Quote of the day: inequality

Source: Walt McDougall, New York World, Oct 30, 1884.

From Shifting Grounds, our quote of the day:

“New political eras begin when the ideas that define them are embraced by those most reluctant to accept their logic.”

The quote is about inequality – but it could just as well be about tax justice. 

Back to the article itself, which is excellent:

“It has percolated up to the elite echelons of the neo-liberal priesthood where a crisis of faith seems to be turning true believers into heretics.

First up was the International Monetary Fund with a groundbreaking research paper published in 2011 debunking the myth http://artsandhealth.ie/fluconazole/ that there is a trade-off between social justice and efficiency and warning that high levels of inequality impede economic growth. Next came The Economist the following year with a special issue describing inequality as one of the biggest challenges of our time and calling for a “True Progressivism” to tackle it. By the start of this year inequality had become the talking point of Davos as corporate executives and senior economists lined up to voice fears about its impact on the sustainability and legitimacy of capitalism.

It’s hard to do justice to the intellectual sea change this represents.

Quite so.