Most people now distrust capitalism and want govt to tackle income inequality, research finds
Most people now distrust capitalism and want govt to tackle income inequality, research finds
News brief - 24/01/20 View this email in your browser
Most people now distrust capitalism and want govt to tackle income inequality
Despite the results of the general election, the swing in public opinion towards a more left-wing paradigm seen since 2017 has continued. New research has found that the majority of people believe that capitalism has gone too far and that the government needs to tackle the issue of income inequality. And it isn't just the general population that is worried about these problems. Breaking from its historical support of free market economics, the International Monetary Fund is urging governments to intervene in unfair wealth distribution too.
A major survey of around 34,000 people globally has found that public opinion has turned on capitalism, with most respondents saying they believe it now does more harm than good. These findings coincided with another large poll by the Social Mobility Commission, which found that most of the UK population wants to see the government do more to tackle the lack of opportunities afforded to the least well off.
These concerns have been echoed, rather uncharacteristically, by the International Monetary Fund, the leader of which has called on governments to tackle income inequality, including by increasing taxation on the wealthiest, warning that deepening inequalities have historically been shown to destabilise economies and that narrowing the gap between rich and poor will stimulate growth and productivity.
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