomers were young and idealist and had heads full of ideas of changing the world and human nature, too.
My generation (Gen X) watched things like Ronnie Raygun and the excess of the 80s and yuppies and so on, and watching boomers reveling in excess right after the 60s and 70s and a lot of us sneered and said, “look at these sellouts, doing everything The Man told them to do after supposedly rebelling against The Man, we’ll never be like those guys”. Of course, not all boomers and not all Gen X did these things/had these reactions; just talking verrrrry broad strokes here.
Anyway, the boomers didn’t really seem to course-correct and Gen X, in spite of being called “slackers” and so on, seem to be little different from the trajectory that the boomers went on.
And I bet I could find similar sentiments about The Lost Generation and The Silent Generation and The Greatest Generation if I were to try to mine information from newspapers and books and magazines of the past.
I don’t think Gen Y, Gen Z, Alpha, etc…have any magical property that somehow elevates them as a group, either. I suppose if some truly world-shattering human-altering tech comes on the scene, maybe then. Meaning, something in the transhumanist sphere that somehow is used for good to maximize both intelligence and empathy in all of the human population…something akin to The Matrix, but instead of learning Kung Fu, people gain deep insights and have something that shatters the ego (and lasts beyond just peak experiences from MDMA or LSD or the like).
some truly world-shattering human-altering tech
Maybe say…climate change?
And if capitalists cared about inequality, I’m sure they’d be very worried about this.
JFC, inheritance tax much? Get your shit together.
