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Donald Trump and Angela Merkel will join 2,500 world leaders, business executives and charity bosses at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland which kicks off on 23 January. High on the agenda once again will be the topic of inequality, and how to reduce the widening gap between the rich and the rest around the world.
The WEF recently warned that the global economy is at risk of another crisis, and that automation and digitalisation are likely to suppress employment and wages for most while boosting wealth at the very top.
But what ideas should the great and good gathered in the Swiss Alps be putting into action? We'd like to know what single step you think governments should prioritise in order to best address the problem of rising inequality. Below we've outlined seven proposals that are most often championed as necessary to tackle the issue – but which of them is most important to you?
- Provide free and high quality education
- Raise the minimum wage
- Raise taxes on the rich
- Fight corruption
- Provide more social protection for the poor
- Stop the influence of the rich on politicians
- Provide jobs for the unemployed
Do you think these ideas are enough, or are there any better ideas to close this wealth gap ? You too can participate and vote for the idea that, you think, works best.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 21 2018, @12:13AM (1 child)
0. Get bribes out of politics.
1. Automation is inevitable and we need to get used to that idea. We can either ignore it or deal with it. On big picture timescales, we are not all that far off from the ability to automate the vast majority of food, housing, and other goods production, which means the idea of providing everyone with a universal basic income or at least a basic level of food and housing will start to make more and more sense as time goes on. The transition period from now to then, so we need to invest heavily in research, to accelerate the process.
2. Since employees will no longer be forced to accept jobs offering shitty pay just to prolong their own survival, their bargaining position for remaining jobs will be significantly increased, which will lead to increased pay and increased spending which will stimulate the economy.
3. Those who desire to wish to start their own businesses (because who really wants to sit and do nothing all day?) can now do so without the risk of ending up homeless on the street after their business failed and they can't pay their rent. (currently, 8 out of 10 new business fail within 18 months) The increased activity will stimulate the economy.
(Of course none of this will happen within my lifetime because #0 is impossible in the near future)
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Sunday January 21 2018, @01:26AM
If you were to go back 150 years and show farmers then how we do things now and they would say that farming is already >99% automated today.
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