09/02/2018
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11:06:43
Wealth inequality drags growth: experts

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Consumers shop at a store (Source: VNA) |
As the world faces a crisis in wealth distribution, some experts doubt
if the accumulation of capital will encourage innovation and investment,
but instead, lead to multiple tax burdens and increase the gap between
rich and poor.
During a seminar in Hanoi on February 6, representatives from the
Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research (VEPR) and
international charitable confederation Oxfam agreed that the four
policies against tax inequality - public services, public spending on
health and education, and labour policies - should be employed
simultaneously.
Deepak L. Xavier, head of Oxfam International’s Even It Up Campaign,
said taxation was an important tool to lessen inequalities.
However, recent studies from Oxfam and the World Bank (WB) all show that
the tax systems in developing countries are often highly regressive
and generate insufficient revenue. A lack of transparency and lack of
co-ordination in their policies is said to be making the global tax
system less effective in addressing poverty and inequality.
Xavier said that tax burdens, such as the existence of tax havens, were
driving global inequality up further by allowing multinational companies
and super-rich individuals to shirk their tax obligations outside their
home country.
He argued that should these huge taxable amounts of income be retrieved
in full, they could be used to fund public services, such as health care
and free education - and any other social security programme.
In agreement, Vu Sy Cuong, vice-dean of Financial Policy Analysis at the
Academy of Finance, said he considered wealth inequality a great
barrier to growth and a hindrance to the chances of the poor
contributing to society - even creating a reason for crime and
corruption.
However, he said the present policy framework might not be sufficient to
address the wealth distribution inequalities that were becoming
increasingly common in Vietnamese society.
Cuong suggested that to prevent further deterioration of poverty, the
Government should recognise all the growing forms of economic inequality
and take measures to ensure successful innovation and economic growth
enabled poverty reduction.
Xavier said that to minimise the growing gap between the rich and the
poor, Vietnam should implement progressive policies on state governance,
the tax system, public services, and workers’ rights.
He also suggested the application of a heavier, more progressive tax
bracket for billionaires, to end extreme inequality and encourage the
flow of funds into public welfare spending.
According to Oxfam’s 2017 study, the current level of global inequality
is so great that just one percent of the richest people accounted for
more than 80 percent of the world’s total assets, while the world’s
poorest 50 percent did not increase their wealth, even slightly.
Data from the World Bank shows that income inequality in Viet Nam has
increased in the past two decades even though the poverty line has been
raised significantly.
Since 2004, the income gap between the richest 20 percent in the country
and the rest of its labour force has been increasing, along with the
number of super-rich people, according to the bank.-VNA