Rory Sutherland Rory Sutherland

Tax me more, but don’t touch my dishwasher

The nature of inequality has changed since the last century. It may no longer be as helpful

issue 13 February 2016

There was a big fuss a year or so ago about a book by a French chap called Piketty about wealth inequality. He suggested capitalism, aside from an anomalous period between 1930 and 1979, inexorably concentrated wealth at the top.

One interesting defence of inequality is that the rich, by adopting technologies early, redistribute far more of their wealth than we realise by funding R&D and innovation.

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