In August 2022, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) revealed that the poverty incidence rose to 18.1% in 2021 from 16.7% in 2018. Completely understandable, our technocrats said: After all, we all bore the brunt of the pandemic-driven recession. Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 9.5% from 2020 to 2021, the worst since 1947. Of...
Tag: wealth tax
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Debunking objections to a wealth tax
A wealth tax is based on the market value of owned assets minus debts and other liabilities, i.e., one’s net worth—anything that has monetary value. These include cash, landholdings, bank deposits, shares of stocks, vehicles, real property, pension plans, crypto funds, housing, trusts, jewelry, yachts, planes, works of art, antique collections, copyrights, etc. Opponents from...
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Tax the rich: 9 reasons for a wealth tax
Rising inequality has been an inescapable phenomenon of global economic development over the past 200 years. Per the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, growing inequality affects 70% of the global population and threatens “long-term social and economic development, [harming] poverty reduction and [destroying] people’s sense of fulfillment and self-worth,” all of which “can breed crime,...