Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

appalachiablue

(41,145 posts)
Tue Jan 7, 2020, 08:21 PM Jan 2020

IMF Boss Says Raise Taxes On The Rich To Tackle Inequality

Source: The Guardian

Raising income tax on the wealthy will help close the growing gap between rich and poor and can be done without harming growth, the head of the International Monetary Fund has said.

Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF’s managing director, said higher marginal tax rates for the better off were needed as part of a policy rethink to tackle inequality.

In a sign of how the IMF has moved away from the tax-cutting approach that once formed a central part of its policy advice, Georgieva said there needed to be a different approach to tackling what had become “one of the most complex and vexing challenges in the global economy”.

The IMF chief, writing in a blog, said: “Inequality of opportunity. Inequality across generations. Inequality between women and men. And, of course, inequality of income and wealth. They are all present in our societies and – unfortunately – in many countries they are growing.”




Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jan/07/imf-boss-says-raise-taxes-on-the-rich-to-tackle-inequality



What Is The IMF, International Monetary Fund? In the 1990s, the IMF was at the heart of the Washington consensus – a free-market approach to running economies that included the belief that tax cuts for the better off would have trickle down benefits through greater innovation and higher growth. The IMF functions as the global lender of last resort, bailing out countries in financial difficulty and issuing policy advice alongside its interventions.

But the IMF has shifted it stance amid evidence of weak growth, a concentration of wealth among the top 0.1% of the population, and a falling share of national output going to workers. The world’s 26 richest billionaires – including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg – own as many assets as the 3.8 billion people who make up the poorest half of the planet’s population, according to Oxfam. In a report last year, the charity said a global wealth tax on the 1% would raise an estimated $418bn (£325bn) a year – enough to educate every child not in school and provide healthcare that would prevent 3 million deaths.

The IMF managing director, who succeeded Christine Lagarde last year, said higher taxes on the better off, the use of digital tools to boost tax collection, and reducing corruption would help fund government spending to expand opportunities for those “communities and individuals that have been falling behind.”
------------
- Even The IMF Is Calling For Higher Taxes On The Rich, Truthdig, Jan. 7, 2020
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/even-the-imf-is-calling-for-higher-taxes-on-the-rich/



- International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.
5 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
IMF Boss Says Raise Taxes On The Rich To Tackle Inequality (Original Post) appalachiablue Jan 2020 OP
K&R ck4829 Jan 2020 #1
Making some progress, much more to go appalachiablue Jan 2020 #2
Correct me if I'm wrong but IMO the IMF has been one of the primary agents of the world's problems pecosbob Jan 2020 #3
Yeah, it was suppose to reduce poverty and prevent another world war Farmer-Rick Jan 2020 #5
Raise their taxes to 90% after the first $5 million like we did after Farmer-Rick Jan 2020 #4

pecosbob

(7,541 posts)
3. Correct me if I'm wrong but IMO the IMF has been one of the primary agents of the world's problems
Wed Jan 8, 2020, 04:43 AM
Jan 2020

promoting corporate agriculture and extractive industries as well as a plethora of white elephant infrastructure projects that do little but bleed the populous of whatever nation they've decided to screw with this year and fatten the despoilers bank accounts.

Farmer-Rick

(10,185 posts)
5. Yeah, it was suppose to reduce poverty and prevent another world war
Wed Jan 8, 2020, 11:12 AM
Jan 2020

But it merely became another tool for the filthy rich to control our national wealth.

Good intentions became a corrupt tool of the filthy rich.

Farmer-Rick

(10,185 posts)
4. Raise their taxes to 90% after the first $5 million like we did after
Wed Jan 8, 2020, 10:50 AM
Jan 2020

The RepubliCON Great Depression. It stopped the American filthy rich from ruling as an oligarchy for about 90 years.

All the problems we have today can be traced back to the corruption caused by capitalism. It is a stagnate and corrupt system that is eating humanity and destroying this planet.

Latest Discussions»Latest Breaking News»IMF Boss Says Raise Taxes...