[ad_1]
It was taxes that made it possible, both colonialism and the welfare state. Beginning in the 16th century, European states began to tax significantly higher than China, writes French economist Thomas Piketty in his new book “Capital and Ideology.” This is one of the explanations for European dominance: with taxes, larger armies and navies could be financed.
In “Capital and ideology” He has collected data on world economic history from bourgeois society through colonialism and industrialization to the present day. The period 1914-1980 is the great exception: then the Western world experienced an unprecedented material redistribution. Health, education and rights leapt forward, financed by higher taxes. The richest percentage of national wealth fell from 70 to 20 percent without hurting growth; During the tax period, “there were some of the highest economic growth rates ever seen.”
