The rich get richer. Wealth is mostly concentrated in the upper classes. To be precise, the richest 13 percent own 82 percent of the wealth. 40 percent of wealth in Switzerland is controlled by 1 percent of the population.
What is the source of this concentration of wealth? Some attribute it to heredity. It is estimated that 90 billion Swiss francs are inherited in Switzerland every year. The German politician and writer Sarah Wagenknecht is among those who associate the concentration of wealth primarily with inheritance.
Thus, it would be easy to reintroduce the inheritance tax for direct descendants and increase it in general in order to achieve a more equitable distribution of wealth. The author of the book, Beat Kappeler, disagrees. He even describes the tax on previous assets as “confiscation”. This only creates political divisions and hinders personal commitment. “Moreover, taxes go to the state and do not distribute the wealth of the private sector better,” writes the former trade unionist in his recently published book Wealth for All.
So what needs to be done to better distribute wealth? According to Kappeler, it is the flow of income that lays the foundation for future wealth. To the extent that saved and productive capital is formed from it. Simply put: if you want to create wealth, you must start with income. Here, in turn, it is necessary to distinguish between wages and income from capital, that is, profit in the form of interest and dividends.
In order for people with lower incomes to accumulate wealth, they must also receive income from capital. According to Kappeler, there are many ways to get there. He names, for example, employee participation schemes, the multitude of self-employed people in the IT industry, or self-employed people who are mediated through an app like Uber. In short, property rights should be encouraged. Kappeler cites the British department store chain John Lewis as an example. Since 1929 it has been owned by 80,000 employees.
But the distribution of wealth will not improve automatically. Everyone is the blacksmith of his own happiness. “Caring for yourself instead of caring,” says Kappeler. Today, every person can take care of being educated, healthy, active and wealthy. Self-care determines people’s use of alcohol and tobacco as much as their desire for education, personal hygiene, or thrift. “Everyone is also a perpetrator, not just a victim.”
The last word in Kappeler’s book belongs to the British poet William Blakes (1757-1827): “He who desires something, but does not act, breeds death.”