First historical instances of colonialism such as the crusades are revisited. Then a lengthy account of the colonial experience of the Spanish Kingdom in South America and of the British Empire in India is given. The Indian case is illustrated with large amounts of archival materials from a colonial administrator. There the workings of the colonial bureaucracy and law and its (positive) achievements as well as the ignorance and arrogance of the external rulers are demonstrated. After narrating the Indian independence to some depth some recent colonial wars (Algeria, Vietnam, Congo, Angola) are briefly examined. In the end, the impact of colonialism on current, i.e. 1970s, (economic) international relations is discussed. The general tenor is that colonialism is a dysfunctional system. Still, agency is mostly placed with the empire rather than with the ruled.

This essay focuses on the sources of government revenue within the Middle East and North African (MENA) region and proposes the implementation of a regional tax reset through increased taxation and tax reforms, deregulation in the private sector and economic diversification to reduce macroeconomic volatilities caused by the hydrocarbon industry.

In this podcast, Amy Goodman and Juan González explore together with Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, inequality and the state of the U.S. economy. Topics they touch upon are capitalism, taxation, powerlessness of citizens and Joseph Stiglitz's book entitled People, Power, and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent.

The core of Georgism is a policy known as the Land Value Tax (LVT), a policy which Georgists claim will solve many of society and the economy’s ills. Georgism is an interesting school of thought because it has the twin properties that (1) despite a cult following, few people in either mainstream or (non-Georgist) heterodox economics pay it much heed; (2) despite not paying it much heed, both mainstream and heterodox economists largely tend to agree with Georgists. I will focus on the potential benefits Georgists argue an LVT will bring and see if they are borne out empirically. But I will begin by giving a nod to the compelling theoretical and ethical dimensions of George’s analysis, which are impossible to ignore.

Die Notwendigkeit einer nationalen und globalen Umverteilung von Vermögen. Piketty zeichnet den historischen Verlauf von Ungleichheit in der Geschichte des Kapitalismus nach und macht deutlich, dass ein Übermaß an materieller Ungleichheit für das demokratische Miteinander erhebliche Gefahren mit sich bringt.

Die Zeit ist reif für eine Rückbesinnung auf das Potenzial der Vermögensbesteuerung. Doch wie genau sollten Vermögensteuer und Erbschaftsteuer ausgestaltet werden?

Die Zeit, um den Klimakollaps allein mit marktkonformen Instrumenten abzuwenden, ist abgelaufen – jetzt helfen nur mehr Verbrauchsminderungen. Und durch eine Wegbesteuerung des desaströsen Überkonsums können zugleich die Mittel für den Aufbau einer regenerativen Infrastruktur verfügbar gemacht werden.

ReBalance ist eine Website des Forum New Economy und beschäftigt sich mit ungleicher Vermögensverteilung. Mit einem interaktiven Vermögens-Simulator kann der Effekt von verschiedenen politischen Maßnahmen auf die Vermögensungleichheit in Deutschland verglichen werden.

In recent years issues surrounding tax evasion and avoidance have gotten more attention in public debates and policy making around the world. It poses key questions about how we want to (re)organise our economies, what the rules of the game are, and who benefits from them. Any good economist today should have a basic understanding of this issue as it has implications for public finance and inequality, but market competition and macroeconomic statistics.

Rethinking Regulation of International Finance encapsulates the most important aspects of the development and operation of the international financial system. This book questions the fundamental basis of the existing international financial architecture (soft law) and explores the need for a compliance-based model based on legitimacy of regulations and accountability of the regulatory bodies in international financial stability.