Davos 2020 . Apertura de sesiones del capítulo “Economía para la equidad”

Comparto parte del discurso de apertura de las sesiones de trabajo sobre economía y desigualdad del Foro de Davos 2020. 

Lo hago pues me parece marca claramente un punto de inflexión sobre el rol de la economía en el mundo de hoy.  He dejado el texto original en inglés a fin de no cometer ningún error que pueda modificar el mensaje en el proceso de traducción.

El título de la charla es un verdadero llamado de atención:  : Nuestro sistema económico quebrado está robando dignidad y destruyendo el planeta, es tiempo de un cambio radical.

Siguen los párrafos principales:

Our broken economic model is robbing dignity and burning the planet. Time for radical change

…….

I arrive today in Davos optimistic that things are about to change. This is not from some rose-tinted view of decisions that our leaders have been making - far from it.

I am optimistic because, with each passing day, our world of extremes, created by the super-rich and pliant politicians, is being rejected. That the lies that uphold our unjust system are no longer believed. That people know their own power to create something better.

…….

As I write, this week, people are hitting the streets in 30 countries, as part of the Fight Inequality Alliance - demanding an end to extreme wealth. Protests are growing around the world. In Chile a million people turned out to protest inequality, risking their lives in the process. This brave activism gives me hope.

Oxfam data, published today, shows that the world’s billionaires have more wealth combined than 4.6 billion others - at the lower end of the economic scale. Bloomberg has just published how 500 people became over a trillion dollars richer in 2019.

How rich is billionaire rich? Imagine you saved US$10,000 every single day since Tutankhamun and the building of the pyramids – in around 1320 BC. By now, you would still only own 20% of the wealth of one of the five richest billionaires. Does anyone need to be that rich?

This, in our world in which nearly one in two of us is trying to survive on US$5.50 - or less - a day. After years of declines, extreme poverty is now rising in many countries. Look at Latin America and the Caribbean, look at sub-Saharan Africa and India too.

Ours is a system designed to enrich a wealthy elite, at the expense of ordinary people. Can it be any surprise there are many people globally questioning: should billionaires even exist? Or should we just abolish them?

……

A little change to economic behavior here, a little more innovation there, fostering a little more purpose in business – these are the kinds of solutions we constantly hear glorified in the halls of power. Useful as they may be, let us be under no illusion that they are enough – or can create some new utopian era of happiness for humanity.

No, be serious now. And while responsible business must play its part, it is governments – accountable to us as citizens – who must boldly act.

Serious solutions are “taxes, taxes, taxes”: corporations and the rich paying their fair share of tax, as even the IMF – hardly a bastion of left-wing activism – is now advocating. US billionaires are paying a lower tax rate than ordinary working people now, a trend taking place around the world.

Serious solutions include wise investment in infrastructure. In childcare, health and education for all – among the most powerful equalizers our world knows that gives ordinary people a chance at a life of true freedom to thrive.

No queda mucho por agregar a este fuerte llamado de atención.
Para ampliar: https://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2020   o consulta los artículos de mi blog:  https://gestionexcelete.blogspot.com/   si lo encuentras interesante no olvides suscribirte