From Berlin’s Der Tagesspiegel by investigative reporter Harald Schumann, former editor of Spiegel, via a Pressurop translation:
Europe’s wealthy contribute very little to national budgets. The countries of the eurozone have created a monetary union, but instead of introducing a common fiscal policy, they have competed with each other in a bid to cut taxes and attract capital. As a result, taxes on income generated by capital are at a record low, while private fortunes throughout Europe have grown to the point where they have reached a level that is equivalent to two or even three times the sovereign debt of European states.
So we are now asking Europe’s wealthiest citizens to cover a larger share of the bill for bad investments. But this question is too important to be confined to the framework of national elections. We will also have to call for changes to the current bailout policy, which is ill-conceived.
As it stands, the EU debt collectors are urging crisis stricken countries to cut social services and increase taxes on the middle classes, while Greek shipping tycoons, Irish property barons and the Spanish super-rich pay hardly any income tax and invest their money in tax havens.
