ICRICT 24d ago

"The technonationalist project carries an energy and cultural appeal that the internationalist, egalitarian camp currently lacks. The challenge is not just economic or political — it is narrative. Progressives need to offer a vision of the future that feels both desirable and attainable", said Thomas Piketty — #ICRICT Commissioner and co-director of the World Inequality Lab — opening the 2026 #WIC2026 in Paris. Here is a recap of a packed Day 1. 🌍 GLOBAL JUSTICE REPORT LAUNCH The World Inequality Lab released its #GlobalJusticeReport — the first time the Lab has projected inequality research into the future, modelling pathways to a world where 90% of humanity doubles its income while working half as many hours, and the poorest half sees its share of global wealth rise from 2% to 30% — all within planetary limits. Three conditions must be met simultaneously: fast decarbonization, a shift toward sufficiency in consumption, and a drastic reduction in inequality of income, wealth and power — within and between countries (full report below). 🌱 UTOPIA, DYSTOPIA AND CLASS In conversation with SF writer Kim Stanley Robinson author, Piketty pushed back against what he called "classless ecology" — environmental politics that ignores social class and ends up taxing the poor while cutting wealth taxes for the rich. The yellow vest movement in France, he argued, was the caricature of exactly that failure. The antidote? Start from social need and social mobilization. He pointed to the November to be California wealth tax referendum — initiated by a nurses' union fighting for public health resources — as a model: "The starting point is not 'we want to be mean with billionaires.' The starting point is: we need resources for health." On AI, Piketty was blunt. Leaving all power to individual tech billionaires "who clearly have no environmental concern of any kind, no social concern of any kind, is just not the solution." He backed US Senator Bernie Sanders' proposal for the federal government to take 50% ownership of AI companies, calling it consistent with the Global Justice Report's vision of sovereign funds reclaiming public control over investment. 💰 THE FUTURE OF BILLIONAIRE TAXATION Sarah Perret (OECD - OCDE), Emmanuel Saez, and ICRICT commissio9ner and International Tax Observatory director Gabriel Zucman took the stage for what was one of the sharpest sessions of the day, moderated by Emma Agyemang. "Income tax and inheritance tax don't work to tax billionaires. It's evident with the AI boom — new billionaires popping up everywhere. They have little income, but they are very wealthy", said Saez. "The billionaire class in California pays less than 23% effective tax rate — less than other US billionaires who pay around 30%. The tax system fails to tax them properly. A net wealth tax changes that." Perret noted a shifting global mood: "We now see much interest from different countries in introducing tax reforms that will shift the burden on the richest in our society. AI and the ageing population will put downward pressure on labour taxes and will make capital taxation more relevant to sustain current tax levels." Gabriel closed with a call to principle: "We need to establish a new principle: extreme wealth must come with unavoidable obligations to society. That is the idea behind an unavoidable minimum tax on the super-rich. Democratic forces are very powerful, and it may take some time, but I'm sure they — as they have in the past — will prevail in the future." ─ The #WorldInequalityConference continues through Saturday 6 June at the Paris School of Economics, with sessions on climate futures, the energy transition, gender equality, and the road to global equality. Read the Global Justice Report 👉 https://media.licdn.com/dms/document/media/v2/D4E1FAQHcszvHBQ8pyQ/feedshare-document-pdf-analyzed/B4EZ6RvZB5K0AY-/0/1780561584623?e=1781740800&v=beta&t=L3DKxtzp7n-ue_9lU5ar3B60zJiigXZqLD7CLvcY6z4