How rich is too rich?
On Wednesday, April 14 at 19:30 GMT:
During the pandemic, billionaires have seen their collective wealth grow by a staggering $5 trillion, according to Forbes Magazine’s latest ranking of the world’s richest people. And as COVID-19 plunged the global economy into its deepest recession since the second world war, Forbes’ annual list grew to 2,755 people – adding 660 more billionaires to its ranks.
Amid a pandemic, the surge in wealth for the world’s richest is renewing a push for increasing their taxes. Proponents of wealth taxes say the measure could alleviate widening economic inequality and fund COVID-19 vaccination efforts needed to get the global economy back on track. Last week, the International Monetary Fund suggested that a temporary tax on the rich could finance and help meet heightened demand for social services.
In this episode of The Stream, we’ll look at the debate over wealth taxes.
On this episode of The Stream, we speak with:
Allison Schrager, @AllisonSchrager
Senior fellow, Manhattan Institute
Morris Pearl
Chairman, Patriotic Millionaires
Rafael Wildauer, @RafaelWildauer
Senior lecturer, University of Greenwich