Should We Tax the Rich More? The Munk Debate on Economic Inequality

As middle-class incomes stagnate in advanced economies while the rich experience record income gains, the 11th semi-annual Munk Debate pits wealth redistribution supporters Paul Krugman and George Papandreou against Newt Gingrich and Arthur Laffer to debate taxation — should the rich pay more? For some the answer is obvious: redistribute the wealth of the top income earners who have enjoyed, for almost a generation, the lion’s share of all income gains. Imposing higher taxes on the wealthy is the best way for countries such as Canada to reinvest in their social safety nets, education, and infrastructure while protecting the middle class. Others argue that anemic economic growth, not income inequality, is the real problem facing advanced countries. In a globalized economy, raising taxes on society’s wealth creators leads to capital flight, falling government revenues, and less money for the poor. These same voices contend that lowering taxes on everyone stimulates innovation and investment, fueling future prosperity. With advanced countries facing overextended social services, crumbling infrastructure, and sluggish economic growth, this premiere debate series on economic inequality tackles the essential public policy issue: Should we tax the rich more?

Paul Krugman is an American economist, Professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton, Centenary Professor at the London School of Economics, and an op-ed columnist for the New York Times. He won the Nobel Prize in 2008. He lives in Princeton, NJ.  George Papandreou was the prime minister of Greece from 2009 to 2011. He is the current president of the Socialist International. He was named one of Foreign Policy’s “Top 100 Global Thinkers” in 2010 for “making the best of Greece’s worst year.” Papandreou also held the portfolio of foreign minister from 1999 to 2004. His other prior government posts include under-secretary for cultural affairs and minister for education. Following his grandfather Georgios Papandreou and his father Andreas Papandreou, he was the third member of the Papandreou family to serve as the country’s prime minister. He lives in Athens, Greece. Newt Gingrich is the former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, a New York Times bestselling author, and Time magazine’s 1995 Man of the Year. As an author, Gingrich has published 23 books, including 13 New York Times bestsellers. Gingrich is also chair of the Gingrich Group, a communications and consulting firm that specializes in transformational change. In addition, he serves as a member of the Defense Policy Board and is on the Terrorism Task Force for the Council on Foreign Relations. He founded and chaired several policy think tanks, including American Solutions for Winning the Future. He lives in McLean, VI. Arthur Laffer is known as the “father” of supply-side economics. He was also economic adviser to Ronald Reagan for both of his terms (1981–1989), a member of the Reagan-Bush Finance Committee, and adviser to Margaret Thatcher on fiscal policy. A co-author of The End of Prosperity: How Higher Taxes Will Doom the Economy — If We Let It Happen, Dr. Laffer was listed by Time magazine as one of “The Century’s Greatest Minds” for inventing the Laffer Curve, a representation of the relationship between possible rates of taxation and the resulting levels of government revenue. He is the founder and chairman of Laffer Associates, an institutional economic research and consulting firm that focuses on the interconnecting macroeconomic, political, and demographic changes affecting global financial markets. He lives in Nashville, TN. Rudyard Griffiths is the co-organizer and moderator of the Munk Debates. He's also the co-founder of the Dominion Institute, co-director of the Grano Speakers Series, and author of Who We Are: A Citizen's Manifesto. He lives in Toronto.