Table of Contents

Low-income workers are feeling the pain
Struggling middle class
Stagnant gross wages for blue-collar workers
US band-aid on net wages for the poorest
Income growth hijacked by the rich despite government transfers
Unrelenting income inequality in most countries
Recurrent unemployment threat
Housing costs are worsening inequality
Healthcare costs are piling on
Widening wealth inequality
Growth of the stock markets for the rich
Low interest rates for the poor

No, borrowing can’t bankroll everything
Splurging through borrowing to solve it all?
Borrowing like crazy would lead to inflation
Since the 1980s: borrowing under surveillance
Risk of crowding-out effect of the public deficit
The money illusion
No, overtaxing high incomes is not a panacea
Increasing taxes on high wages and corporate profits?
Not too far: heavy taxation is a political threat
High income taxes and the stagflation of the 1970s
Since 1980, cutting tax rates… for more(!) fiscal revenues
Cutting income tax rates to stem the economic crisis
Cutting tax rates on capital gains for a new economy
The recovery has not lifted low wages
A comeback of high tax rates won’t fix global warming or inequality
No, a wealth tax won’t fund the green transition
Congress must just pass a new wealth tax?
Rich’s cash is gone (in loans or investments)
Non-cash assets can’t be taxed easily
A high wealth tax is not realistic
Asset confiscation won’t revive the economy
Switzerland: wealth tax success in a low tax country
Alternative tax on wealth: the capital gains tax
Inescapable tax on wealth: the estate tax
No miracle from plundering the rich
No, the government can’t force corporations to fix it all
The government must rein in corporations?
Tightening the screw too fast: bankruptcies guaranteed
Mandating higher pay could backfire
A “robot tax” is hardly applicable
Protectionist measures are unlikely to be effective
Incremental regulations were already tested
Deregulation post-1980
No, government handouts are not a solution
The US government is hesitant to redistribute more
Not too far: welfare is a potential poverty trap
A negative tax for low-income jobs
Budgets for free money should not overload the economy
New benefit programs would exclude some
The EU: shrinking benefits over the last decades
No, education can’t quickly spark upward economic mobility
Just educate or retrain with more funding?
US education budget isn’t small
The example of other countries
Education is slow to move people up the job ladder

Regulations for geopolitics and everything else
Regulations for re-industrialization
Green-energy regulations soon to come
Unknown impact of future tech
High-tech may threaten low-skill jobs
Technology may rescue productivity

Monetary changes have bypassed politics more than once