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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: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 21 2018, @05:27PM
Free education and free/subsidized access to contraception.
1) Free education
If you're living in a democracy it may be better for you to pay for free decent quality education for everyone especially voters unless you're one of those greatly benefiting from their lack of education.
Otherwise you end up paying for their poor/lack of education in other ways ;).
2) Contraception
If a country is rich enough it can probably afford to pay all citizens basic income but that's only sustainable if people don't breed exponentially. Not everyone will breed indiscriminately, but if you provide $$$, healthcare, etc in some ways you are breeding for those who will breed indiscriminately. If contraception is easily available, you may delay it or it may never become a big enough problem.
If a country is poor it can't do basic income and it may not have the infrastructure and facilities to raise that many children to adults that can compete in the global market for higher $$$$. And the parents of those children might only be able to afford to raise one or two that successfully while not with say 8 children. If you produce 2 higher income earners and 6 low/zero income earners then you're not really closing the per capita wealth gap. You're actually part of the problem.