I repost this from the Tax Justice Network blog:
Welcome to the latest episode of the Tax Justice Network's monthly podcast, the Taxcast. You can subscribe either by emailing naomi [at] taxjustice.net or find us on your podcast app. In this episode:
Taxcast host Naomi Fowler talks to millionaire and wealth tax campaigner Djaffar Shalchi of Millionaires for Humanity about his experience of moving from Iran at an early age to grow up in Denmark. He shares how highly he values the high tax Scandinavian society, as an entrepreneur, and as a human being. He also talks about his campaign for a 1% wealth tax on the world's top 1%.
- Plus: US President Biden drops his proposal for a minimum global corporate tax rate from 21% to ‘at least 15%' which is bitterly disappointing.
- However, so far the US administration is sticking to its plan to invest $80 billion in its tax authority, the IRS. Tax collectors will be able to refocus on the wealthiest and on corporate profits. Tax collectors could pull in an additional $700 billion over the next decade.
- Also, how degrowth must begin with the very wealthy.
The transcript is available here: https://www.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/The-Taxcast-Transcript-112.pdf
Download here to listen offline.
The beautiful thing about Denmark, or Scandinavia, is that you have this beautiful welfare system where everybody get the same opportunities. Denmark gave me an education, a good healthcare system, and all the benefits that many in Denmark have worked for to give to their children. So for me, it was obvious that when I got successful, I never, never said that it was only because I was good. I said the society of course is a big part of it. And that's why I have to protect the welfare system and put as much as I can back inside the system.”
~ Djaffar Shalchi, Millionaires for Humanity
De-growth must be focused on reducing the hugely polluting lifestyles of the richest people on the planet, let's say the top 10%, at the same time allowing for growth of health and education services, all the other services that can rapidly improve the wellbeing of the remaining 90% of the people. This should be an agenda for redistributing wealth and power. In a world of finite resources, we can only live in peace if we share resources more fairly, and don't perpetuate an economic system which distributes resources upwards into the pockets of a very tiny minority who mainly extract wealth rather than create wealth.”
~ John Christensen, Tax Justice Network
Our tax collectors are the forgotten key workers, right up there with healthcare staff and all the key workers, that we should be celebrating most highly.”
~ Taxcast host Naomi Fowler
Image: “Copenhagen Cycling” by @markheybo is licensed under CC BY 2.0
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So is the honeymoon over yet? Have the rose tinted spectacles shattered?
Where is the ‘change’ & ‘Hope’ a hundred days in?
I still expect things to get worse as the old guard of the State Department/cfr proceed with their never ending plans of conquest.
Actions as usual speak louder than words.
Does Denmark and the other Nordics have wealth taxation to the extent that Djaffar Shalchi is promoting?
If they don’t then it does seem rather odd to praise their societies, welfare system, opportunities, healthcare and education in raising people up like him and having good levels of social mobility and then to tell those countries that their tax system is doing it radically wrong.
It seems that Denmark etc have their tax systems broadly right.
They do better than us
Their progressive tax systems in themselves help reduce the need for wealth taxes
I have long made that argument
Richard, Are you saying Tax is for spending?
TJN works in lots of countries where it is
‘De-growth’.
Hmmm – look, I appreciate those who advocate and think about these issues. I really do. And I appreciate the honesty too. But it needs to be called something else.
Just think of the emotional impact on an already over-emotional market (dominated by fear, greed, irrationality, offensive levels of wealth everywhere) and you’re telling me you are going to sell this as ‘de-growth’?
Here I have to throw my hands up and ask ‘When are we going to learn from vested interests and Neo-libs and learn how to couch these ideas terms in a way that makes them sound more acceptable and less easy to undermine?’. We need I’m afraid to start playing them at their own game – as unsavoury as that sounds.
There can and maybe has to be chicanery in the fight for social justice and future – not just to consolidate the wealth and power of the elite.
Putting my MMT head on for a moment, while any Government can create the money it needs, it also needs to ‘cancel back, money via taxation to avoid inflation, so if you dont tax, but create money the result (may) be inflation.
Ignoring of course any other reasons for taxing, in particular the super rich