The 2015 finance bill will soon be examined by Parliament. The various tax measures proposed by the Government will be the subject of a particularly animated debate.
But what is the state of affairs after several years of scarcity?
Julius Baer, the Swiss private bank, has published a study on the wealth level of citizens in Europe between 2007, just before the financial crisis, and 2013.
According to Julius Baer, the majority of Europe’s wealth is concentrated in four countries, namely Germany, France, Great Britain, and Italy, which together account for 40 trillion of the total 56 trillion euros of wealth.
The report shows that the total wealth of European savers increased, albeit unevenly between countries, by 2.7%, setting a new record above the pre-crisis level, with France seeing an increase of 0.2% from 9,478 to 9,500 billion dollars. Faced with these figures, one cannot truly speak of impoverishment but rather a lack of enrichment.
Beyond words, naturally where there is a winner, there is also one or more losers.
For example, Germany has improved its situation by 18% (from 1,187 to 1,320 billion dollars) whereas England has decreased by 2.1% (from 9,807 to 9,600 billion dollars), Italy by 7% (from 8,900 to 8,300 billion dollars).
In Spain and Greece, the pains of the crisis were felt very strongly. Spaniards were affected by 28%, losing 1,432 billion dollars from a pre-crisis level of 5.1 trillion, while Greece fared little better with 23%.
Meanwhile, Switzerland is markedly improving by 68%, but unlike others who indulge in meaningless slogans, they focus on business!
The study also reveals that 10% of wealthy Europeans now hold more than half of the Old Continent’s wealth, and 1% of them own 27% of Europe’s wealth.
Of course, averages are like trees hiding the forest, and there are always those who eat two chickens and others who don’t eat any, but for statistics, that makes one chicken per head!
In fact, the problem lies here, in the growing inequality between those (fewer) who have the means and capacities to benefit from the situation and improve their condition, and the others (many more) who are falling behind.
However, since numbers measure things, +0.2% is not -28%, there is something to be said about perspective, isn’t it?
Finally, if we looked at reality straightforwardly, through ideology or politico-political interests, the radicalization of the debate and the extremism of the statements would not deserve all the attention they receive.
In conclusion, the question remains: why, between logic and neurasthenia, does the latter prevail?
It’s true that to reach serious analyses and comments with substance, one must know what they are talking about, and it’s easier to make noise than to express concepts.
Who said that since the tongue is a muscle, it always needs to be kept active?
Garibaldino
