Inequality – One of the Major Sociopolitical Challenges of the Future

Pandemic Accelerates Social Inequality

Professor Thomas Piketty (best-selling author and professor at the Paris École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales) spoke on September 20 on the topic , “Inequality – one of the major socio-political challenges of the future.”

In many highly developed societies, social inequality is a hotly debated topic, and this is also true for Germany. The disparity between rich and poor is becoming increasingly entrenched. Moreover, the coronavirus crisis has arguably accelerated existing effects. There is a risk that the opportunities for wealth creation through labor income will become increasingly rare.

The reasons for the rise in inequality are manifold; technological change or digitalization are cited as drivers of inequality. The need for economic policy action is obvious, and a broad spectrum of policy measures is needed to combat inequality. In his presentation, Prof. Piketty will discuss:

• how poverty can be sustainably reduced,
• how the middle class can be strengthened, and
• how our society as a whole can be made more distributive in the future.

General Information on the Presentation

The presentation was held in English and took place as an online event.

The event was part of the series from May 2021 until December 2021:

Germany’s Economic Policy Challenges in the Post-Merkel Era

German Chancellor Angela Merkel launched a number of important policy initiatives during her record-breaking term of office. With the nuclear phase-out, she gave German climate policy a clear, albeit controversial, boost. The same is true for refugee policy – an area in which the next government must find meaningful ways to move forward. In other policy areas, she will leave her successor the task of seeking completely new paths, for example in industrial policy, digitalization, tax policy, and social policy. What challenges does Germany urgently need to address in the next chancellor’s term? What might possible solutions look like?