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.
Davos is a Swiss ski resort now more famous for hosting the annual four-day conference for the World Economic Forum. For participants it is a festival of networking. Getting an invitation is a sign you have made it – and the elaborate system of badges reveals your place in the Davos hierarchy. The meeting is sponsored by a huge number of international banks and corporations.
For critics, “Davos man” is shorthand for the globe-trotting elite, disconnected from their home countries after spending too much time in the club-class lounge. Others just wonder if it is all a big waste of time.
The 2020 meeting is being advertised as focusing on seven themes: Fairer economies, better business, healthy futures, future of work, tech for good, beyond geopolitics and how to save the planet. Young climate activists and school strikers from around the world will be present at the event to put pressure on world leaders over that last theme.
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
Proponents of government funded free education argue it opens up opportunity to all, improving social mobility and reducing inequality. Namibia had the highest levels of inequality in Africa in the 1990s, but reduced its gap between richest and the rest after devoting the world’s second-highest percentage of overall budget to education - enabling it to provide free secondary school to all students.
Raise the minimum wage
With stuttering average wages in the private sector, some say raising the minimum wage is the only way workers can keep pace with inflation and rising costs, preventing those at the bottom of the economic scale from being cast further adrift.
Raise taxes on the rich
As those at the top capture an ever greater share of national wealth, proponents of raising income or wealth taxes on the rich say a massive redistribution of wealth is essential to halt the rise of inequality.
Fight corruption
If the game is rigged in favour of those with power and capital, then any measures to improve equality will prove futile, some argue. A level playing field is the primary requirement for social mobility and diversity to thrive.
Provide more social protection for the poor
This includes policies and funding to mitigate the risks of unemployment, ill health and disability, supporting the most vulnerable in society and promoting workers rights. Providing a strong social safety net prevents communities being cast adrift when social or economic changes occur.
Stop the influence of the rich on politicians
Inequality of access to power leads directly to greater inequality overall, some would argue. Politicians will inevitably be more inclined to enact policies to the benefit of those who fund their campaigns and have their ear.
Provide jobs for the unemployed
Proponents of providing state jobs for anyone who can’t otherwise find work - instead of offering welfare payments, or simply ignoring the problem - argue it reduces inequality while also offering purpose to people’s lives and creating utility for the state.
Using the drop-down menu below, please tell us which one step you think is most important for tackling inequality – and then explain why, in as much detail as possible, in the box provided. If your preferred strategy is not included in our list of seven, select “other” before explaining what your preference is in the text box.
Many thanks – we plan to use a selection of your responses in our reporting.
