Tuesday, November 3 at 2:00 pm
Is It Time to Redistribute the Wealth?
Economic inequality has become a linchpin of modern politics. As nations around the world face a reckoning on racial and social justice and work to combat the economic impacts of the pandemic, we ask: Is it time to redistribute the wealth? Should we address growing inequality by overhauling our tax system, expanding our social safety nets, and investing more in public initiatives like universal health care, education, and infrastructure? Or would a wealth transfer unduly punish the economic elite, destroy the promise of a meritocracy, and inevitably lead to excessive government intervention in our social and economic lives?
The Debaters:
Robert Reich
Former Secretary of Labor
Robert Reich is a professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley and senior fellow at the Blum Center. A former secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration and cofounder of Inequality Media, he is also the author of 18 books, including his latest “The System: Who Rigged It, How to Fix It.”
Yanis Varoufakis
Former Finance Minister, Greece
Yanis Varoufakis, a former finance minister of Greece, is secretary-general of the MeRA25 party and professor of economics at the University of Athens. He is the author of many books, including, “Another Now: Dispatches from an Alternative Past,” which considers how to create a more fair and equal society.
Allison Schrager
Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute
Allison Schrager is an American economist, author, and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, where she studies tax and monetary policy. Schrager has worked in finance and policy and was a regular contributor to the Economist, Reuters, and Bloomberg Businessweek. She is also the author of “An Economist Walks into a Brothel.”
Lawrence Summers
Former Secretary of the Treasury
Lawrence Summers has held several senior policy positions, including secretary of the Treasury under the Clinton administration and director of the National Economic Council for the Obama administration. He has also served as vice president of development economics and chief economist of the World Bank. Summers is a professor and president emeritus of Harvard University.
Host and Moderator:
John Donvan
To listen to the audio of “Is It Time to Redistribute the Wealth?” on Intelligence Squared online, please click HERE.