Gary Stevenson

What that shows you, these are crises of distribution.

These are crises of distribution.

And I think when you understand that, that can and should be a really profound source of positivity.

Because what we often view as these almost crises of sin, like our economy is weak because we've managed it badly, our governments are in debt because we've managed it badly.

If we recognise that the reason governments are in debt is because they are trying to fix crises of distribution, we can realise that actually the resources are all still there.

Governments are going into debt because they are trying to deal with growing problems of distribution.

And if we are able to deal with those distributional problems without consistently giving away government wealth and without consistently the government going in debt to the rich, then these economic crises don't need to happen.

These economic crises don't need to exist.

If we deal with the distributional problem, then living standards don't fall.

So I think once you recognise that,

then you can see that if we deal more seriously with the taxation of the rich, any problem that can be resolved by the government going in debt to the rich can also be resolved without the increased inequality by the government taxing the rich.

It's as simple as that.

These are just two different ways of managing the distribution of resources.

So I think once you really recognise

the reason asset prices are going up is because inequality is increasing, the reason government debt is going up is because inequality is increasing, the reason living standards are falling is because inequality is increasing, then you recognise we can stop all of these things if only we stop inequality from increasing.

Housing does not need to be unaffordable.

We do not need to see ordinary families struggling to turn the heating on, struggling to feed their kids.

This was not normal 70 years ago and it is normal now because we increased inequality and we can make it rare again now if we stop increasing that inequality.

So I think when I look at rising asset prices, what I really see is like the canary in the coal mine, which is

what this shows us is that the rich are getting richer and richer and richer and richer and that's being subsidized by governments going more and more and more and more into debt in a way that is not long-term sustainable but it also shows us the potential solution which is we can stop these things from developing if only we create a tax system which taxes rich people more fairly which taxes wealth more and taxes work less