During the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, 250 of the world’s richest people wrote an open letter to political leaders, calling for greater taxes on their own wealth. The signatories, including members of both the Rockefeller and Disney dynasties, recognised that increasing global inequality is putting economic, societal and ecological stability at risk for everyone, themselves included.
The signatories admitted that taxing them would not affect their standard of living, deprive their children or harm their nations’ economies. It would, however, “turn extreme and unproductive private wealth into an investment for our common democratic future.”
A poll of over two thousand of the wealthiest people in the G20, furthermore, has found that more than half of them think extreme wealth is a threat to democracy, and almost three quarters support higher taxes on their own wealth, to improve public services and help address the cost of living crisis.
In the UK, a YouGov poll last year showed that three quarters of us would support wealth taxes on millionaires, too, but, perhaps unsurprisingly, the Conservatives have no intention to implement such a thing, while, more disappointingly, Labour have confirmed they have no plans to do so either.
If our largest two parties are so out of touch with public sentiment, the damage inequality causes, and the benefits a wealth tax could bring, who can people vote for in the coming year’s elections, if they think this issue is important? The Green Party, as it happens, is proposing a tax on the wealthiest top 1%, which could raise £21-43 billion a year. Just saying…
Andrew Myer, Islington Green Party