Throwback Thursday: Rutger Bregman, the historian who ruffled some feathers in Davos in 2019: “Start talking about taxes”
The long-time mantra has been that lower taxes will help stimulate economic growth and high taxes smoother it. But one Davos panelist called that baloney.
World leaders have gathered once again in the Alpine village of Davos, Switzerland to discuss the global issues the world faces and how to tackle them to improve the state of the world. While the issue comes up on a regular basis nowadays, Dutch historian Rutger Bregman made splash back at the 2019 World Economic Forum when he called out billionaires for not paying their fair share of taxes.
During a Time magazine panel discussion on inequality, he explained how it was his first time at Davos and he honestly found it to be “quite a bewildering experience.” He began by mentioning that 1,500 private jets had arrived carrying people to listen to Sir David Attenborough speak about “how we’re wrecking the planet” and that there was only “one panel hidden away in the media center that was actually about tax avoidance.”
“It feels like I’m at a firefighters conference and no one’s allowed to speak about water”
Bregman reflected on the disconnect between the discussions going on and what he saw as the real crux of what needed to be talked about. “I hear people talking the language of participation, justice, equality and transparency but almost no one raises the real issue of tax avoidance, right?” he said.
“I mean it feels like I’m at a firefighters conference and no one’s allowed to speak about water, right?”
He pointed out that 10 years prior the WEF asked the question: “What must industry do to prevent a broad social backlash?” For Bergman the answer was very simple: “Just stop talking about philanthropy, and start talking about taxes.”
The historian, who rose to fame in 2017 with his TED talk about using universal basic income to overcome poverty, challenged the idea previously raised by a billionaire in the audience, who he believed to be Michael Dell, that high taxation is bad for a national economy by citing the U.S. tax regime of the 1950s, a period which saw the American middle class balloon.
“The United States, that’s where it has actually worked. In the 1950s during Republican President Eisenhower, you know, the war veteran,” Bergman said. “The top marginal tax rate in the U.S, was 91% for people like Michael Dell. You know, the top estate tax for people like Michael Dell was more than 70%,” he continued.
“I mean, this is not rocket science,” Bergman added. “We can talk for a very long time about all these stupid philanthropy schemes. We can invite Bono once more. But, come on, we’ve got to be talking about taxes.”
“That’s it. Taxes, taxes, taxes. All the rest is bullsh** in my opinion,” he concluded.
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