Inflation, pandemic, climate change: the urgent need for progressive taxation

09.09.2022

States have a choice: they can opt for austerity programs or they can decide to put in place taxes on those who have taken advantage of the crisis to enrich themselves.

Livestream 15 September 6 pm-7:15 pm

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought the most vulnerable states to their knees, burdening them with debts incurred to mitigate the economic shock. A context further aggravated by the war in Ukraine and its economic and social consequences, while the world is facing a climate crisis of existential dimensions.

States have a choice: they can opt for austerity programs, cutting funding to public services, raising the retirement age, and increasing the contribution of the poorest through inflation-enhanced consumption taxes, at the expense, once again, of the most vulnerable. History shows that this choice, as well as the domination of economic sectors by a handful of large corporations, inevitably leads to increased inequality and social unrest. At the same time, multinationals have recorded record profits, and billionaires have become richer during the crisis than in the last decade. A race for profits that fuels populist and authoritarian movements, while eroding the credibility of democracy.

States can, on the contrary, decide to put in place taxes on those who have taken advantage of the crisis to enrich themselves. What to tax, and whom to tax? How can we finally make those who have not paid their fair share of taxes contribute? And how to deal with super-profits, generated, in particular, by soaring prices?

This is the time to discuss all the alternatives that would help states to recover more fiscal resources. In October 2021, 137 jurisdictions signed a global agreement to tax multinationals in a digitalized economy, under the aegis of the G20/OECD, but implementation remains uncertain. What is the future of this reform and what are the solutions for developed and developing countries to make multinationals pay their fair share?

Join us for a panel discussion during this public conference, which will be simultaneously translated into French and English and broadcasted live on ICRICT's Youtube channel.

Panelists:

Cécile Duflot, Oxfam France Executive Director (Moderator)
Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, ICRICT co-chair
Joseph Stiglitz, Professor of Economics at Columbia University, ICRICT co-chair
Pascal Saint-Amans, OECD CTPA director
Theresa Neef, Researcher, EU Tax Observatory