Study Urges To Impose Wealth Tax On Superrich

The Brookings Institution released a study urging the Philippine government to consider imposing a wealth tax on the superrich to help pay for the enormous cost of facing the COVID-19 pandemic for the past three years.

The report looked at inequality in Asian democracies and found that the government should remove obstacles and create an enabling environment for participatory democracy if it wanted to address the regional and class disparity.

Participatory democracy is a form of government in which citizens participate individually and directly in political decisions and policies that affect their lives rather than through a few representatives.

Researchers Andrew Yao, Teresa Encarnacion Tadem, Meredith Weiss, Kok-Hoe Ng, and Byunghwan Son studied the experience of four countries – the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, and South Korea. It was revealed that decentralizing political and economic processes could help redistribute wealth and enhance local political participation. 

The study offered policy recommendations to strengthen democracies in Asia.

Tadem recommended that the government strengthen or introduce new socioeconomic policies to address regional and class inequalities.

This includes urging Congress to enact a wealth tax, which would “generate revenue to help pay for medical assistance and education, employment, social protection, and housing for poor families.”

The government is recommended to reform policies to support the flourishing of micro, small, and medium enterprises. It is also urged to review privatization policies and enable more democratic community participation between local governments, nongovernment and civil society organizations.

Moreover, Tadem said the government should provide enough resources to local and regional development councils to implement effective development plans in their municipalities.

“Incremental changes that reduce regional and class inequality are possible when decentralization efforts on the ground level are supported by national laws that help address elite domination and facilitate an enabling environment for popular participation and the implementation of social governance reforms,” Tadem said.

Source: Inquirer.net