i think it's because people sense that inequality has become just so mass of a problem that it needs to be addressed. In order to address it practically, we need to get political will to do so. We had higher taxes in the mid century. And this was incredibly effective at pressing wealth levels. But it wasn't fully effective. There were still groups that were very much left out. Even some of the most proactive, progressive politicians are sometimes too beholden to wealthy people. So you can't reduce rent seeking unless you attack the problem of lobbying by the wealthy. It's a government fix that needs to take place.
Reportedly the planet's richest person, multibillionaire Elon Musk is currently seeking to buy the World's online public square, Twitter. Should billionaires be able to buy so much influence? For this week's Sunday Debate we revisit a discussion from 2021 investigating just that, when we invited Professor Linsey McGoey of Essex University and Ryan Bourne of the Cato Institute go head to head on whether society should tolerate the existence of billionaires. The debate was chaired by Economics Editor at BBC Newsnight, Ben Chu.
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