Inequality in Germany – How to reverse the trend

Inequality is the topic of the day. There will certainly be much debate about division in the country right up to the election, but not quite as much is known about the facts. Therefore, Stefan Bach and Markus Grabka presented the results of the third part of our project on inequality in Germany at the start of the workshop. Building on parts one – diagnosis and data situation – and two – on identifying the main drivers of inequality – the big question now was what exactly helps how well against a drifting apart of income and wealth. Would a wealth tax significantly reduce the gap between rich and poor at all? If not, what else?

The results of the project were discussed in advance with various experts, including Andreas Peichl from the Ifo Institute and Lucas Chancel from Team Piketty. On the panel now were: Martin Biewen from the University of Tübingen, Charlotte Bartels from DIW, and Clara Martinez Toledano from Imperial College Business School. Stefan Bach and Markus Grabka from the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) first conducted a study to take stock of income and wealth inequality before examining the effectiveness of individual policy measures.