Capitalists, Arise: We Need to Deal With Income Inequality

Billionaires are nervous about growing inequality. The United States is wealthy, yet 40 percent are in debt, living from pay check to pay check. Businesses that rely on ordinary consumers purchasing clothes, home products and more will see stagnation. “If inequality is not addressed, the income gap will most likely be resolved in one of two ways: by major social unrest or through oppressive taxes, such as the 80 percent tax rate on income over $500,000 suggested by Thomas Piketty, the French economist and author of the best-selling book ‘Capital in the Twenty-First Century,’” suggests Peter Georgescu in an essay for the New York Times. He immigrated to the United States as a teenager from Romania, then under Soviet control, and expresses appreciation for many opportunities. But now “We are creating a caste system from which it’s almost impossible to escape, except for the few with exceptional brains, athletic skills or luck…. We risk losing the capitalist engine that brought us great economic success and our way of life.” Georgescu concludes that, despite a paralyzed US Congress, businesses can take action by investing in employees, operations and innovation. – YaleGlobal