Summary
The world is at a historic crossroads, as economies everywhere attempt to pull themselves out of a COVID-19-induced hiatus. The damage inflicted has been horrific in terms of lives taken and livelihoods lost. However, it also presents an opportunity to rebuild in a more inclusive and responsible way. Coronavirus-related lockdowns provided a glimpse of what is possible in terms of limiting pollution, and the pandemic's human toll illustrated what can happen when healthcare systems and social safety nets are neglected. Now, it is up to leaders in the private and public sectors to seize the moment and help create a more equitable and sustainable society.
The Great Reset
Harnessing the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Technology can be a tool for positive change as we rebuild after the pandemic
As the COVID-19 pandemic spread it triggered a wave of potentially dangerous misinformation online. It also underlined both the potential benefits - and the potential privacy concerns - related to technologies capable of tracking a person’s location. Around the world, the technologies powering the Fourth Industrial Revolution played both positive and negative roles as countries grappled with one of the gravest global health crises in modern history.
International Taxation of Individuals
Globalization and the tax avoidance industry have enabled increasingly illicit behaviour
Recent public disclosures have cast new light on the old saying, “the poor evade, the rich avoid.” By using information on the wealth hidden in tax havens by the 0.01% wealthiest individuals in the world (uncovered thanks to the Panama Papers and Swiss Leaks disclosures, and via various tax amnesty programs), economists from the University of California, Berkeley, have been able to estimate the total amount of taxes evaded globally by the ultra-rich - and the findings are astounding. One quarter of all taxes owed by the wealthiest 0.01% are never paid, compared with tax evasion rates that are as low as 3% amongst taxpayers in the bottom 90% of the wealth distribution.
In order to curb this phenomenon, tax authorities need access to more information about foreign bank accounts, ideally through automatic exchange-of-information agreements (recent developments such as the US’s Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act are evidence that this is starting to happen). Above and beyond the simple exchange of information, we need to create a global wealth registry that records the beneficial owners of the world’s assets.
Mobility
Mobility is a fundamental human need, and an essential enabler of prosperity. But the current mobility paradigm is not sustainable; car travel causes millions of deaths every year, a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions are transport-related, and congestion causes heavy financial losses. There is hope on the horizon, however - the global mobility system is in the early stages of massive transformation, as new technologies enable innovative related businesses, and as policy-makers seek out ways to foster mobility that is smarter, cleaner, and more inclusive.
The world is at a historic crossroads, as economies everywhere attempt to pull themselves out of a COVID-19-induced hiatus. The damage inflicted has been horrific in terms of lives taken and livelihoods lost. However, it also presents an opportunity to rebuild in a more inclusive and responsible way. Coronavirus-related lockdowns provided a glimpse of what is possible in terms of limiting pollution, and the pandemic's human toll illustrated what can happen when healthcare systems and social safety nets are neglected. Now, it is up to leaders in the private and public sectors to seize the moment and help create a more equitable and sustainable society.
The Great Reset
Harnessing the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Technology can be a tool for positive change as we rebuild after the pandemic
As the COVID-19 pandemic spread it triggered a wave of potentially dangerous misinformation online. It also underlined both the potential benefits - and the potential privacy concerns - related to technologies capable of tracking a person’s location. Around the world, the technologies powering the Fourth Industrial Revolution played both positive and negative roles as countries grappled with one of the gravest global health crises in modern history.
International Taxation of Individuals
Globalization and the tax avoidance industry have enabled increasingly illicit behaviour
Recent public disclosures have cast new light on the old saying, “the poor evade, the rich avoid.” By using information on the wealth hidden in tax havens by the 0.01% wealthiest individuals in the world (uncovered thanks to the Panama Papers and Swiss Leaks disclosures, and via various tax amnesty programs), economists from the University of California, Berkeley, have been able to estimate the total amount of taxes evaded globally by the ultra-rich - and the findings are astounding. One quarter of all taxes owed by the wealthiest 0.01% are never paid, compared with tax evasion rates that are as low as 3% amongst taxpayers in the bottom 90% of the wealth distribution.
In order to curb this phenomenon, tax authorities need access to more information about foreign bank accounts, ideally through automatic exchange-of-information agreements (recent developments such as the US’s Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act are evidence that this is starting to happen). Above and beyond the simple exchange of information, we need to create a global wealth registry that records the beneficial owners of the world’s assets.
Mobility
Mobility is a fundamental human need, and an essential enabler of prosperity. But the current mobility paradigm is not sustainable; car travel causes millions of deaths every year, a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions are transport-related, and congestion causes heavy financial losses. There is hope on the horizon, however - the global mobility system is in the early stages of massive transformation, as new technologies enable innovative related businesses, and as policy-makers seek out ways to foster mobility that is smarter, cleaner, and more inclusive.
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