Date: Feb 20, 2019Time: 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM
Feb202019

Senior Brown Bag Lunch: How Should We Deal with Income/Wealth Inequality?

Wed, 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM WeWork
General PublicSeniors

Description

This topic is gaining more attention all the time, especially since the big success of Thomas Piketty’s ’s widely-bought but little-read “Capital in the 21st Century” in 2013. Is the long-term trend going to end with a revolution, or are there more practical ways to deal with this emotional topic? Even the politicians are now jumping into the fray, despite the strong feelings that reveal a wide separation of personal opinions. Some say this concentration of riches will actually lead to a much poorer economy for everyone in the long run. We will look at the following questions:

  1. Is there a consensus on the primary causes of this inequality?
    • We are bombarded with statistics on the top 1%, and top 0.1% compared to the rest of the world. How did we get here?
  2. What is the opinion of most of the public?
    • Many say “we are forgotten” – all the benefits are targeted for the rich – in taxes, legal affairs, etc. “No longer can our children do better than we have.”
  3. What are the major proposals to tackle this problem?
    • Increased marginal tax rate to 72%.
    • A wealth tax of 2% per year (note the comparison to the routine property tax on most families’ largest source of wealth).
  4. What political obstacles will obstruct progress, and how could they be overcome?
    • Much of the government is determined by the plutocrats (the richest among us). Can a popular uprising blunt their power?

Come join us to share your thoughts and consider a variety of options.

Resources: relevant articles from the New York Times
• “What’s Really Radical? Not Taxing the Rich” David Leonhardt Feb. 3, 2019 Link: https://nyti.ms/2DRaNYm
• “Schumer and Sanders: :Limit Corporate Stock Buybacks” Schumer and Sanders Feb. 3, 2019 Link: https://nyti.ms/2DSsdE8
• ”Taxing the Wealthy Sounds Easy. It’s not.” Paul Sullivan Feb. 1, 2019 Link https://nyti.ms/2UvS9uF

Date Time

Date: Feb 20, 2019Time: 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM

Location

WeWork1460 Broadway
New York, NY 10036
View Map

Price

  • Free / Alumni Registration

Attendees

Antoine Bernheim, Robert Fletcher, Amory Houghton, William Jacobi, Herbert Kaplan, Mary Jane Kaplan, John Keefe, Marlene Krauss, Cindy Kynard, Roger Lipton, Roger Lipton, Jean-Louis Maserati, Joseph Morein, Ronald Randall, William Rosser, Earl Templeton

Organizer

Bill Rosser '62

WeWork

1460 Broadway, New York, NY, 10036