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...promise from the authorities
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that there would
be some change,
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the pressure for reform
is gathering pace
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00:01:14,485 --> 00:01:17,354
and is gathering support.
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Differences between capitalism
and communism is so strong
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that only concrete and barbed
wire could hold them...
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We want another way
to reconstruct our society.
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On the streets
of East German cities,
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scores of people demanding
democratic reforms
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were dragged off by...
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Security
police dragged individuals
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from the crowd, beating
them over the head,
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and throwing them into
the back of waiting lorries.
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I was born in 1971.
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I turned 18 in 1989, when
the Berlin Wall came down.
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00:01:52,547 --> 00:01:55,214
I remember being glued to
my radio
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00:01:55,589 --> 00:01:58,797
listening to the fall of
the communist regime.
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00:02:02,131 --> 00:02:07,547
As a student, I travelled to
Romania, Hungary and Russia.
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00:02:12,547 --> 00:02:16,547
So I personally know the impact
this collapse had.
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00:02:24,131 --> 00:02:26,881
I saw an economic and
social system
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00:02:27,131 --> 00:02:29,589
in a complete state of failure.
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00:02:36,048 --> 00:02:41,215
A political system that had
promised human emancipation,
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00:02:41,506 --> 00:02:44,048
but instead ended up
producing misery
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00:02:44,090 --> 00:02:45,881
and incredible
political repression.
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00:03:10,340 --> 00:03:14,715
And when the fraud of the
communist promise was exposed
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00:03:14,757 --> 00:03:16,298
and it collapsed,
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00:03:16,340 --> 00:03:21,340
it greatly reinforced
the capitalist argument.
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00:03:21,382 --> 00:03:23,299
The problem was that
it went too far.
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00:03:23,449 --> 00:03:24,550
♪ Cristal, Maybach ♪
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00:03:24,583 --> 00:03:25,986
♪ Diamonds on your timepiece ♪
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00:03:26,018 --> 00:03:28,688
♪ Jet planes, islands,
tigers on a gold leash ♪
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00:03:28,722 --> 00:03:30,924
♪ We don't care ♪
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00:03:30,957 --> 00:03:33,559
♪ We aren't caught up
in your love affair ♪
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00:03:33,632 --> 00:03:35,757
The fall of the Soviet Union
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00:03:35,799 --> 00:03:40,007
led to infinite faith in the
deregulation of markets
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00:03:40,632 --> 00:03:42,632
accompanied by a new
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00:03:43,174 --> 00:03:45,466
glorification of
private property.
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00:03:46,257 --> 00:03:47,507
As a consequence,
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00:03:47,549 --> 00:03:50,799
we're facing challenges
of rising inequality
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00:03:50,841 --> 00:03:54,841
and the rise of nationalism
and xenophobic tensions,
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00:03:54,882 --> 00:03:57,757
like there was in the very
unequal world
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00:03:57,799 --> 00:03:58,799
before World War I.
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00:03:58,852 --> 00:04:01,520
♪ We didn't come from money ♪
44
00:04:01,553 --> 00:04:03,791
♪ But every song's like
gold teeth, Grey Goose ♪
45
00:04:03,823 --> 00:04:05,624
♪ Trippin' in the bathroom ♪
46
00:04:05,659 --> 00:04:08,128
♪ Bloodstains, ball gowns,
trashing the hotel room ♪
47
00:04:08,162 --> 00:04:10,164
♪ We don't care... ♪
48
00:04:10,549 --> 00:04:13,424
And I'm very scared for
the 21st century
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00:04:13,466 --> 00:04:15,049
because what I see
in the historical data
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00:04:15,091 --> 00:04:18,008
suggests we risk returning
to a capitalist system
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00:04:18,049 --> 00:04:21,090
similar to the highly unequal
world
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00:04:21,133 --> 00:04:22,966
of the 18th and 19th centuries.
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00:04:23,010 --> 00:04:26,246
- ♪ And we'll never be royals ♪
- ♪ Royals ♪
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00:04:26,280 --> 00:04:28,983
♪ It don't run in our blood ♪
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00:04:29,016 --> 00:04:31,818
♪ That kind of lux
just ain't for us ♪
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00:04:31,852 --> 00:04:33,988
♪ We crave a different
kind of buzz ♪
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00:04:34,020 --> 00:04:36,691
- ♪ Let me be your ruler ♪
- ♪ Ruler ♪
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00:04:37,925 --> 00:04:39,893
♪ You can call me Queen B ♪
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00:04:39,927 --> 00:04:41,094
♪ And, baby, I'll rule ♪
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00:04:41,128 --> 00:04:44,597
♪ I'll rule, I'll rule,
I'll rule ♪
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00:04:44,631 --> 00:04:46,768
♪ Let me live that fantasy ♪
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00:05:13,550 --> 00:05:16,050
In 18th century Europe,
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00:05:16,300 --> 00:05:19,259
capital is concentrated
in the hands
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00:05:19,509 --> 00:05:21,759
of a very small group of people.
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00:05:24,550 --> 00:05:27,967
The aristocracy represents
1% of the population.
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00:05:31,175 --> 00:05:34,717
The boundaries of money
limit social mobility,
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00:05:39,634 --> 00:05:41,676
and hard work and education
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00:05:41,717 --> 00:05:43,009
don't allow you
to climb very high.
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00:05:47,509 --> 00:05:49,592
Through the evocative
power of literature,
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00:05:49,634 --> 00:05:51,717
film and popular culture
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00:05:51,759 --> 00:05:56,384
we can see the importance
of capital throughout history.
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00:05:58,843 --> 00:06:00,926
It's a story much darker
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00:06:01,759 --> 00:06:04,009
than the idyllic vision
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00:06:04,051 --> 00:06:05,884
of a march towards
progress and light.
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00:06:11,319 --> 00:06:14,856
In the 18th century,
life for the poor is grim.
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00:06:14,891 --> 00:06:16,925
If you're lucky,
you might be a servant.
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00:06:16,958 --> 00:06:19,194
Everyone else is
a hand-to-mouth laborer,
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00:06:19,227 --> 00:06:22,065
moving from place to place,
following the work,
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00:06:22,097 --> 00:06:26,701
being treated by the landowners
exactly as they please.
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00:06:26,736 --> 00:06:28,237
And of course there
were no benefits,
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00:06:28,270 --> 00:06:31,107
there's no health service,
there's no free schooling,
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00:06:31,140 --> 00:06:33,642
there's absolutely nothing.
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00:06:35,044 --> 00:06:37,612
So poverty is a death sentence.
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00:06:39,215 --> 00:06:42,685
And what's very striking is
the average life expectancy
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00:06:42,718 --> 00:06:44,719
in the 18th century is 17.
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00:06:52,394 --> 00:06:55,664
At the time, what capital
really looks like is
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00:06:55,698 --> 00:06:59,970
money, money-lending
and land-owning.
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00:07:00,002 --> 00:07:04,707
You have a guy that sits in a
fort and basically claims taxes
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00:07:04,740 --> 00:07:07,144
on all the people
that work his land.
90
00:07:07,176 --> 00:07:08,978
And we sort of know
what that looks like
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00:07:09,011 --> 00:07:10,645
from all kinds of movies.
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00:07:10,679 --> 00:07:12,181
Really, with what I get
from these peasants,
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00:07:12,216 --> 00:07:14,818
I can hardly afford
to pay my perfume bills.
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00:07:14,851 --> 00:07:17,652
What about Roulet?
Has he paid his rent?
95
00:07:17,688 --> 00:07:19,389
Roulet died last week.
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00:07:19,422 --> 00:07:22,292
He died
with his rent unpaid.
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00:07:22,325 --> 00:07:24,862
- What did he die of?
- Hunger.
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00:07:24,895 --> 00:07:27,364
Hunger is an indulgence
with these peasants.
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00:07:27,396 --> 00:07:28,798
Oh, I keep forgetting, Gabelle,
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00:07:28,831 --> 00:07:31,000
you're a humanitarian,
aren't you?
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00:07:31,034 --> 00:07:33,402
You think that one person
is as good as another...
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00:07:33,437 --> 00:07:37,073
a naive notion
so contradicted by the facts.
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00:07:43,045 --> 00:07:45,182
For the rich,
inheritance is the obsession.
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00:07:45,215 --> 00:07:47,217
It's a very strict code.
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00:07:47,250 --> 00:07:49,286
The eldest son gets the capital.
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00:07:49,319 --> 00:07:50,988
He gets everything...
he gets the money,
107
00:07:51,020 --> 00:07:53,022
he gets the house,
he gets the land...
108
00:07:53,056 --> 00:07:55,726
and that makes him
incredibly powerful,
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00:07:55,759 --> 00:07:59,195
just through
an accident of birth.
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00:07:59,229 --> 00:08:02,065
These land-owning men,
these first sons,
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00:08:02,099 --> 00:08:04,468
they also have a huge
amount of political power,
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00:08:04,501 --> 00:08:08,405
because a lot of them are
the MPs, they're elites.
113
00:08:08,438 --> 00:08:11,208
And as a consequence,
they are driven by a desire
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00:08:11,241 --> 00:08:14,978
to protect their own income,
to protect their own world,
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00:08:15,012 --> 00:08:17,214
and it simply doesn't
occur to them
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00:08:17,247 --> 00:08:20,184
that poor people deserve
some redistribution of wealth.
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00:08:20,218 --> 00:08:22,986
Taxation, they resist
very strongly.
118
00:08:23,021 --> 00:08:25,089
And this is the way that
the aristocracy worked,
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00:08:25,122 --> 00:08:28,358
not just in Britain,
but all through Europe,
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00:08:28,393 --> 00:08:32,396
and the aim is to conserve
the aristocratic power.
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00:08:38,937 --> 00:08:40,838
The examples that
Thomas Piketty has
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00:08:40,871 --> 00:08:43,273
of Jane Austen and Balzac,
they're very fitting,
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00:08:43,308 --> 00:08:45,343
because when you read
Jane Austen,
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00:08:45,375 --> 00:08:47,212
it is all about money,
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00:08:47,245 --> 00:08:49,846
and this money is not
earned through work,
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00:08:49,881 --> 00:08:52,349
it's not earned through
owning businesses,
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00:08:52,383 --> 00:08:55,086
it's earned through land,
it's inherited land.
128
00:09:07,332 --> 00:09:10,001
Mr. Darcy, for
example, in Pride and Prejudice,
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00:09:10,034 --> 00:09:11,769
he has this huge estate.
130
00:09:11,803 --> 00:09:13,338
He doesn't even
have to be there.
131
00:09:13,372 --> 00:09:16,774
This land just creates
money for him.
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00:09:16,808 --> 00:09:19,277
How good of you to come.
133
00:09:19,310 --> 00:09:20,812
He looks miserable,
poor sod.
134
00:09:20,846 --> 00:09:22,047
Miserable he may be,
135
00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:24,282
but poor he most certainly
is not.
136
00:09:24,316 --> 00:09:26,218
- Tell me.
- 10,000 a year,
137
00:09:26,251 --> 00:09:28,152
and he owns half of Derbyshire.
138
00:09:28,186 --> 00:09:29,822
The miserable half?
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00:09:33,424 --> 00:09:34,893
Jane Austen
created a fantasy
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00:09:34,926 --> 00:09:36,462
that you could get your
hands on this wealth
141
00:09:36,495 --> 00:09:39,397
if you were just a bit
fun and a bit witty.
142
00:09:39,430 --> 00:09:42,368
But the reality is there's
no way a Mr. Darcy would marry
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00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:43,969
girls like Lizzie Bennet,
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00:09:44,002 --> 00:09:47,940
who actually haven't got
a penny to their names.
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00:09:47,972 --> 00:09:51,543
He would marry an heiress,
possibly even a cousin,
146
00:09:51,576 --> 00:09:54,013
and create this, sort of,
megalopolis estate.
147
00:09:56,982 --> 00:10:02,087
Money marries money.
There's nothing to do with love.
148
00:10:02,121 --> 00:10:04,022
And what we see now,
149
00:10:04,056 --> 00:10:06,058
almost a cycling back
to the 18th century.
150
00:10:09,028 --> 00:10:12,998
In Britain, inherited wealth
is everything... again.
151
00:10:13,032 --> 00:10:17,469
Nowadays, 1% of the population
owns 70% of our land.
152
00:10:17,503 --> 00:10:20,039
♪ I've been broke all my life ♪
153
00:10:20,073 --> 00:10:21,307
♪ Now wonder ♪
154
00:10:21,340 --> 00:10:24,044
♪ How does it feel to be rich? ♪
155
00:10:24,076 --> 00:10:26,111
♪ How does it feel to be rich? ♪
156
00:10:26,146 --> 00:10:28,448
♪ Oh, I done worked
all my life ♪
157
00:10:29,448 --> 00:10:31,083
♪ Now wonder ♪
158
00:10:31,117 --> 00:10:33,452
♪ How does it feel
to just live? ♪
159
00:10:33,485 --> 00:10:35,522
♪ How does it feel
to just live? ♪
160
00:10:35,554 --> 00:10:39,258
There's always been an
elite, which is usually adept at
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00:10:39,292 --> 00:10:41,560
reproducing its privilege
through generations,
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00:10:41,594 --> 00:10:46,966
monopolizing both economic
and social and cultural capital.
163
00:10:46,999 --> 00:10:50,170
The way the elite stays in power
and passes on their privilege
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00:10:50,202 --> 00:10:51,571
to the next generation
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00:10:51,603 --> 00:10:54,273
is also by shaping
the way that we think.
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00:10:54,306 --> 00:10:56,343
♪ How does it feel to be rich? ♪
167
00:10:56,375 --> 00:10:58,945
♪ How does it feel
to be ri-i-ich? ♪
168
00:10:58,977 --> 00:11:01,214
♪ How does it feel
to just live? ♪
169
00:11:01,247 --> 00:11:03,248
♪ How does it feel
to just live? ♪
170
00:11:05,485 --> 00:11:07,387
Traditionally,
economists have argued
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00:11:07,420 --> 00:11:10,423
that inequality is
a very powerful driver
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00:11:10,457 --> 00:11:13,026
of progress and innovation
173
00:11:13,059 --> 00:11:15,995
because the idea is that
competition, essentially,
174
00:11:16,029 --> 00:11:18,031
makes people try harder.
175
00:11:19,933 --> 00:11:23,236
The problem is that
extreme inequality
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00:11:23,269 --> 00:11:27,407
increasingly seems to be a
source of great economic stress,
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00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:31,077
social stress
and political stress.
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00:11:31,111 --> 00:11:34,548
Because if you have
a situation where an elite
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00:11:34,581 --> 00:11:37,318
are so rigidly protective
of their ranks
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00:11:37,350 --> 00:11:40,053
that nobody can ever rise,
there's no social mobility,
181
00:11:40,086 --> 00:11:42,223
you tend to end up with
a full-blown revolution.
182
00:11:51,431 --> 00:11:54,515
Life in the 18th century
is not static.
183
00:11:54,556 --> 00:11:57,515
We see the development
of new political ideas
184
00:11:57,556 --> 00:12:00,265
demanding equal rights
185
00:12:00,931 --> 00:12:04,515
and an end to privileges
linked to birth and nobility.
186
00:12:08,349 --> 00:12:10,384
In the French
Revolution, the banner is
187
00:12:10,418 --> 00:12:13,320
"Liberté, égalité, fraternité."
188
00:12:13,354 --> 00:12:15,556
It's going to be brotherhood,
everyone's going to be free.
189
00:12:18,224 --> 00:12:21,061
But yet within
a tiny amount of time,
190
00:12:21,095 --> 00:12:23,264
you have this
government of bankers,
191
00:12:23,297 --> 00:12:27,201
and what they do is start to
create the elites once more.
192
00:12:28,703 --> 00:12:31,173
♪ This is the land
that fought for liberty ♪
193
00:12:31,205 --> 00:12:34,075
♪ Now when we fight,
we fight for bread ♪
194
00:12:34,108 --> 00:12:36,677
♪ Here is the thing
about equality ♪
195
00:12:36,711 --> 00:12:39,714
♪ Everyone's equal
when they're dead ♪
196
00:12:39,749 --> 00:12:42,450
♪ Take your place,
take your chance ♪
197
00:12:42,483 --> 00:12:45,352
♪ Vive la France
Vive la France! ♪
198
00:12:45,386 --> 00:12:47,522
Vive la France!
199
00:12:48,641 --> 00:12:51,266
It turns out the
French Revolution is based,
200
00:12:51,307 --> 00:12:54,141
in part, on hypocrisy.
With a vision of equality
201
00:12:54,182 --> 00:12:57,057
that is, at best, a little
optimistic or naive
202
00:12:57,099 --> 00:12:59,474
and at worst a little cynical.
203
00:13:01,766 --> 00:13:06,516
We imagine that equality
is going to occur naturally
204
00:13:06,557 --> 00:13:09,016
or spontaneously,
a bit like a fairy tale.
205
00:13:12,516 --> 00:13:15,433
But the reality is that we also
need political institutions,
206
00:13:15,683 --> 00:13:19,974
an education system,
health care, a transport system
207
00:13:20,891 --> 00:13:25,558
and a tax system that targets
the highest incomes.
208
00:13:26,308 --> 00:13:30,308
But none of this was
put in place
209
00:13:30,350 --> 00:13:32,683
after the French Revolution.
210
00:13:41,076 --> 00:13:42,611
What we see
in the late 18th
211
00:13:42,644 --> 00:13:45,448
and early 19th centuries
is the Industrial Revolution.
212
00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:48,751
It replaces the work
of people's hands with machines,
213
00:13:48,784 --> 00:13:51,453
so you bring in machines to
make wool, to make cotton,
214
00:13:51,486 --> 00:13:54,189
to make all kinds
of commodities.
215
00:13:54,223 --> 00:13:57,426
This makes goods faster,
it standardizes them,
216
00:13:57,459 --> 00:14:00,362
and this makes more profit.
217
00:14:00,396 --> 00:14:04,701
Capital's no longer this fixed
thing that's your land
218
00:14:04,734 --> 00:14:08,471
or even your ability
to lend money.
219
00:14:08,503 --> 00:14:13,676
You finally figure out that
you can expand your own factory
220
00:14:13,710 --> 00:14:17,780
by, kind of, selling stuff,
keeping the profits,
221
00:14:17,814 --> 00:14:21,851
then reinvesting those profits
in expanding your factory.
222
00:14:21,885 --> 00:14:25,153
And that's kind of what
capitalism in its modern form
223
00:14:25,187 --> 00:14:28,257
really lets us do... is that
capital becomes this thing
224
00:14:28,291 --> 00:14:31,260
that can, kind of,
perpetually expand.
225
00:14:35,331 --> 00:14:38,802
But the gap between wages and
productivity is substantial,
226
00:14:38,835 --> 00:14:41,772
and you have these kind of
feudal legacies of labor
227
00:14:41,805 --> 00:14:45,275
persisting very, very
late into the game.
228
00:14:45,308 --> 00:14:47,610
British master and servant law
meant that it was a crime
229
00:14:47,643 --> 00:14:51,080
for you to quit your employer
without permission.
230
00:14:53,182 --> 00:14:55,384
And, you know, this is
getting actively used
231
00:14:55,419 --> 00:14:58,855
in the mid-19th century, during,
like, the heyday of capitalism
232
00:14:58,889 --> 00:15:01,793
in England... the most advanced
country in the world...
233
00:15:01,826 --> 00:15:03,895
and they're throwing
workers in jail,
234
00:15:03,927 --> 00:15:05,897
and they're being beaten
235
00:15:05,929 --> 00:15:08,832
because it's a crime
to go on strike.
236
00:15:36,727 --> 00:15:40,664
This whole idea developed
around escaping the Old World
237
00:15:40,698 --> 00:15:45,335
and setting up a new,
more egalitarian society.
238
00:15:45,369 --> 00:15:48,372
When the new world countries
were being set up...
239
00:15:48,405 --> 00:15:50,540
so New Zealand,
Australia, Canada...
240
00:15:50,575 --> 00:15:54,478
these places were being set up
by these refugees, essentially,
241
00:15:54,511 --> 00:15:56,247
fleeing Europe
242
00:15:56,279 --> 00:15:59,784
at a time that capitalism
was really taking hold.
243
00:16:01,552 --> 00:16:04,488
And that's why a lot of these
people wanted to get out
244
00:16:04,522 --> 00:16:09,459
of these countries...
they wanted a flatter society.
245
00:16:09,494 --> 00:16:14,265
It was this idea of moving
beyond the class system,
246
00:16:14,298 --> 00:16:17,201
but it was done largely
in a laissez-faire way.
247
00:16:17,234 --> 00:16:21,339
It wasn't a political movement,
by and large.
248
00:16:21,372 --> 00:16:24,408
And very quickly it was the
wealthy that started dominating
249
00:16:24,442 --> 00:16:26,377
right from the start.
250
00:16:27,946 --> 00:16:30,681
If you're a white man
in sort of, like, 1800-ish,
251
00:16:30,716 --> 00:16:32,450
Australia and the US...
252
00:16:32,483 --> 00:16:35,988
these places are, like,
the best places for you to go.
253
00:16:36,021 --> 00:16:39,590
You've got this wide-open
frontier; it's filled with land.
254
00:16:39,624 --> 00:16:41,659
But the big constraint
on your production
255
00:16:41,694 --> 00:16:44,797
is your ability
to mobilize labor.
256
00:16:44,830 --> 00:16:46,899
So if you're
a small family farmer,
257
00:16:46,932 --> 00:16:48,967
the only labor you can
mobilize on to the frontier
258
00:16:49,002 --> 00:16:51,203
is your kids.
259
00:16:53,337 --> 00:16:56,008
But if you're a slave owner, you
can basically go to New Orleans,
260
00:16:56,041 --> 00:16:58,377
you can take out a loan,
use that loan
261
00:16:58,409 --> 00:17:01,914
to buy a bunch of slaves in
the New Orleans slave market,
262
00:17:01,948 --> 00:17:04,883
then take them out to
the Alabama frontier
263
00:17:04,917 --> 00:17:07,318
and start clearing land
and growing cotton.
264
00:17:19,766 --> 00:17:22,969
And you're again able to
take the profits from that
265
00:17:23,002 --> 00:17:26,371
and expand, buy more slaves,
buy more land,
266
00:17:26,404 --> 00:17:29,274
and so you can again now
think of the slave economy
267
00:17:29,307 --> 00:17:33,378
as participating in this
circuit of accumulation.
268
00:17:37,616 --> 00:17:40,720
But also being a slave owner
didn't just mean that you had
269
00:17:40,754 --> 00:17:43,454
access to the labor
of your slaves,
270
00:17:43,489 --> 00:17:47,559
it also meant you had
increased access to capital,
271
00:17:47,593 --> 00:17:51,363
because you can use
your slaves as collateral.
272
00:17:58,105 --> 00:18:01,007
So if you, basically, are
looking to lend to somebody
273
00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:03,878
and they can offer
an equivalent amount of
274
00:18:03,910 --> 00:18:05,812
slave collateral versus land,
275
00:18:05,845 --> 00:18:07,480
you'd prefer the
slave collateral
276
00:18:07,513 --> 00:18:10,616
because it's much easier
to move them around
277
00:18:10,650 --> 00:18:13,318
or resell them or
something like that.
278
00:18:16,771 --> 00:18:21,771
The 19th century is
when the division of labour,
279
00:18:22,271 --> 00:18:26,271
inequality and power are
established worldwide -
280
00:18:28,437 --> 00:18:30,937
first with slavery,
281
00:18:30,979 --> 00:18:33,937
and then with incredibly
violent colonial domination.
282
00:18:42,396 --> 00:18:47,104
It's very difficult to say how
much of European wealth today
283
00:18:47,146 --> 00:18:49,729
comes from their colonial past.
284
00:18:50,813 --> 00:18:53,313
But what is clear is that
the crucial advantage
285
00:18:53,354 --> 00:18:56,271
won at the time of the
Industrial Revolution
286
00:18:56,313 --> 00:19:00,105
was closely linked
with military force.
287
00:19:05,072 --> 00:19:06,673
Attack!
288
00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:22,397
From 1870 to 1914,
the United Kingdom and France,
289
00:19:22,730 --> 00:19:25,897
who are the two main
colonial empires,
290
00:19:25,938 --> 00:19:28,980
own so much around
the rest of the world
291
00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:32,147
and it brings them
so much profit,
292
00:19:32,397 --> 00:19:34,230
interest, dividends, rents
293
00:19:34,980 --> 00:19:38,147
that they can afford
to keep on investing
294
00:19:38,188 --> 00:19:40,689
and become owners
of more of the world.
295
00:19:43,147 --> 00:19:44,689
So the rest of the world
works for them.
296
00:19:53,855 --> 00:19:55,689
It's no good
speeding up production
297
00:19:55,724 --> 00:19:58,626
if there's no one to buy
the stuff.
298
00:19:58,659 --> 00:20:03,164
So fashion fuels the
Industrial Revolution.
299
00:20:03,198 --> 00:20:06,835
By the 19th century, the cult
of fashion is all-encompassing.
300
00:20:06,868 --> 00:20:09,005
It's come down even
to the working classes.
301
00:20:09,037 --> 00:20:13,975
Even working class women
are trying to stay in fashion.
302
00:20:14,009 --> 00:20:17,712
The idea that, "You can't wear
that. That's from last season,"
303
00:20:17,746 --> 00:20:20,950
that will be very strange to
a 16th or 17th century person.
304
00:20:20,982 --> 00:20:23,052
They think,
"Well, it's still working,
305
00:20:23,084 --> 00:20:27,188
it's still hard-wearing.
I'll wear the same outfit."
306
00:20:32,995 --> 00:20:34,830
And the industry that
accelerates the fastest
307
00:20:34,863 --> 00:20:37,732
in the 19th century is
the industry about Christmas.
308
00:20:45,907 --> 00:20:47,743
In the 18th and 17th century,
309
00:20:47,777 --> 00:20:50,011
Christmas was
a very low-key affair.
310
00:20:50,046 --> 00:20:52,949
It was usually about drinking
with your friends and relations.
311
00:20:52,982 --> 00:20:55,051
It wasn't really
about present-giving;
312
00:20:55,083 --> 00:20:58,721
that was perhaps in New Year.
313
00:20:58,754 --> 00:21:01,223
But by the mid-19th century,
we have the Christmas cracker,
314
00:21:01,257 --> 00:21:03,192
the Christmas card,
the Christmas tree.
315
00:21:03,225 --> 00:21:05,094
People are bankrupting
themselves
316
00:21:05,127 --> 00:21:08,698
to have a yearly Christmas,
and it really was seized upon
317
00:21:08,732 --> 00:21:12,667
by the manufacturers as a way
to make a huge amount of money.
318
00:21:16,206 --> 00:21:18,140
Just as you were getting
all these new technologies
319
00:21:18,174 --> 00:21:21,543
like the railroad and the
telegraph and mass production
320
00:21:21,577 --> 00:21:23,645
and the corporation...
all of these new innovations,
321
00:21:23,679 --> 00:21:24,982
all of this additional
production...
322
00:21:25,014 --> 00:21:28,217
and inequality
becomes very, very large.
323
00:21:30,186 --> 00:21:32,723
It's actually this period
of enormous conflicts,
324
00:21:32,756 --> 00:21:36,625
where you have open wars
in the mines in Colorado
325
00:21:36,658 --> 00:21:41,198
between strikers and armed
militia hired by capitalists.
326
00:21:45,334 --> 00:21:49,172
And the overwhelming use
of the US Federal Army
327
00:21:49,206 --> 00:21:52,541
in this period
is strike-breaking.
328
00:22:19,369 --> 00:22:22,807
And similarly, today,
we have this whole
329
00:22:22,839 --> 00:22:24,875
transformation of
the economy happening,
330
00:22:26,609 --> 00:22:28,912
both with trade
and with technology,
331
00:22:28,945 --> 00:22:31,581
that exactly have the
sort of same property of
332
00:22:31,614 --> 00:22:33,917
creating lots of monopolies.
333
00:22:38,321 --> 00:22:40,058
And so it's generating, again,
334
00:22:40,090 --> 00:22:42,893
a small class of very,
very wealthy people.
335
00:22:42,927 --> 00:22:44,028
- 22...
- 43 million.
336
00:22:44,061 --> 00:22:45,362
- 75 million.
337
00:22:45,396 --> 00:22:48,132
$107 million.
Sold.
338
00:22:57,108 --> 00:22:59,900
Around 1914, in Paris,
339
00:23:00,442 --> 00:23:05,983
1% of the population
owns 70% of all assets.
340
00:23:08,025 --> 00:23:11,900
And in contrast, two-thirds
of the population
341
00:23:11,942 --> 00:23:14,025
die without any assets.
342
00:23:15,900 --> 00:23:19,192
You have this rise in
nationalism and competition
343
00:23:19,234 --> 00:23:20,734
between European countries,
344
00:23:20,775 --> 00:23:23,484
partly due to very strong
social tensions
345
00:23:23,525 --> 00:23:25,900
linked to the stagnant
standard of living
346
00:23:25,942 --> 00:23:29,734
and very high levels
of inequality.
347
00:23:33,650 --> 00:23:37,067
And competition between
countries, nationalism,
348
00:23:37,109 --> 00:23:39,859
is often used by elites
349
00:23:40,317 --> 00:23:43,484
to make people
forget class conflict
350
00:23:43,526 --> 00:23:46,776
and instead focus on
national identity.
351
00:23:56,776 --> 00:24:00,609
And all this contributes to
the arrival of
352
00:24:00,651 --> 00:24:05,234
the First World War
in the summer of 1914.
353
00:24:05,410 --> 00:24:07,946
In Berlin,
the Germans know the hour
354
00:24:07,980 --> 00:24:10,215
of glory is at hand.
355
00:24:12,117 --> 00:24:14,453
There's like a cultural
militarism that's happening
356
00:24:14,485 --> 00:24:17,322
on the Continent, and they're
competing with each other
357
00:24:17,356 --> 00:24:20,826
over both imperial territory
and trade routes.
358
00:24:20,859 --> 00:24:23,295
The warlord is
ceaseless, indefatigable,
359
00:24:23,328 --> 00:24:26,398
as he makes the rounds
of his armies.
360
00:24:26,431 --> 00:24:28,835
The British Empire
was so powerful;
361
00:24:28,867 --> 00:24:30,402
they had a quarter of
the world's population.
362
00:24:30,436 --> 00:24:32,704
The other countries wanted
a piece of the cake.
363
00:24:32,738 --> 00:24:36,742
And Germany, in particular,
wanted a piece of the cake.
364
00:24:39,044 --> 00:24:41,747
A lot of these
new capitalists
365
00:24:41,781 --> 00:24:44,850
are still, kind of, basically
feudal in their outlook.
366
00:24:44,884 --> 00:24:48,020
So particularly in Germany,
you have these Junkers
367
00:24:48,054 --> 00:24:49,888
that are these
big industrialists,
368
00:24:49,922 --> 00:24:51,858
but they also think there's
nothing better for society
369
00:24:51,890 --> 00:24:53,059
than a good fight.
370
00:25:01,801 --> 00:25:04,236
Britain and the Allied
powers take on Germany
371
00:25:04,270 --> 00:25:07,473
in what they think is going
to be a short, sharp shock
372
00:25:07,507 --> 00:25:09,141
over in a few months' time.
373
00:25:22,121 --> 00:25:26,426
Instead, it goes on for years
and decimates both populations.
374
00:25:41,874 --> 00:25:45,745
World War I is, at its base,
a fight over capital.
375
00:25:47,547 --> 00:25:51,485
And we see this massive
post-war economic crash.
376
00:25:53,887 --> 00:25:56,422
So, you have this new
idea after World War I,
377
00:25:56,457 --> 00:25:59,392
basically born out of the fact
that the government is bankrupt,
378
00:25:59,426 --> 00:26:03,030
that tax is not bad,
that it actually could be good.
379
00:26:03,062 --> 00:26:04,531
And the only way you're
going to get money
380
00:26:04,564 --> 00:26:06,966
is by taxing the aristocracy.
381
00:26:09,336 --> 00:26:11,905
There is nothing in the working
class and the middle class
382
00:26:11,938 --> 00:26:13,907
left to tax.
383
00:26:13,940 --> 00:26:17,444
So you see the beginning of
the drop in aristocratic power.
384
00:26:19,179 --> 00:26:22,483
And also what you see in the
'20s is the growth of the power
385
00:26:22,516 --> 00:26:25,085
of women and also
of the working classes...
386
00:26:25,119 --> 00:26:27,354
both of them, essentially,
are saying to the government,
387
00:26:27,387 --> 00:26:30,057
"Look, we worked really
hard for you in this war.
388
00:26:30,090 --> 00:26:33,027
We sacrificed. You need
to give us something back."
389
00:26:33,060 --> 00:26:36,363
So suddenly the whole principle
that the working classes
390
00:26:36,397 --> 00:26:40,100
and women must sit there and put
up with the way that society is,
391
00:26:40,135 --> 00:26:42,403
is completely
overturned in the '20s.
392
00:26:45,139 --> 00:26:47,008
All of the crowds
of the Empire City,
393
00:26:47,041 --> 00:26:49,243
the wonder city, the windy city,
the passion city,
394
00:26:49,276 --> 00:26:50,844
the people, yes.
395
00:26:54,114 --> 00:26:58,118
♪ Gone are my blues,
and gone are my tears ♪
396
00:26:58,153 --> 00:27:02,189
♪ I've got good news
to shout in your ears ♪
397
00:27:02,222 --> 00:27:05,893
♪ The long-lost dollar
has come back to the fold ♪
398
00:27:05,927 --> 00:27:09,130
♪ With silver, you can
turn your dreams to gold! ♪
399
00:27:09,163 --> 00:27:11,165
♪ Oh, we're in the money ♪
400
00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:14,002
♪ We're in the money ♪
401
00:27:14,035 --> 00:27:18,873
♪ Let's lend it, spend it,
send it rolling around ♪
402
00:27:18,907 --> 00:27:20,441
All of the crowd
get the big money...
403
00:27:20,475 --> 00:27:23,078
2 million, 5 million...
make a pile and raise a pile.
404
00:27:23,111 --> 00:27:25,513
The '20s was maybe
irrational exuberance.
405
00:27:25,547 --> 00:27:27,614
Watch us grow!
What am I bid? Going up!
406
00:27:27,649 --> 00:27:29,484
There was a boom
in stock prices,
407
00:27:29,517 --> 00:27:33,088
but people kept bidding
into the stock market,
408
00:27:33,121 --> 00:27:36,991
because people always think
there's magic in Wall Street.
409
00:27:37,025 --> 00:27:39,962
You know, we have a mythology
in this country, in particular,
410
00:27:39,994 --> 00:27:42,430
that what's good for Wall Street
is good for Main Street,
411
00:27:42,464 --> 00:27:44,933
but that's really
never been true.
412
00:27:44,966 --> 00:27:48,002
♪ We're in the money,
I'll say we're in the money ♪
413
00:27:48,037 --> 00:27:51,940
♪ We've got a lot of what
it takes to get along ♪
414
00:27:51,973 --> 00:27:55,377
A lot of banks were selling
products that they knew
415
00:27:55,411 --> 00:27:58,246
were absolutely no good.
416
00:27:58,279 --> 00:28:03,017
There were dodgy bankers
doing dodgy deals knowingly.
417
00:28:03,051 --> 00:28:05,087
There weren't a lot of
regulations in place.
418
00:28:05,120 --> 00:28:08,157
It was a real free-for-all
of capital.
419
00:28:09,726 --> 00:28:11,993
The bubble of the 1920s
420
00:28:12,027 --> 00:28:14,596
was characteristic of
many other bubbles...
421
00:28:14,630 --> 00:28:16,965
a kind of euphoria that happens.
422
00:28:16,999 --> 00:28:19,567
Stocks go up, you can
borrow against that stock.
423
00:28:19,602 --> 00:28:21,404
You use that money
to buy more stock,
424
00:28:21,437 --> 00:28:26,208
the price goes up even more,
and everybody's feeling giddy.
425
00:28:33,014 --> 00:28:34,984
At the same time,
you've got tremendous
426
00:28:35,017 --> 00:28:37,620
dislocation going on
in the job market...
427
00:28:37,653 --> 00:28:39,288
a lot of people
getting very rich,
428
00:28:39,321 --> 00:28:41,157
but a lot of workers
at the bottom,
429
00:28:41,190 --> 00:28:43,325
not enough in the middle.
430
00:28:43,359 --> 00:28:48,397
Credit was then being offered to
kind of paper over that divide.
431
00:28:53,637 --> 00:28:57,473
That credit cycle
fed this bubble,
432
00:28:57,506 --> 00:29:00,443
and like every other bubble,
433
00:29:00,476 --> 00:29:01,611
it broke.
434
00:29:03,579 --> 00:29:05,115
This time around,
435
00:29:05,147 --> 00:29:08,485
a number of bankers
actually went to jail,
436
00:29:08,517 --> 00:29:11,154
and there really were some
regulatory changes, you know,
437
00:29:11,188 --> 00:29:13,690
like, in particular the
Glass-Steagall Depression-era
438
00:29:13,723 --> 00:29:15,725
legislation that actually
fixed the banking system
439
00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:20,030
and made it safer...
until it was overturned in 1989.
440
00:29:30,808 --> 00:29:34,177
After the financial crash,
countries all around the world
441
00:29:34,211 --> 00:29:37,013
also ended up getting
in a trade war.
442
00:29:37,047 --> 00:29:38,448
There were tariffs
that were imposed,
443
00:29:38,482 --> 00:29:40,416
and that created
a snowball cycle,
444
00:29:40,450 --> 00:29:43,019
which led to more pain globally,
445
00:29:44,488 --> 00:29:48,425
and that helped to provoke
the Great Depression.
446
00:29:51,823 --> 00:29:54,156
If you read John Steinbeck's
Grapes of Wrath,
447
00:29:54,198 --> 00:29:57,906
you realise the extent
of the shock caused by
448
00:29:57,948 --> 00:30:00,656
the complete collapse of
economic activity.
449
00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:03,741
They told me to
tell you to get off,
450
00:30:03,774 --> 00:30:05,342
and that's what I'm telling ya.
451
00:30:05,375 --> 00:30:07,311
You mean get off of my own land?
452
00:30:07,344 --> 00:30:09,413
Don't go to blaming me,
it ain't my fault.
453
00:30:09,446 --> 00:30:10,615
Whose fault is it?
454
00:30:10,647 --> 00:30:12,083
You know who owns the land...
455
00:30:12,116 --> 00:30:14,185
the Shawnee Land
and Cattle Company.
456
00:30:14,217 --> 00:30:16,119
And who's the Shawnee
Land and Cattle Company?
457
00:30:16,152 --> 00:30:18,089
It ain't nobody! It's a company.
458
00:30:18,121 --> 00:30:19,724
They got a president,
ain't they?
459
00:30:19,758 --> 00:30:22,292
They got somebody knows what
a shotgun's for, ain't they?!
460
00:30:22,325 --> 00:30:23,361
What's the use
of pickin' on him?
461
00:30:23,393 --> 00:30:25,195
He ain't nothin'
but the manager.
462
00:30:25,229 --> 00:30:27,131
And he's half crazy hisself
tryin' to keep up
463
00:30:27,164 --> 00:30:28,466
with his orders from the East.
464
00:30:28,498 --> 00:30:31,702
- Then who do we shoot?
- Brother, I don't know.
465
00:30:31,737 --> 00:30:33,504
If I did, I'd tell ya.
466
00:30:33,538 --> 00:30:35,540
I just don't know
who's to blame.
467
00:30:35,573 --> 00:30:37,809
I'm right here to tell you,
mister, there ain't nobody
468
00:30:37,842 --> 00:30:39,811
gonna push me off my land!
469
00:30:39,844 --> 00:30:43,414
My grandpa took up
this land 70 years ago.
470
00:30:43,447 --> 00:30:46,616
My pa was born here.
We was all born on it!
471
00:30:46,651 --> 00:30:49,153
And some of us was killed on it!
472
00:31:07,616 --> 00:31:09,866
Banks fail one after another,
473
00:31:09,907 --> 00:31:12,616
which results in
everyone losing their savings.
474
00:31:12,657 --> 00:31:16,241
And this decreases in
demand in other areas,
475
00:31:16,283 --> 00:31:18,408
causing a cascading phenomena
of bankruptcy and unemployment.
476
00:31:51,116 --> 00:31:54,616
The crisis of the 1930s creates
such a strong trauma
477
00:31:54,658 --> 00:31:57,825
that leads to the
public and politicians
478
00:31:58,242 --> 00:32:01,450
holding capitalism accountable.
479
00:32:33,726 --> 00:32:37,563
The pain in the United
States had become so great,
480
00:32:37,596 --> 00:32:43,202
so grave... absolute poverty...
and as a consequence of that,
481
00:32:43,236 --> 00:32:45,839
the willingness to
make political solutions
482
00:32:45,872 --> 00:32:48,574
that were severe.
483
00:32:48,608 --> 00:32:53,279
This nation is asking
for action and action now.
484
00:32:54,882 --> 00:32:58,518
Price-fixing, massive
change in labor rates...
485
00:32:58,551 --> 00:33:01,320
all of these things under FDR
486
00:33:01,354 --> 00:33:04,557
was something that Americans
hadn't seen before,
487
00:33:04,590 --> 00:33:07,627
and absolutely that led to
massive infrastructure build
488
00:33:07,660 --> 00:33:10,530
and it led to extraordinary
redistribution.
489
00:33:11,899 --> 00:33:14,001
The existence
of a communist alternative
490
00:33:14,034 --> 00:33:18,671
scared the capitalist world
into thinking that if it didn't
491
00:33:18,705 --> 00:33:21,909
at least address some of
the basic inequality issues,
492
00:33:21,943 --> 00:33:24,845
that they would lose
the battle for ideas.
493
00:33:30,919 --> 00:33:33,619
In the New Deal itself,
Roosevelt actually borrowed
494
00:33:33,653 --> 00:33:37,024
some ideas... the heavy state
involvement in the economy;
495
00:33:37,058 --> 00:33:39,259
heavy regulation.
496
00:33:41,462 --> 00:33:44,966
There was a clear recognition
that unless the state tried to
497
00:33:44,998 --> 00:33:46,800
do something about jobs
498
00:33:46,835 --> 00:33:50,971
and do enough redistribution
to keep people from starving,
499
00:33:51,005 --> 00:33:54,608
that you wouldn't have
basic social stability.
500
00:34:18,699 --> 00:34:20,835
The Wall Street crash
creates poverty in America,
501
00:34:20,870 --> 00:34:22,336
it creates poverty in Britain,
502
00:34:22,370 --> 00:34:24,304
but it has a massive
effect on Germany,
503
00:34:24,339 --> 00:34:28,375
because Germany is already poor.
After World War I,
504
00:34:28,408 --> 00:34:30,879
they were given these very
punitive reparations...
505
00:34:30,913 --> 00:34:33,848
they had to give huge amounts
of money to the other countries.
506
00:34:33,882 --> 00:34:36,450
And what you have is
this horrific inflation
507
00:34:36,484 --> 00:34:37,752
in the Weimar Republic...
508
00:34:37,787 --> 00:34:39,721
Germany as it was known in
the 1920s...
509
00:34:39,754 --> 00:34:41,522
in which, basically,
at one point,
510
00:34:41,555 --> 00:34:46,027
a whole barrel of banknotes
cannot buy you a loaf of bread.
511
00:34:49,364 --> 00:34:52,433
We can absolutely link, as tight
as that, the rise of fascism
512
00:34:52,467 --> 00:34:55,805
in Europe in the 1930s
and extreme poverty.
513
00:35:12,955 --> 00:35:14,924
And you can see
how seductive it is
514
00:35:14,957 --> 00:35:17,559
when someone like Adolf Hitler
comes up and says,
515
00:35:17,592 --> 00:35:20,963
"I'll make Germany great again.
We'll be powerful again."
516
00:35:20,996 --> 00:35:22,998
And really what he's saying is,
517
00:35:23,032 --> 00:35:26,035
"The reason why we're so poor in
Germany is because of Britain,
518
00:35:26,069 --> 00:35:30,740
is because of America, is
because of the rest of Europe."
519
00:35:42,952 --> 00:35:46,121
These downtrodden people
were so open, so vulnerable
520
00:35:46,155 --> 00:35:49,059
to the rise of fascism
and the call of racism,
521
00:35:49,092 --> 00:35:50,625
the call of exclusionism
522
00:35:50,659 --> 00:35:53,730
and the call of
invading other countries.
523
00:36:04,495 --> 00:36:08,037
We want to see no more
class divisions.
524
00:36:09,579 --> 00:36:12,079
We want to be one people.
525
00:36:12,620 --> 00:36:17,621
And you, my youth,
are to be this people.
526
00:36:21,523 --> 00:36:26,062
One American
airplane factory... one of many.
527
00:36:26,097 --> 00:36:28,999
One bomber...
thousands on the way...
528
00:36:30,599 --> 00:36:32,936
an angel of death.
529
00:36:32,970 --> 00:36:35,572
What really gets rid of
the Depression is transforming
530
00:36:35,604 --> 00:36:37,540
the economy into World War II.
531
00:36:37,573 --> 00:36:39,976
And the scale of this is just
something that humanity
532
00:36:40,010 --> 00:36:41,946
had never seen before.
533
00:36:44,815 --> 00:36:46,918
The governments of all
the societies involved
534
00:36:46,950 --> 00:36:49,120
just kind of take
over production,
535
00:36:49,152 --> 00:36:50,888
and this is an industrial war,
536
00:36:50,922 --> 00:36:54,124
so production is, kind of,
the terms under which,
537
00:36:54,158 --> 00:36:57,460
in the long run,
this will be won or lost.
538
00:37:03,968 --> 00:37:06,837
The labor movement
got a lot of political power.
539
00:37:06,871 --> 00:37:08,705
Like, if you're
producing for the war,
540
00:37:08,739 --> 00:37:13,576
you have to automatically
recognize a union.
541
00:37:13,610 --> 00:37:15,880
And then just also raising
the money to pay for that
542
00:37:15,913 --> 00:37:18,215
just involved raising taxes.
543
00:37:19,683 --> 00:37:22,720
This period was the
last gasp of feudalism,
544
00:37:22,753 --> 00:37:25,790
and it took this to finally
purge the influence
545
00:37:25,823 --> 00:37:29,160
of the aristocracy
in advanced countries.
546
00:39:00,123 --> 00:39:04,040
The wars themselves
are used to destroy capital.
547
00:39:05,873 --> 00:39:10,498
Firstly, there are bombings
that destroy entire cities.
548
00:39:10,540 --> 00:39:11,498
But at the same time,
549
00:39:11,540 --> 00:39:15,373
this only accounts for a third
of the total loss of capital.
550
00:39:17,207 --> 00:39:20,207
So where do the other
two-thirds come from?
551
00:39:20,248 --> 00:39:24,290
A third is from inflation that
destroys the public debt,
552
00:39:24,332 --> 00:39:28,665
which was lent by the
citizens to finance the war.
553
00:39:29,540 --> 00:39:32,915
And then there is a third
from new rules,
554
00:39:33,207 --> 00:39:34,832
like rent controls,
555
00:39:34,874 --> 00:39:36,790
nationalisations and
financial regulations.
556
00:39:38,582 --> 00:39:42,665
But this collapse of capital is
not necessarily a bad thing
557
00:39:42,707 --> 00:39:45,457
because the power relationships
within society are transformed.
558
00:39:53,239 --> 00:39:56,209
♪ Oh, give me land,
lots of land ♪
559
00:39:56,243 --> 00:39:58,978
♪ Under starry skies above ♪
560
00:39:59,011 --> 00:40:02,181
♪ Don't fence me in ♪
561
00:40:02,216 --> 00:40:05,384
♪ Let me ride through
the wide open country... ♪
562
00:40:05,666 --> 00:40:08,707
Everyone is equal
in the face of death.
563
00:40:09,832 --> 00:40:14,249
Wars, with their
death and despair,
564
00:40:14,499 --> 00:40:19,374
are also moments when
humanity is found in us all.
565
00:40:19,867 --> 00:40:24,403
♪ Let me be my myself
in the evening breeze ♪
566
00:40:24,438 --> 00:40:28,375
♪ Listen to the murmur
of the cottonwood trees... ♪
567
00:40:29,208 --> 00:40:33,124
This new political context
will ultimately lead
568
00:40:33,541 --> 00:40:37,624
to a realisation of the spirit
of the Enlightenment
569
00:40:38,625 --> 00:40:40,875
and of equality proclaimed
in the 18th century.
570
00:40:41,455 --> 00:40:50,931
♪ Don't fence me in ♪
571
00:40:54,301 --> 00:40:57,037
The social landscape
is completely different
572
00:40:57,071 --> 00:40:58,839
in the aftermath
of World War II.
573
00:40:58,873 --> 00:41:02,276
You see the biggest shift in
attitudes that you ever see.
574
00:41:02,309 --> 00:41:04,811
Bit different from
what it used to be,
575
00:41:04,846 --> 00:41:06,213
I can tell ya.
576
00:41:08,816 --> 00:41:11,485
There will be sickness
and unemployment benefits,
577
00:41:11,519 --> 00:41:14,189
retirement pensions,
industrial injuries benefits,
578
00:41:14,222 --> 00:41:17,025
guardians allowances, widows'
benefits, maternity grants.
579
00:41:17,057 --> 00:41:19,460
It's a move towards
creating a benefit system.
580
00:41:19,494 --> 00:41:22,063
We have the idea
of sickness pay, holiday pay.
581
00:41:22,096 --> 00:41:24,231
In Britain they created
the National Health Service...
582
00:41:24,265 --> 00:41:27,001
free service from
cradle to grave.
583
00:41:34,876 --> 00:41:37,312
It's a move towards
nationalization of industry,
584
00:41:37,345 --> 00:41:39,380
it's a move towards
taxation of inheritance,
585
00:41:39,414 --> 00:41:41,349
taxation of property and wealth.
586
00:41:41,382 --> 00:41:44,185
I'm telling you,
it works out fine.
587
00:41:44,219 --> 00:41:46,120
Television, with its
promise of endless hours
588
00:41:46,154 --> 00:41:50,326
of enjoyment, entertainment,
was part of the peacetime green.
589
00:41:50,358 --> 00:41:53,995
Television... an unparalleled
blending of private incentive
590
00:41:54,028 --> 00:41:56,498
and public service.
591
00:41:56,531 --> 00:41:58,000
In America
in the '50s,
592
00:41:58,032 --> 00:41:59,802
you see capital restrained also.
593
00:41:59,834 --> 00:42:02,036
You have rent controls
on apartments,
594
00:42:02,071 --> 00:42:03,905
you have limits on landowners.
595
00:42:03,938 --> 00:42:06,541
Capital can't just roam free,
it can't just increase itself.
596
00:42:06,575 --> 00:42:09,945
Capital must be harnessed
like some wild horse.
597
00:42:09,978 --> 00:42:12,413
This is the land
of the thoroughbred.
598
00:42:12,448 --> 00:42:15,351
There is a very clear
vision that capital needs to be
599
00:42:15,383 --> 00:42:18,086
helping the people, that
actually the whole principle
600
00:42:18,120 --> 00:42:20,522
in which the rich do whatever
they want with their capital
601
00:42:20,555 --> 00:42:22,191
and that's good for the nation,
602
00:42:22,224 --> 00:42:24,793
well, that's being challenged
across the world.
603
00:42:24,827 --> 00:42:27,296
♪ I wish I had
a castle in the sky ♪
604
00:42:29,064 --> 00:42:32,935
♪ A way up high where
bluebirds like to fly ♪
605
00:42:32,968 --> 00:42:36,404
The new vision is that the '50s
is going to be the age in which
606
00:42:36,438 --> 00:42:38,007
everyone can have wealth.
607
00:42:38,040 --> 00:42:40,042
♪ ...with a hundred
rooms or more... ♪
608
00:42:40,075 --> 00:42:41,510
...some day...
609
00:42:41,543 --> 00:42:44,580
♪ With stars for windows,
clouds for rugs ♪
610
00:42:44,613 --> 00:42:47,016
♪ A rainbow for a door ♪
611
00:42:47,049 --> 00:42:50,019
People who are born
just after World War II
612
00:42:50,053 --> 00:42:53,455
had a life that no child
before them could ever imagine.
613
00:42:53,489 --> 00:42:56,126
I just wish
I had a decent kitchen.
614
00:43:00,162 --> 00:43:01,463
For the first time,
615
00:43:01,498 --> 00:43:04,433
hard work and study
can get you to the top.
616
00:43:08,171 --> 00:43:10,073
- Hello, Mrs. Thatcher.
- Nice to see you.
617
00:43:10,105 --> 00:43:13,076
Have a seat.
618
00:43:15,010 --> 00:43:18,148
My father left school
at 12 or 13,
619
00:43:18,180 --> 00:43:19,982
and didn't have some
of the chances
620
00:43:20,016 --> 00:43:22,584
that you and I have
to go on to college.
621
00:43:22,619 --> 00:43:25,121
And I think you'll find
when you're a parent,
622
00:43:25,154 --> 00:43:28,491
what you're always trying to do
is to give your children
623
00:43:28,525 --> 00:43:31,060
the sort of chances
you didn't have.
624
00:43:31,094 --> 00:43:33,863
Would you like to see
a woman prime minister?
625
00:43:33,897 --> 00:43:36,332
I think it depends upon
who the person is.
626
00:43:36,366 --> 00:43:39,336
I don't think that there will
be a woman prime minister
627
00:43:39,369 --> 00:43:41,103
in my lifetime.
628
00:43:42,604 --> 00:43:44,374
What you see in
Margaret Thatcher's life
629
00:43:44,407 --> 00:43:47,043
is incredible social mobility.
630
00:43:47,077 --> 00:43:49,145
An ordinary shopkeeper's
daughter from the North,
631
00:43:49,178 --> 00:43:51,648
she went to grammar school,
she went to Oxford,
632
00:43:51,681 --> 00:43:53,883
and became the first
female prime minister,
633
00:43:53,917 --> 00:43:55,118
and, of course, wealthy.
634
00:43:55,151 --> 00:43:57,887
And that is simply
through this new society
635
00:43:57,921 --> 00:44:01,625
in which social mobility
was actually possible.
636
00:44:01,658 --> 00:44:04,994
And what you have is this real
surge of the middle classes
637
00:44:05,029 --> 00:44:07,498
and the lower middle classes
into positions of power.
638
00:44:15,003 --> 00:44:17,503
If you look at the
development of inequality
639
00:44:17,545 --> 00:44:21,253
through the 20th century,
the most striking transformation
640
00:44:21,295 --> 00:44:26,420
is the growth of an
extremely strong middle class.
641
00:44:27,836 --> 00:44:31,378
Until 1914, the
middle class doesn't exist.
642
00:44:32,128 --> 00:44:35,378
Or more accurately, they're
almost as poor as the poorest.
643
00:44:39,420 --> 00:44:41,545
The decades after the war -
644
00:44:41,587 --> 00:44:44,295
30 years that saw glorious
economic growth -
645
00:44:44,337 --> 00:44:48,628
are marked by a steep increase
in purchasing power,
646
00:44:49,087 --> 00:44:52,503
especially for lower and
middle-class workers
647
00:44:52,545 --> 00:44:57,503
who can buy consumer goods,
improve their standard of living
648
00:44:57,545 --> 00:45:01,629
and save money to buy
a house and acquire capital.
649
00:45:02,154 --> 00:45:03,621
And we'll have the
kitchen right here,
650
00:45:03,655 --> 00:45:06,123
so we can see the children
playing in the yard.
651
00:45:06,157 --> 00:45:08,226
Children?! How many
you planning on?
652
00:45:08,259 --> 00:45:10,261
Not more than six, I hope.
653
00:45:14,462 --> 00:45:19,087
They're a group who are neither
very rich nor completely poor,
654
00:45:19,129 --> 00:45:22,004
but still have a substantial
share of national capital.
655
00:45:35,171 --> 00:45:36,629
But in recent decades,
656
00:45:36,671 --> 00:45:40,212
the share of wealth
owned by the middle class
657
00:45:40,254 --> 00:45:43,379
has started to decline
sharply in the US
658
00:45:43,671 --> 00:45:45,338
and a little less
sharply in Europe.
659
00:45:49,546 --> 00:45:52,588
Clearly we've taken
a very different direction,
660
00:45:52,629 --> 00:45:56,546
which can be quite disturbing if
we look into the 21st century.
661
00:45:58,963 --> 00:46:01,671
One of the greatest
challenges for the future
662
00:46:01,713 --> 00:46:04,755
is whether the middle class
will continue to shrink,
663
00:46:04,796 --> 00:46:07,463
with the risk of returning to an
impoverished middle class
664
00:46:07,505 --> 00:46:10,130
like we had a century ago.
665
00:46:23,736 --> 00:46:26,305
The decades
immediately after World War II
666
00:46:26,338 --> 00:46:28,340
were quite remarkable.
667
00:46:29,608 --> 00:46:32,310
There was a high degree
of social consensus
668
00:46:32,345 --> 00:46:36,114
that really sprang out
of the whole war effort.
669
00:46:37,650 --> 00:46:40,721
It was so...
You had a solidarity,
670
00:46:40,754 --> 00:46:44,725
but it was on the basis of
a pretty stratified society.
671
00:46:46,392 --> 00:46:48,394
There were other forms
of inequality that existed
672
00:46:48,427 --> 00:46:50,196
in that period.
673
00:46:50,229 --> 00:46:52,531
But that began to change
after the civil rights movement
674
00:46:52,565 --> 00:46:56,168
in the 1960s and then all
of the other social movements
675
00:46:56,202 --> 00:46:58,104
that occurred thereafter.
676
00:46:58,137 --> 00:47:00,139
- ♪ You better think ♪
- ♪ Think! ♪
677
00:47:00,172 --> 00:47:02,074
♪ Think about what
you're trying to do to me ♪
678
00:47:02,107 --> 00:47:05,311
The negro still is not free.
679
00:47:05,344 --> 00:47:06,780
♪ ...let yourself be free ♪
680
00:47:06,813 --> 00:47:09,248
- ♪ Oh, freedom ♪
- ♪ Freedom! ♪
681
00:47:09,282 --> 00:47:11,284
- ♪ Some freedom ♪
- ♪ Freedom! ♪
682
00:47:11,317 --> 00:47:13,219
♪ Oh, freedom ♪
683
00:47:13,252 --> 00:47:15,688
♪ Yeah, freedom! ♪
684
00:47:15,722 --> 00:47:17,724
I think that,
politically,
685
00:47:17,758 --> 00:47:21,160
having a broad middle class
is quite important.
686
00:47:21,193 --> 00:47:23,162
It's part of what's
called modernization
687
00:47:23,195 --> 00:47:25,232
through this idea that
as your income rises,
688
00:47:25,264 --> 00:47:28,568
you develop a middle class
that are better educated,
689
00:47:28,602 --> 00:47:32,774
and therefore they will demand
a higher level of participation.
690
00:47:32,807 --> 00:47:35,541
- ♪ Oh, freedom ♪
- ♪ Freedom! ♪
691
00:47:35,576 --> 00:47:37,410
- ♪ Some freedom ♪
- ♪ Freedom! ♪
692
00:47:37,443 --> 00:47:40,647
♪ Oh, freedom!
Yeah, freedom! ♪
693
00:47:40,681 --> 00:47:43,282
We have
been victims for so long.
694
00:47:43,316 --> 00:47:45,352
- ♪ Freedom ♪
- ♪ Oh, freedom ♪
695
00:47:45,384 --> 00:47:48,287
- ♪ Freedom ♪
- ♪ Give me some freedom ♪
696
00:47:48,322 --> 00:47:51,357
♪ Oh, freedom! ♪
697
00:47:51,391 --> 00:47:54,560
- ♪ Whoo! To the ball, baby ♪
- ♪ To the ball ♪
698
00:47:56,162 --> 00:47:59,366
Then that kind of all
unravels in the '70s.
699
00:47:59,399 --> 00:48:03,236
This is NBC Nightly
News, Wednesday October 17th.
700
00:48:03,270 --> 00:48:05,840
Good evening. The Middle East
war produced developments
701
00:48:05,873 --> 00:48:07,775
all over the world today.
702
00:48:07,808 --> 00:48:10,410
The oil-producing countries
of the Arab world
703
00:48:10,444 --> 00:48:13,347
decided to use their oil
as a political weapon.
704
00:48:13,380 --> 00:48:15,183
There was an
announcement in Kuwait
705
00:48:15,215 --> 00:48:17,417
that prices for Arab oil
were going up...
706
00:48:17,451 --> 00:48:20,487
a huge increase voted
in an overnight meeting
707
00:48:20,520 --> 00:48:24,191
until Israeli forces leave
occupied Arab land.
708
00:48:28,863 --> 00:48:32,466
This oil shock hits
all of the advanced economies,
709
00:48:32,499 --> 00:48:35,203
and oil was an input
into everything.
710
00:48:36,738 --> 00:48:38,907
It was announced
today that gasless Sundays
711
00:48:38,940 --> 00:48:41,909
will go into effect
as of next month.
712
00:48:41,943 --> 00:48:43,644
The price
of foreign oil
713
00:48:43,678 --> 00:48:46,313
had jumped from $3
to $12 a barrel.
714
00:48:47,915 --> 00:48:51,719
Quadrupling the price of
oil translated into this period
715
00:48:51,754 --> 00:48:54,422
where, like, prices
started to increase
716
00:48:54,455 --> 00:48:57,558
and wages weren't keeping pace,
717
00:48:57,592 --> 00:48:59,895
but then unions and workers
started demanding
718
00:48:59,928 --> 00:49:03,331
even higher wages to
keep pace with prices,
719
00:49:03,364 --> 00:49:05,667
and then what firms would do
is then increase prices
720
00:49:05,700 --> 00:49:08,904
even further to pass on
the effects of wages,
721
00:49:08,937 --> 00:49:12,707
and so you got what's
called a wage-price spiral.
722
00:49:12,741 --> 00:49:17,211
And so you had this period of
high inflation and low growth,
723
00:49:17,245 --> 00:49:20,448
so that's why it got
called stagflation.
724
00:49:28,791 --> 00:49:30,893
Globalization
is starting to happen.
725
00:49:30,926 --> 00:49:34,362
The emerging markets are
coming online in the world.
726
00:49:34,395 --> 00:49:35,798
Europe is back on its feet,
727
00:49:35,832 --> 00:49:37,801
Germany is becoming
a producer again,
728
00:49:37,834 --> 00:49:40,535
a number of European nations
are becoming more competitive.
729
00:49:44,740 --> 00:49:46,475
The global
picture is changing.
730
00:49:46,508 --> 00:49:48,677
American capital
suddenly doesn't have
731
00:49:48,710 --> 00:49:50,311
the world to itself anymore.
732
00:49:50,344 --> 00:49:52,448
♪ Tumble outta bed and I
stumble to the kitchen ♪
733
00:49:52,481 --> 00:49:54,784
♪ Pour myself
a cup of ambition... ♪
734
00:49:54,817 --> 00:49:57,285
But another thing
that's happening in the 1970s
735
00:49:57,319 --> 00:50:00,789
is you see a very kind
of siloed, financialized
736
00:50:00,824 --> 00:50:03,893
way of thinking about how to run
a corporate balance sheet...
737
00:50:03,927 --> 00:50:06,328
cut costs,
marshal your capital,
738
00:50:06,360 --> 00:50:08,765
treat labor as a cost,
not an asset.
739
00:50:08,798 --> 00:50:10,967
♪ Working 9 to 5 ♪
740
00:50:11,000 --> 00:50:13,569
♪ What a way to make a living ♪
741
00:50:13,602 --> 00:50:15,671
♪ Barely gettin' by ♪
742
00:50:15,704 --> 00:50:17,974
♪ It's all takin'
and no givin' ♪
743
00:50:18,007 --> 00:50:19,976
♪ They just use your mind ♪
744
00:50:20,009 --> 00:50:22,478
♪ And you never get the credit ♪
745
00:50:22,511 --> 00:50:26,548
♪ It's enough to drive you
crazy if you let it ♪
746
00:50:26,583 --> 00:50:28,617
Companies are not
investing in their workers,
747
00:50:28,650 --> 00:50:29,986
they're not raising wages,
748
00:50:30,019 --> 00:50:32,387
so you start to really
get that big 'X'
749
00:50:32,421 --> 00:50:36,325
where Wall Street's going here,
Main Street's going down here.
750
00:50:36,359 --> 00:50:38,627
♪ It's a rich man's game ♪
751
00:50:38,660 --> 00:50:40,630
♪ No matter what they call it ♪
752
00:50:40,662 --> 00:50:45,667
♪ And you spend your life
puttin' money in his wallet ♪
753
00:50:45,702 --> 00:50:47,004
♪ 9 to 5... ♪
754
00:50:50,372 --> 00:50:52,709
Germany and Japan
took a different model...
755
00:50:52,742 --> 00:50:55,310
a model in which workers sat
on the boards of companies,
756
00:50:55,344 --> 00:50:57,513
had more of a say.
757
00:50:57,547 --> 00:50:59,750
This actually gave them
a big advantage.
758
00:50:59,784 --> 00:51:01,484
They were able to use
that expertise
759
00:51:01,517 --> 00:51:02,853
and increase their efficiency,
760
00:51:02,886 --> 00:51:05,655
and eventually gain market share
from US companies.
761
00:51:07,423 --> 00:51:10,860
When it started,
America was unprepared.
762
00:51:10,895 --> 00:51:12,862
From across the ocean,
they came...
763
00:51:12,897 --> 00:51:17,500
little cars determined to change
the buying habits of a nation.
764
00:51:17,534 --> 00:51:20,370
It's a great-looking car.
What do you call it?
765
00:51:20,403 --> 00:51:22,605
- Isuzu.
- Gesundheit.
766
00:51:22,639 --> 00:51:24,607
Road-hugging, heart-pounding,
767
00:51:24,641 --> 00:51:26,709
hood-soaring, deck-sloping...
768
00:51:26,744 --> 00:51:29,013
♪ We are... ♪
769
00:51:29,046 --> 00:51:31,916
♪ Cadillacs drive Subaru ♪
770
00:51:31,949 --> 00:51:34,085
Reagan for president.
771
00:51:35,618 --> 00:51:37,955
Japanese production
of automobiles is almost
772
00:51:37,988 --> 00:51:41,926
twice as great per worker
as it is in America.
773
00:51:41,960 --> 00:51:44,461
We were once the greatest
producer of automobiles,
774
00:51:44,494 --> 00:51:48,065
producing more than all the
rest of the world combined.
775
00:51:48,098 --> 00:51:49,867
That is no longer true.
776
00:51:50,051 --> 00:51:53,427
Every country feels the
need to tell a story about
777
00:51:53,468 --> 00:51:57,968
why it's richer than another
or why it has become poorer.
778
00:51:58,468 --> 00:52:02,635
And it's this story that
Reagan and Thatcher tell
779
00:52:03,093 --> 00:52:05,760
the American and British public.
780
00:52:06,116 --> 00:52:08,753
Thank you very much.
781
00:52:10,856 --> 00:52:14,059
Can anyone look at our reduced
standing in the world today
782
00:52:14,091 --> 00:52:17,595
and say, "Let's have four
more years of this"?
783
00:52:17,628 --> 00:52:20,463
No!
784
00:52:20,497 --> 00:52:23,768
For those who've abandoned hope,
we'll restore hope
785
00:52:23,802 --> 00:52:26,503
and we'll welcome them
into a great national crusade
786
00:52:26,536 --> 00:52:30,775
to make America great again.
787
00:52:31,510 --> 00:52:33,969
In the United States
there was a feeling
788
00:52:34,010 --> 00:52:36,427
that Germany was catching up,
789
00:52:36,469 --> 00:52:38,386
that Japan was catching up -
790
00:52:38,427 --> 00:52:41,052
these countries
that lost the war.
791
00:52:41,094 --> 00:52:45,177
And Reagan, and also
Thatcher to a certain extent,
792
00:52:45,219 --> 00:52:48,427
use this ideological
argument to say,
793
00:52:48,469 --> 00:52:50,844
"Look, these countries
are catching up.
794
00:52:50,886 --> 00:52:54,719
"Something needs to change.
What could we change?
795
00:52:54,761 --> 00:52:57,803
"Ah, it's because
of the welfare state
796
00:52:58,553 --> 00:53:01,803
"that was put in place
following the New Deal.
797
00:53:01,844 --> 00:53:03,761
"That's what's made us soft.
798
00:53:03,803 --> 00:53:06,469
"And so we must return to
the mythical capitalism
799
00:53:06,511 --> 00:53:10,094
"of the 19th century. That's how
we're going to re-energise."
800
00:53:12,952 --> 00:53:15,221
Here comes
the Prime Ministerial Rover,
801
00:53:15,254 --> 00:53:17,522
bearing now Mrs. Thatcher.
802
00:53:17,555 --> 00:53:19,090
Enter Margaret Thatcher,
803
00:53:19,125 --> 00:53:22,194
a grocer's daughter educated
among the privileged classes
804
00:53:22,228 --> 00:53:23,662
at Oxford University.
805
00:53:26,132 --> 00:53:29,235
There is now work to be done.
806
00:53:29,268 --> 00:53:31,737
In deciding that, actually,
what we need to do
807
00:53:31,771 --> 00:53:36,142
is increase the value of assets
in order to increase investment,
808
00:53:36,175 --> 00:53:38,778
some of the thinking
behind what would happen
809
00:53:38,811 --> 00:53:42,048
when you let capital free,
810
00:53:42,081 --> 00:53:45,117
you had to suppress
the power of labor.
811
00:53:49,088 --> 00:53:52,490
This 12-foot-high pile
is part of two weeks' rubbish
812
00:53:52,524 --> 00:53:54,693
piled outside the
local refuse depot.
813
00:53:54,727 --> 00:53:55,995
Like others in Central London,
814
00:53:56,028 --> 00:53:57,797
it's been closed
now for two weeks
815
00:53:57,831 --> 00:53:59,632
because of the dustmen's
indefinite strike.
816
00:53:59,664 --> 00:54:01,634
The teachers' union
are today putting forward
817
00:54:01,666 --> 00:54:04,971
a pay claim. 33,000 school
children are out of school
818
00:54:05,005 --> 00:54:07,239
in the worst-affected London
borough of Haringey.
819
00:54:07,273 --> 00:54:08,673
Cancelled operations
820
00:54:08,708 --> 00:54:10,743
meant empty beds
up on the wards,
821
00:54:10,777 --> 00:54:13,045
which would otherwise
have been used.
822
00:54:13,080 --> 00:54:14,914
You have to remember,
at those times,
823
00:54:14,947 --> 00:54:19,086
there were issues about strikes;
the public were upset about
824
00:54:19,118 --> 00:54:23,089
the way some labor unions
were acting in that time.
825
00:54:23,123 --> 00:54:25,725
I'm going to boil everything
because the sewage men,
826
00:54:25,759 --> 00:54:28,161
I understand,
are still on strike,
827
00:54:28,195 --> 00:54:32,132
and so it'll be polluted,
so you can get typhoid,
828
00:54:32,164 --> 00:54:34,034
can't you?
829
00:54:34,067 --> 00:54:36,103
There was a mandate
to do something about
830
00:54:36,136 --> 00:54:38,305
the power of labor
against capital.
831
00:54:38,338 --> 00:54:41,174
And it certainly is a tricky job
trying to get that right.
832
00:54:41,208 --> 00:54:44,945
This government has rolled back
the frontiers of the state
833
00:54:44,978 --> 00:54:48,181
and will roll them back
still further.
834
00:54:48,215 --> 00:54:50,984
Millions have already
become shareholders
835
00:54:51,018 --> 00:54:55,189
in British Gas, British Airways,
British airports.
836
00:55:05,999 --> 00:55:07,267
Attention, all passengers.
837
00:55:07,300 --> 00:55:11,005
Flight 307 is cancelled
until further notice.
838
00:55:11,039 --> 00:55:13,173
This incredible
hostility to unions
839
00:55:13,207 --> 00:55:16,210
starts in the '80s
and is really crystallized
840
00:55:16,243 --> 00:55:21,148
when Reagan fires all
these air traffic controllers.
841
00:55:21,182 --> 00:55:23,683
I must tell those
who fail to report for duty
842
00:55:23,716 --> 00:55:28,256
this morning, if they do not
report for work within 48 hours,
843
00:55:28,289 --> 00:55:33,093
they have forfeited their jobs
and will be terminated.
844
00:55:33,127 --> 00:55:34,862
End of statement.
845
00:55:34,896 --> 00:55:37,331
That's kind of
seen as like a greenlight
846
00:55:37,364 --> 00:55:39,200
to a whole industry.
847
00:55:41,102 --> 00:55:44,005
Good evening. This afternoon,
President Reagan started firing
848
00:55:44,038 --> 00:55:46,908
the strikers, and the government
claimed it was ready to rebuild
849
00:55:46,941 --> 00:55:48,776
the whole system without them.
850
00:55:53,347 --> 00:55:55,149
By this evening,
federal judges had sent
851
00:55:55,183 --> 00:55:57,819
five local union leaders
to jail.
852
00:56:05,026 --> 00:56:07,728
What we've seen over
time... and this is fundamental
853
00:56:07,763 --> 00:56:10,898
to understanding why
inequality has worsened...
854
00:56:10,933 --> 00:56:14,937
is that the share of all the
money that's made in the economy
855
00:56:14,969 --> 00:56:17,806
is going less and less to the
workers, so that is declining...
856
00:56:17,840 --> 00:56:20,074
the wage share...
857
00:56:20,109 --> 00:56:23,711
and the profit share,
essentially what those that own
858
00:56:23,744 --> 00:56:26,281
the capital will get,
is growing.
859
00:56:28,715 --> 00:56:32,687
And that is essentially
about power.
860
00:56:34,790 --> 00:56:37,658
Well, I, uh... I appreciate the
opportunity you're giving me,
861
00:56:37,691 --> 00:56:41,029
Mr. Cromwell, as the single
largest shareholder
862
00:56:41,063 --> 00:56:43,132
in Teldar Paper, to speak.
863
00:56:45,734 --> 00:56:48,403
America has become
a second-rate power.
864
00:56:49,838 --> 00:56:51,306
Now, in the days
of the free market,
865
00:56:51,340 --> 00:56:54,675
when our country was
a top industrial power,
866
00:56:54,709 --> 00:56:58,347
there was accountability
to the stockholder.
867
00:56:58,380 --> 00:57:00,016
The Carnegies, the Mellons,
868
00:57:00,048 --> 00:57:02,818
the men that built this
great industrial empire,
869
00:57:02,851 --> 00:57:06,654
made sure of it because it
was their money at stake.
870
00:57:07,923 --> 00:57:09,992
The point is,
ladies and gentlemen,
871
00:57:10,025 --> 00:57:14,129
that greed... for lack
of a better word...
872
00:57:14,164 --> 00:57:16,031
is good.
873
00:57:16,065 --> 00:57:17,934
Greed is right.
874
00:57:17,966 --> 00:57:20,036
Greed works.
875
00:57:20,068 --> 00:57:21,838
And greed...
876
00:57:22,505 --> 00:57:24,741
you mark my words...
877
00:57:24,773 --> 00:57:27,075
will not only save Teldar Paper,
878
00:57:27,110 --> 00:57:31,146
but that other malfunctioning
corporation called the USA.
879
00:57:31,181 --> 00:57:33,849
Thank you very much.
880
00:57:33,883 --> 00:57:36,118
When Gordon Gekko
was seen on film saying,
881
00:57:36,152 --> 00:57:40,823
"Greed is good," that was
intended to be a howl of protest
882
00:57:40,857 --> 00:57:42,391
against the system.
883
00:57:42,425 --> 00:57:45,394
But such had the
cultural fabric changed,
884
00:57:45,428 --> 00:57:48,031
that actually for some people
coming through universities
885
00:57:48,064 --> 00:57:50,133
applying to join
investment banks,
886
00:57:50,166 --> 00:57:53,002
that phrase "Greed is good"
actually became a license
887
00:57:53,036 --> 00:57:54,938
to pursue riches.
888
00:58:03,947 --> 00:58:06,849
The era of
the yuppie came to rule.
889
00:58:06,883 --> 00:58:09,786
♪ Friday night and
everyone's moving ♪
890
00:58:09,819 --> 00:58:14,257
♪ I can feel the heat, but it's
soothing, heading down ♪
891
00:58:14,291 --> 00:58:16,860
It began to become very
cool to be an entrepreneur,
892
00:58:16,893 --> 00:58:18,494
to be riding that boom,
893
00:58:18,528 --> 00:58:22,866
and the idea of arguing for
high taxes and redistribution
894
00:58:22,899 --> 00:58:25,035
began to seem
very out of fashion.
895
00:58:25,068 --> 00:58:27,904
- ♪ We're the kids in America ♪
- ♪ Whoa ♪
896
00:58:27,938 --> 00:58:30,841
- ♪ We're the kids in America ♪
- ♪ Whoa ♪
897
00:58:30,873 --> 00:58:34,143
♪ Everybody live for
the music-go-round ♪
898
00:58:36,513 --> 00:58:39,349
The new mantra of
deregulation took hold,
899
00:58:39,383 --> 00:58:43,387
and so financial services
were deregulated dramatically,
900
00:58:43,419 --> 00:58:45,321
bankers began to
get paid a lot more,
901
00:58:45,356 --> 00:58:47,057
and then market forces
were unleashed,
902
00:58:47,091 --> 00:58:50,293
which made capitalists
a lot richer.
903
00:58:51,829 --> 00:58:53,831
♪ Hot-shot... ♪
904
00:59:02,206 --> 00:59:05,576
The big reforms
of the Reagan-Thatcher era
905
00:59:05,609 --> 00:59:10,080
were lower the tax
rates on the rich
906
00:59:10,114 --> 00:59:13,984
on the assumption it would
trickle down. Didn't happen.
907
00:59:15,252 --> 00:59:17,489
When they adopted
these kinds of policies,
908
00:59:17,521 --> 00:59:21,458
it was very clear that they
would increase inequality.
909
00:59:21,493 --> 00:59:25,095
The promise was that
the pie would be bigger,
910
00:59:25,129 --> 00:59:29,099
you would be getting
a smaller percentage
911
00:59:29,134 --> 00:59:33,003
of a bigger pie, and your
slice would get bigger.
912
00:59:34,305 --> 00:59:36,308
So in some sense,
913
00:59:37,642 --> 00:59:40,011
there was no surprise
914
00:59:40,044 --> 00:59:42,146
that there was
a growth in inequality.
915
00:59:42,180 --> 00:59:45,149
But the magnitude of
the increase in inequality
916
00:59:45,183 --> 00:59:46,950
was much larger.
917
00:59:46,985 --> 00:59:50,321
When we look at the numbers,
we can see it very vividly.
918
00:59:50,355 --> 00:59:55,026
The bottom 90% have experienced
near-stagnation.
919
00:59:55,060 --> 00:59:59,264
Most of the growth
has gone to the top 10%.
920
00:59:59,297 --> 01:00:03,401
Median income for a typical
American household is roughly
921
01:00:03,435 --> 01:00:06,137
at the level it was
a quarter century ago.
922
01:00:06,171 --> 01:00:09,541
Real wages, adjusted for
inflation, at the bottom
923
01:00:09,574 --> 01:00:12,410
are at the level they were
60 years ago.
924
01:00:16,481 --> 01:00:20,085
In fact, life expectancy
has been declining.
925
01:00:21,619 --> 01:00:25,223
These are dramatic statistics
that shows the economy
926
01:00:25,256 --> 01:00:28,526
has not been working
for most Americans.
927
01:00:37,236 --> 01:00:40,439
By the 1990s, American banks
really became the exporters
928
01:00:40,472 --> 01:00:43,008
of American capitalism,
and they went everywhere...
929
01:00:43,042 --> 01:00:45,511
they went to Europe,
they went to Asia.
930
01:00:47,245 --> 01:00:51,217
And everyone was sold our
version of a trickle-down,
931
01:00:51,249 --> 01:00:54,453
laissez-faire
deregulate capitalism.
932
01:01:01,060 --> 01:01:05,030
Life seemed to get
better in the 1990s,
933
01:01:05,064 --> 01:01:07,633
because the globalization
of the system
934
01:01:07,666 --> 01:01:11,669
made things for ordinary
people for a while cheaper,
935
01:01:11,704 --> 01:01:14,173
but then on top of that,
you get credit.
936
01:01:17,476 --> 01:01:19,512
When the credit boom took off,
937
01:01:19,545 --> 01:01:22,148
suddenly ordinary people
could get credit.
938
01:01:22,181 --> 01:01:23,717
Master the moment.
939
01:01:23,750 --> 01:01:27,486
Suddenly, extraordinarily poor
people could get credit.
940
01:01:27,520 --> 01:01:29,555
- You can apply...
- ...right over the phone.
941
01:01:29,589 --> 01:01:32,492
People with terrible credit
histories could get credit.
942
01:01:32,525 --> 01:01:34,427
There is
absolutely no risk.
943
01:01:34,460 --> 01:01:37,664
People who in no way
should be given a mortgage
944
01:01:37,696 --> 01:01:40,567
could get a mortgage.
945
01:01:40,599 --> 01:01:43,537
And the investment banks
created ever more exotic
946
01:01:43,570 --> 01:01:48,341
credit derivatives... ways of
parceling up your bad debt
947
01:01:48,374 --> 01:01:51,011
and disguising its badness.
948
01:01:51,044 --> 01:01:55,147
That's what kept the system
going for as long as it did.
949
01:01:55,182 --> 01:01:57,184
And 2008 was where that blew up.
950
01:01:58,685 --> 01:02:01,154
Wall Street
in panic mode this morning.
951
01:02:01,188 --> 01:02:02,556
How did this happen?
952
01:02:02,589 --> 01:02:05,258
22% of homeowners are underwater
on their mortgage...
953
01:02:05,292 --> 01:02:06,560
Millions of American
homeowners...
954
01:02:06,593 --> 01:02:08,328
- Homeowners defaulting...
- Greed.
955
01:02:08,361 --> 01:02:10,996
The essence of the American
Dream could be threatened.
956
01:02:11,031 --> 01:02:13,533
- Sub-prime lending...
- Higher interest rates...
957
01:02:13,567 --> 01:02:16,336
Let's see here, uh,
balloon payment,
958
01:02:16,369 --> 01:02:19,206
37% interest compounded
every minute,
959
01:02:19,239 --> 01:02:21,374
not understanding
the contract fee,
960
01:02:21,408 --> 01:02:23,577
da, da, ba, da, ba, ba-da, bow.
961
01:02:23,610 --> 01:02:25,346
And here's your
new monthly payment.
962
01:02:26,613 --> 01:02:28,482
Listen, you, when
you gave me that money,
963
01:02:28,515 --> 01:02:31,485
you said I wouldn't have
to repay it till the future.
964
01:02:31,519 --> 01:02:34,488
This isn't the future!
It's the lousy, stinkin' now!
965
01:02:34,521 --> 01:02:39,594
Now, calm down. This country
takes care of its middle class.
966
01:02:43,330 --> 01:02:45,066
Ah, don't be sore at the banks.
967
01:02:45,098 --> 01:02:48,636
Hell, we fired our CEO and he
barely got out with $50 million.
968
01:02:50,438 --> 01:02:52,506
Banks are afraid
to lend money to each other.
969
01:02:52,540 --> 01:02:54,474
We're seeing a freezing
of the credit market.
970
01:02:54,509 --> 01:02:55,675
- ...credit markets.
- ...credit markets.
971
01:02:55,710 --> 01:02:57,277
The fear is rising.
972
01:02:57,311 --> 01:03:00,715
The fear was, and I think it was
a well-founded fear,
973
01:03:00,748 --> 01:03:04,118
that the availability of
credit would disappear,
974
01:03:04,150 --> 01:03:06,287
and perhaps our ability
to even transact,
975
01:03:06,320 --> 01:03:08,456
to even be able to access
cash to make payments,
976
01:03:08,489 --> 01:03:10,358
use a credit card,
use a debit card.
977
01:03:10,391 --> 01:03:12,828
Perhaps that would
break down also.
978
01:03:12,861 --> 01:03:15,463
Worst week
since the crash of 1929.
979
01:03:15,496 --> 01:03:17,297
- ...global sell-off.
- ...the Dow tumbled...
980
01:03:17,331 --> 01:03:19,667
- ...hoarding cash.
- Japan down nearly 10%.
981
01:03:19,700 --> 01:03:23,472
The British government
blamed American bankers.
982
01:03:23,504 --> 01:03:25,473
When it starts to unravel,
then you start to worry...
983
01:03:25,506 --> 01:03:27,843
how broadly will this
spread around the world
984
01:03:27,876 --> 01:03:30,779
and are we on the verge of
another Great Depression?
985
01:03:30,812 --> 01:03:35,082
American taxpayers woke up this
morning to learn their money
986
01:03:35,116 --> 01:03:36,450
makes up most of a...
987
01:03:36,484 --> 01:03:38,787
Big package, because
it was a big problem.
988
01:03:38,821 --> 01:03:40,555
Too big to fail.
989
01:03:40,588 --> 01:03:44,559
The Fed loaned
the banks some $7.7 trillion.
990
01:03:44,593 --> 01:03:47,361
Global markets soared at the
news of the US rescue plan.
991
01:03:47,396 --> 01:03:50,498
With the bail-out news,
the stock rebounded nearly 60%.
992
01:03:50,531 --> 01:03:52,801
...Hong Kong more than 8%.
London's FTSE...
993
01:03:52,834 --> 01:03:54,369
Stokes rose
15% in one hour...
994
01:03:54,402 --> 01:03:55,872
the largest single bounce
in FTSE history.
995
01:03:55,904 --> 01:03:58,240
Those companies
came to us and said,
996
01:03:58,272 --> 01:04:00,207
"Uh, if you don't
give us $700 billion,
997
01:04:00,242 --> 01:04:01,777
everything you love and
hold dear in this world
998
01:04:01,811 --> 01:04:04,146
will turn to."
999
01:04:04,178 --> 01:04:08,149
And in return for this
in no way ransom money...
1000
01:04:09,550 --> 01:04:12,487
...the American people would now
be the proud owner
1001
01:04:12,521 --> 01:04:14,590
of these bales of.
1002
01:04:17,192 --> 01:04:20,696
The collapse didn't
occur. The system was preserved
1003
01:04:20,729 --> 01:04:23,900
and the opportunity to
substantially reform the system
1004
01:04:23,933 --> 01:04:26,468
was set aside. The stock
market went down sharply,
1005
01:04:26,501 --> 01:04:30,539
and then it came back up sharply
as a result of these measures.
1006
01:04:30,573 --> 01:04:33,141
In addition, wealthy people,
rich people,
1007
01:04:33,175 --> 01:04:34,844
have a lot of exposure
to the stock market,
1008
01:04:34,877 --> 01:04:37,412
so they kept their jobs,
they kept their bonuses,
1009
01:04:37,447 --> 01:04:39,214
the businesses they
were in were not
1010
01:04:39,248 --> 01:04:42,451
substantially disrupted,
and they made more money
1011
01:04:42,484 --> 01:04:44,186
through stock appreciation
1012
01:04:44,220 --> 01:04:46,188
and through dividends and
through expected dividends
1013
01:04:46,222 --> 01:04:48,491
than they had in the
last couple of years.
1014
01:04:48,523 --> 01:04:50,493
Bloomberg
estimates the banks made
1015
01:04:50,525 --> 01:04:53,362
a $13 billion profit
on the spread.
1016
01:04:53,396 --> 01:04:56,231
73 executives
from the unit that engineered
1017
01:04:56,265 --> 01:04:59,534
the company's downfall
all just got bonus checks
1018
01:04:59,569 --> 01:05:03,673
- worth a million or more.
- ...$1.6 billion in bonuses.
1019
01:05:05,207 --> 01:05:07,644
Wall Street and
the views of Wall Street
1020
01:05:07,676 --> 01:05:09,678
had taken over policy.
1021
01:05:11,380 --> 01:05:13,383
That's the quiet coup.
1022
01:05:20,556 --> 01:05:23,660
Democracies in
general are susceptible to this
1023
01:05:23,693 --> 01:05:25,695
capture by elites.
1024
01:05:27,898 --> 01:05:32,201
And unless the democracy
is renewed by the non-elites
1025
01:05:32,235 --> 01:05:34,404
every now and then rising up,
1026
01:05:34,437 --> 01:05:38,207
the democracy will continue
to move in this direction
1027
01:05:38,241 --> 01:05:43,613
where power and wealth are
more and more concentrated.
1028
01:05:43,647 --> 01:05:47,617
All across the world, you now
have this layer of oligarchs
1029
01:05:47,650 --> 01:05:51,587
that use their money
to buy political influence.
1030
01:05:57,440 --> 01:06:00,356
When you have too strong
a concentration of capital
1031
01:06:00,398 --> 01:06:04,981
it leads to excessive
influence over the media,
1032
01:06:05,023 --> 01:06:09,148
and also financing of political
campaigns and political parties
1033
01:06:09,190 --> 01:06:12,148
that are in their own
best interests.
1034
01:06:12,398 --> 01:06:17,356
But this logic of 'one dollar,
one vote' is completely opposed
1035
01:06:17,606 --> 01:06:21,607
to the democratic logic of
'one person, one vote'.
1036
01:06:34,665 --> 01:06:37,367
Rationally speaking,
it would make sense that
1037
01:06:37,401 --> 01:06:39,904
the more of something you have,
maybe the more inclined
1038
01:06:39,938 --> 01:06:42,841
you would be to share it
with other people.
1039
01:06:42,875 --> 01:06:46,343
But that's not what our research
and what a lot of other research
1040
01:06:46,376 --> 01:06:48,445
seems to find.
1041
01:06:48,479 --> 01:06:51,983
We brought strangers
into the lab in pairs of two;
1042
01:06:52,016 --> 01:06:53,818
with a flip of a coin determined
1043
01:06:53,852 --> 01:06:55,520
who was going to be
a rich player
1044
01:06:55,552 --> 01:06:57,956
and was going to
be a poor player.
1045
01:07:01,658 --> 01:07:05,362
The rich player got two times
as much money to play the game,
1046
01:07:05,396 --> 01:07:07,565
they got to roll both dice
instead of one,
1047
01:07:07,599 --> 01:07:09,633
so they got to move around
the board a lot quicker,
1048
01:07:09,667 --> 01:07:12,036
and that mattered because when
they moved around the board
1049
01:07:12,071 --> 01:07:13,773
and passed 'Go, '
1050
01:07:13,805 --> 01:07:17,375
they would collect $200,
whereas the poor person,
1051
01:07:17,407 --> 01:07:19,978
they'd collect $100.
1052
01:07:20,012 --> 01:07:22,080
The inequality's almost
immediately apparent
1053
01:07:22,114 --> 01:07:23,949
to the players.
How couldn't it be?
1054
01:07:23,983 --> 01:07:27,852
But within a couple of minutes,
dynamics start to crystallize.
1055
01:07:33,691 --> 01:07:36,829
And the rich player started
to behave a little differently.
1056
01:07:36,862 --> 01:07:38,663
Rich players become
more dominant.
1057
01:07:40,099 --> 01:07:43,434
Rich players eat more pretzels.
1058
01:07:43,468 --> 01:07:48,374
When moving their piece around
the board, they become louder.
1059
01:07:48,406 --> 01:07:52,011
They start smacking the
board with their piece.
1060
01:07:53,879 --> 01:07:56,549
And the rich players
were significantly ruder.
1061
01:07:58,716 --> 01:08:02,122
They were far more likely
to showcase and talk about
1062
01:08:02,154 --> 01:08:05,090
how well they're doing
1063
01:08:05,125 --> 01:08:09,061
and to belittle the plight
of those poor players.
1064
01:08:10,997 --> 01:08:14,033
So they became
less compassionate.
1065
01:08:14,067 --> 01:08:17,036
These are patterns that we're
observing consistently over
1066
01:08:17,070 --> 01:08:18,904
hundreds of different
individuals.
1067
01:08:20,906 --> 01:08:24,543
You see people who are winning
because of the flip of a coin
1068
01:08:24,576 --> 01:08:27,478
start to act as if they
actually deserve to win.
1069
01:08:30,649 --> 01:08:34,888
One of the questions we ask is
"Why did you win the game?"
1070
01:08:34,921 --> 01:08:36,990
And you can imagine the
rich players would say,
1071
01:08:37,023 --> 01:08:38,992
"Well, I won the game because
of that flip of the coin
1072
01:08:39,025 --> 01:08:42,494
and I had two times
the advantage."
1073
01:08:42,527 --> 01:08:46,732
But none... not one...
of the rich players
1074
01:08:46,766 --> 01:08:50,971
attributed their inevitable
success in this game
1075
01:08:51,004 --> 01:08:56,142
to that force of luck
that randomly got them
1076
01:08:56,177 --> 01:08:59,880
that privileged position
in the first place.
1077
01:09:01,548 --> 01:09:04,918
And when we watch patterns
of human interactions,
1078
01:09:04,952 --> 01:09:08,722
people who feel entitled and
deserving of their own success
1079
01:09:08,755 --> 01:09:11,958
are more willing to privilege
their own interests
1080
01:09:11,992 --> 01:09:13,827
above the interests
of other people
1081
01:09:13,860 --> 01:09:16,428
and often engage in
ways that undermine
1082
01:09:16,462 --> 01:09:19,967
other people's welfare
so that they can get ahead.
1083
01:09:20,001 --> 01:09:24,171
And that's a fairly pernicious
social consequence.
1084
01:09:25,973 --> 01:09:28,808
But it's not about
people who are rich,
1085
01:09:28,843 --> 01:09:32,545
but rather that the experience
of being relatively better off
1086
01:09:32,578 --> 01:09:35,615
than someone seems
to affect everyone,
1087
01:09:35,649 --> 01:09:38,185
or would affect everyone,
in the same way.
1088
01:09:39,652 --> 01:09:41,453
Yes, we won the lottery!
1089
01:09:47,127 --> 01:09:49,964
Peter, my God, what the
hell are you wearing?!
1090
01:09:49,997 --> 01:09:53,134
It's a solid gold tuxedo, Lois.
I had to fight three rappers
1091
01:09:53,167 --> 01:09:55,103
down at the Nonsense Store
for this.
1092
01:09:55,136 --> 01:09:57,004
Look, Peter,
this is not who we are.
1093
01:09:57,038 --> 01:09:59,040
I'm worried the money
is changing this family,
1094
01:09:59,073 --> 01:10:00,808
and not the way you hoped.
1095
01:10:00,841 --> 01:10:03,078
Well, I was hoping it would make
you shut up, so you're right.
1096
01:10:03,110 --> 01:10:06,147
When we, in experiments,
get actually poor people
1097
01:10:06,180 --> 01:10:08,682
or we make poor people
feel rich,
1098
01:10:08,715 --> 01:10:10,785
again, same pattern of results.
1099
01:10:10,818 --> 01:10:12,153
Lois, don't you understand?
1100
01:10:12,186 --> 01:10:14,155
We don't got any of our
old problems anymore.
1101
01:10:14,188 --> 01:10:15,856
We don't have to worry
about paying bills,
1102
01:10:15,890 --> 01:10:18,192
we don't have to worry
about saving dough.
1103
01:10:18,226 --> 01:10:20,728
All we gotta do is
enjoy ourselves.
1104
01:10:20,761 --> 01:10:22,697
Interested?
1105
01:10:24,265 --> 01:10:26,533
Oh my God!
1106
01:10:28,070 --> 01:10:31,173
Peter, it's beautiful.
Is it a blood diamond?
1107
01:10:31,205 --> 01:10:33,007
Ah, the bloodiest.
1108
01:10:33,041 --> 01:10:35,543
The two kids who found it were
forced to murder each other.
1109
01:10:35,576 --> 01:10:37,545
Oh, Peter, I love it!
1110
01:10:37,578 --> 01:10:40,982
We translate perceptions
and experiences
1111
01:10:41,016 --> 01:10:44,019
of being better off
than others materially
1112
01:10:44,052 --> 01:10:46,888
to being better than others.
1113
01:10:46,922 --> 01:10:49,156
The mind makes that
translation, it seems.
1114
01:11:04,705 --> 01:11:07,142
Once you get people
whose entire life is lived
1115
01:11:07,176 --> 01:11:10,611
on a kind of plane,
you know, in First Class,
1116
01:11:10,644 --> 01:11:12,981
in the bubble of
the security system,
1117
01:11:13,015 --> 01:11:15,317
and your villa in three
or four different countries
1118
01:11:15,351 --> 01:11:18,619
you can move to if things
get a bit unpleasant,
1119
01:11:18,653 --> 01:11:20,889
what happens to taxation?
1120
01:11:20,923 --> 01:11:25,093
What happens is large amounts
of wealth are moved offshore.
1121
01:11:29,931 --> 01:11:33,770
For decades, individuals
and companies have moved
1122
01:11:33,803 --> 01:11:37,940
their legal selves
in order to avoid paying tax
1123
01:11:37,974 --> 01:11:41,077
that benefits the people
who work for them.
1124
01:11:42,811 --> 01:11:45,280
So that when you come out
of the HQ of one of these
1125
01:11:45,314 --> 01:11:48,117
giant trendy IT companies,
1126
01:11:48,151 --> 01:11:50,953
you fall over,
you hit your head,
1127
01:11:50,987 --> 01:11:53,355
and you're lying on the pavement
in a pool of blood,
1128
01:11:53,389 --> 01:11:55,825
an ambulance arrives
1129
01:11:55,858 --> 01:11:58,660
that has not been paid for
in any way, shape or form
1130
01:11:58,693 --> 01:12:00,729
by the taxes of that company.
1131
01:12:02,799 --> 01:12:05,902
That's a very new system
in capitalism.
1132
01:12:07,805 --> 01:12:10,273
And it is unsustainable
1133
01:12:10,306 --> 01:12:12,641
because to make it work,
1134
01:12:12,674 --> 01:12:15,745
the state must have
access via taxation
1135
01:12:15,779 --> 01:12:18,147
to the incomes of the rich.
1136
01:12:22,052 --> 01:12:24,154
The EU has ordered
the Irish government
1137
01:12:24,187 --> 01:12:28,125
to recover almost $15 billion
of unpaid taxes from Apple.
1138
01:12:28,157 --> 01:12:30,960
$15 billion is
more than the four years
1139
01:12:30,993 --> 01:12:34,063
of annual austerity cuts
imposed by the Irish government.
1140
01:12:34,098 --> 01:12:36,866
Amazon's tax
benefits are illegal.
1141
01:12:36,900 --> 01:12:39,269
Facebook paid
less UK corporation tax
1142
01:12:39,303 --> 01:12:40,871
than your average teacher.
1143
01:12:40,904 --> 01:12:43,139
90,000 come from zero
corporation tax.
1144
01:12:43,173 --> 01:12:45,242
- Scrutinize...
- ...the rich avoiding taxes.
1145
01:12:45,275 --> 01:12:46,909
Google, Microsoft...
1146
01:12:46,944 --> 01:12:48,145
- McDonald's...
- Facebook...
1147
01:12:53,082 --> 01:12:55,352
It just works
much better for the holders
1148
01:12:55,384 --> 01:13:00,156
of capital than it does
for people on the ground.
1149
01:13:00,190 --> 01:13:03,060
In particular, the giant
cash-rich tech firms
1150
01:13:03,093 --> 01:13:06,296
can put people and money
wherever they want to put them.
1151
01:13:06,330 --> 01:13:11,135
They just fly 35,000 feet
above national concerns.
1152
01:13:11,168 --> 01:13:14,438
They create far fewer jobs
than big industrial companies
1153
01:13:14,471 --> 01:13:18,242
of the past, yet they
make vastly more money.
1154
01:13:25,916 --> 01:13:28,253
The great irony here is
that everything that makes
1155
01:13:28,285 --> 01:13:30,720
a smart phone smart...
1156
01:13:30,755 --> 01:13:33,224
the internet, GPS,
touchscreen technology...
1157
01:13:33,257 --> 01:13:37,060
all that was our taxpayer money
going into federal agencies
1158
01:13:37,094 --> 01:13:39,797
like DARPA that
created this stuff,
1159
01:13:39,831 --> 01:13:43,733
and yet the wealth doesn't
flow back into the ecosystem.
1160
01:13:43,768 --> 01:13:48,705
Irish guys pay a fee to
Google Netherlands Holding BV.
1161
01:13:48,738 --> 01:13:50,375
Is that to save withholding tax?
1162
01:13:50,407 --> 01:13:51,843
That's my understanding.
1163
01:13:51,876 --> 01:13:54,045
It therefore goes to
Google Holdings Ireland?
1164
01:13:54,078 --> 01:13:55,914
- That's correct.
- Which is registered in Ireland
1165
01:13:55,947 --> 01:13:57,815
but administered from Bermuda?
1166
01:13:57,849 --> 01:14:00,351
- That's correct.
- So if that happens,
1167
01:14:00,384 --> 01:14:02,253
your profits actually
go to Bermuda?
1168
01:14:03,955 --> 01:14:07,457
♪ All that money,
the money is the motive ♪
1169
01:14:07,492 --> 01:14:11,462
♪ All that money,
the money is the motive ♪
1170
01:14:11,496 --> 01:14:15,433
♪ All that money,
the money she be folding ♪
1171
01:14:15,466 --> 01:14:17,268
♪ Girl put in work ♪
1172
01:14:17,302 --> 01:14:19,437
♪ Girl, girl, put in work ♪
1173
01:14:19,470 --> 01:14:21,207
♪ Girl put in work ♪
1174
01:14:21,239 --> 01:14:23,441
♪ Girl, girl, put in work ♪
1175
01:14:23,474 --> 01:14:24,943
♪ Girl put in work... ♪
1176
01:14:25,072 --> 01:14:29,864
In 2015, Google Alphabet
reported making $15.5 billion
1177
01:14:29,906 --> 01:14:33,281
profit in Bermuda.
1178
01:14:33,947 --> 01:14:37,364
But nothing actually
happens in Bermuda.
1179
01:14:37,406 --> 01:14:39,864
This is the first way countries
1180
01:14:40,364 --> 01:14:43,114
steal the tax base from
each other.
1181
01:14:44,073 --> 01:14:48,573
The other way is through the
industry of wealth management,
1182
01:14:48,614 --> 01:14:51,823
which has developed
in many countries.
1183
01:14:51,864 --> 01:14:56,573
This industry sells shell
companies and numbered accounts
1184
01:14:56,614 --> 01:15:00,448
protected by bank secrecy
to wealthy families.
1185
01:15:01,547 --> 01:15:03,782
♪ All that money ♪
1186
01:15:03,816 --> 01:15:05,918
- ♪ The money is the motive ♪
- ♪ The money is the motive ♪
1187
01:15:05,951 --> 01:15:09,455
♪ All that money,
the money she be folding ♪
1188
01:15:09,488 --> 01:15:10,923
♪ Girl, put in work... ♪
1189
01:15:10,990 --> 01:15:13,948
You can't tax what you can't
measure.
1190
01:15:14,058 --> 01:15:15,261
♪ Girl put in work ♪
1191
01:15:15,294 --> 01:15:17,296
♪ Girl, girl, put in work ♪
1192
01:15:20,740 --> 01:15:24,448
And so we live in an
incredible statistical fog
1193
01:15:25,032 --> 01:15:29,407
about who owns wealth, who owns
real estate in New York,
1194
01:15:30,407 --> 01:15:31,657
who owns real estate in Paris.
1195
01:15:33,157 --> 01:15:35,532
We check the records
and we see shell companies.
1196
01:15:58,407 --> 01:16:03,990
The key to effectively fighting
tax havens is pretty simple.
1197
01:16:05,324 --> 01:16:07,699
We need sanctions
against territories
1198
01:16:07,741 --> 01:16:10,074
that enable tax evasion.
1199
01:16:10,116 --> 01:16:13,199
And we have to change
the way we calculate
1200
01:16:13,241 --> 01:16:15,907
taxable profits in each country.
1201
01:16:16,907 --> 01:16:18,866
Let's take Apple.
1202
01:16:18,907 --> 01:16:25,616
Imagine Apple made $50 billion
in global profits last year
1203
01:16:25,657 --> 01:16:29,991
and 10% of its worldwide
sales were in France.
1204
01:16:31,533 --> 01:16:37,824
Then France could say,
"10% of Apple's global profit,
1205
01:16:38,866 --> 01:16:42,283
"so $5 billion,
should be taxed in France."
1206
01:16:43,116 --> 01:16:45,741
The beauty of this
system is that
1207
01:16:45,783 --> 01:16:49,658
multinationals can manipulate
the location of their profits,
1208
01:16:49,700 --> 01:16:52,616
but they cannot manipulate
the location of their customers.
1209
01:16:52,658 --> 01:16:54,491
Their customers are
in France, in Germany,
1210
01:16:54,533 --> 01:16:56,033
in England,
in the United States.
1211
01:16:56,075 --> 01:16:58,033
You cannot send them to Bermuda.
1212
01:17:06,239 --> 01:17:09,243
Globalization has
opened a global community up
1213
01:17:09,276 --> 01:17:10,610
to each other,
1214
01:17:10,644 --> 01:17:14,114
but it's also meant that
in the developed world,
1215
01:17:14,148 --> 01:17:18,385
corporations were able
to take jobs and move them
1216
01:17:18,419 --> 01:17:21,055
and make a lot
of money out of it.
1217
01:17:23,224 --> 01:17:26,227
And on the other hand,
the working and middle classes
1218
01:17:26,259 --> 01:17:29,697
that were doing quite well
have lost quality of life
1219
01:17:29,730 --> 01:17:31,599
and opportunities.
1220
01:17:33,200 --> 01:17:37,171
And their governments
and their corporations
1221
01:17:37,204 --> 01:17:41,542
have done very little... in some
cases, really nothing at all...
1222
01:17:41,575 --> 01:17:43,577
to address that.
1223
01:17:47,148 --> 01:17:50,285
The United States and Europe
are vastly more divided
1224
01:17:50,317 --> 01:17:51,719
because of globalization.
1225
01:17:51,754 --> 01:17:55,322
India, The Philippines,
China are not.
1226
01:18:02,030 --> 01:18:06,267
Chinese people, they believe
that if they work hard,
1227
01:18:06,301 --> 01:18:08,135
their kids are gonna
have better lives,
1228
01:18:08,169 --> 01:18:09,971
and that's probably true.
1229
01:18:10,005 --> 01:18:12,707
But in the United States,
that's just not true anymore.
1230
01:18:19,481 --> 01:18:24,285
If you go to Beijing
or Shenzhen or Shanghai
1231
01:18:24,319 --> 01:18:27,055
or Guangzhou or
any of these sort of
1232
01:18:27,087 --> 01:18:29,724
wealthier cities in China
that have made it...
1233
01:18:29,759 --> 01:18:32,427
Shanghai,
where per capita income
1234
01:18:32,460 --> 01:18:36,465
is higher than Portugal... you
will meet middle class Chinese,
1235
01:18:36,498 --> 01:18:38,500
and I mean global
middle class Chinese;
1236
01:18:38,533 --> 01:18:41,336
I don't mean middle class
from the Chinese context.
1237
01:18:41,369 --> 01:18:45,040
And that is a very different
China from what you saw
1238
01:18:45,073 --> 01:18:47,075
even 10 years ago.
1239
01:18:50,612 --> 01:18:53,315
China's now almost the largest
economy in the world;
1240
01:18:53,348 --> 01:18:55,685
within the next
decade it will be,
1241
01:18:55,717 --> 01:18:58,755
but it will still be
state capitalist.
1242
01:19:04,527 --> 01:19:08,731
State capitalism is where
state-owned enterprises
1243
01:19:08,764 --> 01:19:13,068
are the most important
actors in the economy.
1244
01:19:13,102 --> 01:19:15,371
These corporations are,
in principle,
1245
01:19:15,404 --> 01:19:18,139
trying to make money
and build themselves,
1246
01:19:18,174 --> 01:19:20,276
and sometimes they do
compete against each other
1247
01:19:20,309 --> 01:19:23,079
in a fairly controlled fashion.
1248
01:19:23,111 --> 01:19:27,049
But the other important Chinese
actors are what you'd call
1249
01:19:27,083 --> 01:19:29,285
privately owned
national champions.
1250
01:19:29,318 --> 01:19:32,622
So, in other words, they are
actively supported by the state,
1251
01:19:32,655 --> 01:19:34,524
even though they're
privately held,
1252
01:19:34,557 --> 01:19:36,626
and they benefit accordingly.
1253
01:19:40,764 --> 01:19:43,533
Also you have hundreds
of millions of people
1254
01:19:43,566 --> 01:19:45,736
who are quite poor,
1255
01:19:45,769 --> 01:19:47,537
but they want state capitalism.
1256
01:19:47,570 --> 01:19:51,073
It's fine for them, as long as
they can make enough money
1257
01:19:51,108 --> 01:19:54,311
to ensure that their
kids will do better.
1258
01:19:58,952 --> 01:20:02,786
The average income in
China since the late 1970s
1259
01:20:03,286 --> 01:20:05,453
has increased by 800%.
1260
01:20:07,244 --> 01:20:09,328
800% is huge.
1261
01:20:10,036 --> 01:20:16,494
But the income of the richest 1%
increased by 2000%.
1262
01:20:16,828 --> 01:20:21,369
So it is a country
that is growing,
1263
01:20:21,703 --> 01:20:24,453
but this growth
is highly unequal.
1264
01:20:34,551 --> 01:20:37,755
China does show what
freeing up capital will do to
1265
01:20:37,788 --> 01:20:40,257
income distribution.
1266
01:20:40,290 --> 01:20:43,694
Capital really has to be
regulated much, much more
1267
01:20:43,727 --> 01:20:47,197
strictly than things
in the real economy.
1268
01:20:50,233 --> 01:20:53,771
There's a fundamental difference
between liberalization
1269
01:20:53,805 --> 01:20:55,572
of capital markets
1270
01:20:55,606 --> 01:20:59,812
and liberalization of trade
and goods and services.
1271
01:20:59,844 --> 01:21:04,348
This was one of the big lessons
of the Great Depression.
1272
01:21:06,416 --> 01:21:09,720
Modern capitalism
is all about the free movement
1273
01:21:09,755 --> 01:21:11,823
of global capital,
1274
01:21:11,857 --> 01:21:14,860
and the financial system
itself has changed
1275
01:21:14,892 --> 01:21:16,728
over the last 40 years.
1276
01:21:16,762 --> 01:21:19,832
The financial industry has about
doubled in size as a percentage
1277
01:21:19,864 --> 01:21:22,935
of the economy, and that's
actually created slower growth,
1278
01:21:22,967 --> 01:21:25,838
not faster growth.
1279
01:21:25,870 --> 01:21:28,639
When Adam Smith,
the father of modern capitalism,
1280
01:21:28,673 --> 01:21:31,676
was thinking up the idea
of the free market system,
1281
01:21:31,709 --> 01:21:33,511
he was living in
a very different world.
1282
01:21:33,543 --> 01:21:35,713
Hey, why not? My own business.
1283
01:21:35,747 --> 01:21:39,250
All you need's a little capital,
a little push and an idea.
1284
01:21:39,283 --> 01:21:41,686
Small and mid-sized
family-owned businesses
1285
01:21:41,719 --> 01:21:42,888
were the norm.
1286
01:21:42,921 --> 01:21:44,688
I wouldn't wear that hat
to a dog fight.
1287
01:21:44,722 --> 01:21:46,925
Why, there isn't a decent
hat in the entire village.
1288
01:21:46,959 --> 01:21:50,864
Why not? Women's hats!
My own business!
1289
01:21:50,896 --> 01:21:52,765
He believed that
the financial markets
1290
01:21:52,798 --> 01:21:55,566
were just an intermediary...
they were supposed to take
1291
01:21:55,600 --> 01:21:58,437
everyone's savings,
hold them as bank deposits,
1292
01:21:58,469 --> 01:22:03,307
and then lend them out to the
hairdresser down the street.
1293
01:22:03,341 --> 01:22:05,476
Not to be too cliché,
but it's kind of the
1294
01:22:05,511 --> 01:22:08,782
"It's a Wonderful Life"
model of banking.
1295
01:22:10,415 --> 01:22:12,384
I think if Adam Smith
time-warped,
1296
01:22:12,417 --> 01:22:16,588
he would have no idea what to
make of a "too big to fail" bank
1297
01:22:16,621 --> 01:22:19,323
or a giant multinational
company that's doing business
1298
01:22:19,358 --> 01:22:20,860
in 120 different countries,
1299
01:22:20,893 --> 01:22:23,594
all of which have different
regulatory systems.
1300
01:22:23,629 --> 01:22:25,596
It's a completely
different world.
1301
01:22:35,507 --> 01:22:40,713
Statistics today show
that only 15% of money
1302
01:22:40,746 --> 01:22:43,348
coming out of the largest
financial institutions
1303
01:22:43,382 --> 01:22:46,385
is actually going to that kind
of productive lending.
1304
01:22:46,418 --> 01:22:48,922
So what's the other 85% doing?
1305
01:22:48,955 --> 01:22:51,657
It's just moving around
this closed loop
1306
01:22:51,689 --> 01:22:53,392
of the financial system...
1307
01:22:53,425 --> 01:22:56,996
its assets being bought
and sold by the same people;
1308
01:22:57,030 --> 01:22:59,933
their value going up,
up, up, up, up.
1309
01:23:02,634 --> 01:23:06,940
For the rich, it's easier
to keep your wealth away
1310
01:23:06,973 --> 01:23:09,441
from productive, risky activity,
1311
01:23:09,475 --> 01:23:12,678
and this is producing
a new social story.
1312
01:23:15,347 --> 01:23:18,650
It's easier to build a property,
1313
01:23:18,685 --> 01:23:20,652
and maybe you don't
fill that property,
1314
01:23:20,687 --> 01:23:23,590
maybe all the apartments in
the property aren't filled,
1315
01:23:23,622 --> 01:23:25,960
but you know in five years' time
that property will be worth
1316
01:23:25,992 --> 01:23:30,663
so much more, that your business
is really to sit on assets
1317
01:23:30,696 --> 01:23:33,333
and hope their value rises,
1318
01:23:33,365 --> 01:23:36,302
rather than to try and make
money by risking your money
1319
01:23:36,336 --> 01:23:40,875
in activities like open a
factory or invent something new.
1320
01:23:43,943 --> 01:23:46,379
If you own a house,
you're making capital gains
1321
01:23:46,412 --> 01:23:49,749
out of that far in excess
of what people get
1322
01:23:49,784 --> 01:23:51,786
through just regular jobs.
1323
01:23:51,819 --> 01:23:54,554
Therefore, people have
become property speculators.
1324
01:23:54,587 --> 01:23:58,625
And this changes the whole way
the housing situation operates.
1325
01:23:59,927 --> 01:24:02,428
And, essentially,
it starts dividing.
1326
01:24:03,831 --> 01:24:05,598
This housing crisis
that's happening
1327
01:24:05,632 --> 01:24:07,367
really throughout the West
is something
1328
01:24:07,400 --> 01:24:11,671
that particularly
affects the young.
1329
01:24:11,704 --> 01:24:16,011
Most people view this as some
sort of generational fight.
1330
01:24:16,043 --> 01:24:18,612
The baby boomers benefited
from buying houses
1331
01:24:18,645 --> 01:24:20,547
when they were relatively cheap,
1332
01:24:20,580 --> 01:24:23,885
and therefore have a very nice
nest egg for their retirement,
1333
01:24:23,918 --> 01:24:28,790
and it's the young people
that can't even rent cheaply.
1334
01:24:28,823 --> 01:24:31,724
Those at the bottom,
I think, are quite polarized...
1335
01:24:31,760 --> 01:24:34,461
angry, in fact.
1336
01:24:34,494 --> 01:24:37,631
These houses, essentially,
earn more money than they do,
1337
01:24:37,665 --> 01:24:39,733
and they have to rent them.
1338
01:24:49,010 --> 01:24:51,612
It transmits to the poor
or middle class person
1339
01:24:51,644 --> 01:24:55,449
that the best thing they can do
is to hope that their home
1340
01:24:55,482 --> 01:24:57,085
rises so much in value
1341
01:24:57,117 --> 01:24:59,486
that it offsets all the other
problems in their life,
1342
01:24:59,520 --> 01:25:01,089
like that their pension
was destroyed
1343
01:25:01,122 --> 01:25:02,623
or that they lost their job
1344
01:25:02,656 --> 01:25:05,593
or that their kids
are gonna be poor.
1345
01:25:15,569 --> 01:25:19,441
Young people
are naturally more hopeful.
1346
01:25:19,473 --> 01:25:22,409
But they are aware,
they are acutely aware,
1347
01:25:22,443 --> 01:25:25,046
that they've been
given a raw deal.
1348
01:25:27,016 --> 01:25:29,117
You know, why is it,
to educate yourself,
1349
01:25:29,150 --> 01:25:33,654
you have to get yourself
into £50,000 of debt?
1350
01:25:33,688 --> 01:25:37,424
And a lot of young
people feel infantiled.
1351
01:25:37,459 --> 01:25:41,163
Why does my incredibly smart
26-year-old brother-in-law
1352
01:25:41,196 --> 01:25:42,932
still have to live at home?
1353
01:25:42,965 --> 01:25:46,667
He's asking that,
my in-laws are asking that.
1354
01:26:01,716 --> 01:26:05,487
What we've told people is that,
"You're not poor;
1355
01:26:05,520 --> 01:26:07,089
you're a millionaire-in-waiting.
1356
01:26:07,123 --> 01:26:09,691
And because of that,
don't worry about inequality,
1357
01:26:09,724 --> 01:26:11,593
just focus on how
hard you're working
1358
01:26:11,626 --> 01:26:15,197
and trying to run, run,
run, run up that hill,"
1359
01:26:17,800 --> 01:26:23,005
which is ironic, because
societies that are more unequal
1360
01:26:23,040 --> 01:26:25,174
have less social mobility.
1361
01:26:27,743 --> 01:26:30,179
The rungs of the ladder
grow apart,
1362
01:26:30,213 --> 01:26:34,951
people have the money to make
sure they stay at the top,
1363
01:26:34,985 --> 01:26:38,620
and it means it's harder
for people to climb.
1364
01:26:38,653 --> 01:26:43,125
That's something that you find
again and again in the data.
1365
01:26:43,993 --> 01:26:46,695
The system is rigged.
1366
01:26:46,728 --> 01:26:50,666
And people aren't stupid...
they recognize that.
1367
01:27:05,816 --> 01:27:07,918
Essentially, what's
happening is that you're
1368
01:27:07,951 --> 01:27:10,753
getting an economy which
is more and more productive,
1369
01:27:10,787 --> 01:27:14,224
but where the gains of those
productivity increases
1370
01:27:14,257 --> 01:27:18,829
are going into the hands of
a very small number of people.
1371
01:27:18,862 --> 01:27:20,596
And where there is job growth
1372
01:27:20,629 --> 01:27:22,299
is at the lower end
of the spectrum,
1373
01:27:22,332 --> 01:27:25,902
which is often low-paid,
fairly unsatisfactory work.
1374
01:27:32,708 --> 01:27:35,678
Our labor market is shifting.
1375
01:27:35,712 --> 01:27:39,917
More and more, it classifies
people as "self-employed."
1376
01:27:39,950 --> 01:27:42,286
And what that means is that
companies won't owe them
1377
01:27:42,319 --> 01:27:46,123
holiday pay,
won't owe them a pension,
1378
01:27:46,156 --> 01:27:49,260
and those individual workers
have to make sure
1379
01:27:49,293 --> 01:27:52,195
that they can look after
themselves if they're sick,
1380
01:27:52,229 --> 01:27:54,731
if they want to take a holiday.
1381
01:27:59,237 --> 01:28:01,570
You know what,
when Piketty says
1382
01:28:01,605 --> 01:28:04,842
that the future for capitalism
is this highly illegal,
1383
01:28:04,876 --> 01:28:09,713
highly socially immobile future,
it's already happening.
1384
01:28:15,752 --> 01:28:17,989
America's about to see
the biggest wealth transfer
1385
01:28:18,022 --> 01:28:22,060
in history take place, as
the generation which made money
1386
01:28:22,093 --> 01:28:23,895
after World War II
1387
01:28:23,928 --> 01:28:27,597
is passing that wealth on
to their children.
1388
01:28:36,874 --> 01:28:39,210
Something in the order
of $12 trillion or more
1389
01:28:39,244 --> 01:28:41,279
is going to be passed on
to the next generation
1390
01:28:41,313 --> 01:28:44,216
in the next 10 to 15 years.
1391
01:28:44,248 --> 01:28:47,952
And that will be invested in a
way that it creates more wealth.
1392
01:28:55,474 --> 01:28:57,600
It's very likely that
in the 21st century
1393
01:28:57,641 --> 01:29:00,267
inheritance will return
to playing a role
1394
01:29:00,309 --> 01:29:04,727
as significant as in
19th century England and France.
1395
01:29:07,270 --> 01:29:11,563
Inheritance allows a small
portion of the population
1396
01:29:11,897 --> 01:29:14,481
to lead a very opulent lifestyle
1397
01:29:15,565 --> 01:29:19,775
because inherited wealth
produces an income.
1398
01:29:22,567 --> 01:29:25,735
In fact, the rate of return on
capital throughout history
1399
01:29:25,777 --> 01:29:27,944
has almost always been higher
1400
01:29:27,986 --> 01:29:30,820
than the rate
of economic growth.
1401
01:29:38,115 --> 01:29:40,282
If we look back to 1700,
1402
01:29:40,324 --> 01:29:43,533
which is the very beginning
of Industrial Revolution,
1403
01:29:43,575 --> 01:29:47,785
until today, 2018, the growth
rate of the world economy
1404
01:29:47,827 --> 01:29:50,869
is 1.6% per year
over three centuries.
1405
01:29:52,745 --> 01:29:56,330
This is much less than
the rate of return on capital,
1406
01:29:56,371 --> 01:29:58,455
which is around 4% to 5%
a year over the same period.
1407
01:30:04,083 --> 01:30:07,167
But is it catastrophic?
No, not necessarily.
1408
01:30:07,209 --> 01:30:10,627
If everyone owned
a portion of the capital,
1409
01:30:11,002 --> 01:30:13,628
so if everyone owned
an apartment
1410
01:30:13,669 --> 01:30:15,170
and shares in a pension fund,
1411
01:30:15,212 --> 01:30:18,088
it wouldn't be so bad that the
return on capital
1412
01:30:18,129 --> 01:30:20,589
is higher than the growth rate.
1413
01:30:20,922 --> 01:30:24,840
The problem is
concentration of ownership
1414
01:30:24,882 --> 01:30:26,549
and therefore
also of power within society,
1415
01:30:29,800 --> 01:30:34,010
which leads to a reproduction
of social hierarchies
1416
01:30:35,052 --> 01:30:37,803
and rising tensions among the
working and middle classes.
1417
01:30:47,843 --> 01:30:51,314
There's now research showing
that in advanced economies,
1418
01:30:51,349 --> 01:30:54,820
that two-thirds of the
population is now on track
1419
01:30:54,852 --> 01:30:57,223
to be poorer than their parents,
1420
01:30:57,256 --> 01:31:00,159
which is a huge, huge
mega political trend.
1421
01:31:13,646 --> 01:31:16,650
People on the streets
are starting to say, "Enough"...
1422
01:31:17,234 --> 01:31:21,944
Disperse yourselves
or we will have to use force.
1423
01:31:22,257 --> 01:31:25,595
...enough of the inequality
and enough of not having a story
1424
01:31:25,628 --> 01:31:28,499
about how this
ever gets better.
1425
01:31:28,532 --> 01:31:30,167
And people are reaching out
1426
01:31:30,201 --> 01:31:32,138
for the nearest thing
they can cling to,
1427
01:31:32,170 --> 01:31:34,407
and often that is their
identity, their ethnicity,
1428
01:31:34,441 --> 01:31:36,610
their religion.
1429
01:31:43,520 --> 01:31:46,823
And they lash out against the
nearest enemy they can find.
1430
01:31:46,857 --> 01:31:49,261
Vast amounts
of unskilled labor
1431
01:31:49,294 --> 01:31:51,129
coming into this country.
1432
01:31:51,163 --> 01:31:53,566
They're bringing
drugs, they're bringing crime,
1433
01:31:53,600 --> 01:31:54,735
they're rapists.
1434
01:31:55,248 --> 01:31:58,083
Behind mass immigration
is Islamism.
1435
01:31:58,124 --> 01:32:00,908
Behind mass immigration
is terrorism.
1436
01:32:00,943 --> 01:32:03,547
But ultimately,
none of that will work.
1437
01:32:03,579 --> 01:32:07,585
Blaming your neighbor
doesn't make you any richer.
1438
01:32:08,753 --> 01:32:10,379
There are always politicians
1439
01:32:10,421 --> 01:32:14,630
tempted to exploit
the rising inequality.
1440
01:32:17,632 --> 01:32:19,674
And you could see this
very clearly
1441
01:32:19,716 --> 01:32:22,467
in the world before 1914.
1442
01:32:23,717 --> 01:32:26,385
And I'm very afraid at the
beginning of the 21st century
1443
01:32:26,426 --> 01:32:28,302
that because we feel we cannot
1444
01:32:28,344 --> 01:32:30,636
regulate international
capitalism,
1445
01:32:30,678 --> 01:32:34,763
we cannot properly tax
multinationals and billionaires,
1446
01:32:34,804 --> 01:32:39,556
instead we vent our anger
on immigrants.
1447
01:32:39,598 --> 01:32:42,432
It's safer than attacking
multinationals.
1448
01:32:47,851 --> 01:32:49,477
But the truth is,
1449
01:32:49,518 --> 01:32:53,061
to solve the rise and
persistence of inequality,
1450
01:32:53,103 --> 01:32:56,062
we need a progressive
tax on capital.
1451
01:32:58,396 --> 01:33:02,440
And also, ownership rights
cannot be eternal.
1452
01:33:03,690 --> 01:33:06,316
The moment capital is inherited
by the next generation,
1453
01:33:06,358 --> 01:33:09,692
and also each year if
you own a lot of capital,
1454
01:33:09,734 --> 01:33:13,777
you have to return to the
community 1%, 2%, 3%,
1455
01:33:13,819 --> 01:33:17,570
or why not 5% or 10% if you
own billions and billions?
1456
01:33:17,612 --> 01:33:21,863
And if you continue to
invest your capital usefully,
1457
01:33:22,113 --> 01:33:25,823
with high returns, you
can continue to prosper.
1458
01:33:25,865 --> 01:33:28,866
But if financial markets allow
you to have a high return
1459
01:33:28,908 --> 01:33:31,492
without doing anything,
1460
01:33:31,534 --> 01:33:36,911
then tax rates are set to
erode this mechanism.
1461
01:33:44,622 --> 01:33:47,206
This means we'll be able to
control
1462
01:33:47,248 --> 01:33:49,082
some of the concentration of
capital,
1463
01:33:49,123 --> 01:33:50,707
and therefore political power,
1464
01:33:53,375 --> 01:33:56,251
and also access to property
for the middle class.
1465
01:34:12,340 --> 01:34:16,008
A lot of people are not
ready to discuss the merits
1466
01:34:16,050 --> 01:34:20,010
of strong taxation rates on
revenue and inheritance.
1467
01:34:20,051 --> 01:34:22,719
But without this to
regulate capitalism,
1468
01:34:22,761 --> 01:34:25,762
there will be disastrous
consequences for everyone.
1469
01:34:37,724 --> 01:34:39,760
You know, if you wanna
think about what the longer term
1470
01:34:39,793 --> 01:34:43,599
implications are, I mean, the
truly dystopian implications,
1471
01:34:43,632 --> 01:34:45,435
you think about horses.
1472
01:34:46,770 --> 01:34:49,674
I mean, we used to
have a lot of horses.
1473
01:34:50,675 --> 01:34:52,377
End of the 19th century, right,
1474
01:34:52,411 --> 01:34:55,982
I mean, horses were critical
for industrialization.
1475
01:34:56,016 --> 01:34:58,419
And then they weren't,
1476
01:34:58,452 --> 01:35:00,856
because you have all these
industrial processes
1477
01:35:00,889 --> 01:35:04,594
that are much more efficient
than horses are.
1478
01:35:06,095 --> 01:35:09,100
And, you know, for all
of the technophiles
1479
01:35:09,133 --> 01:35:13,505
that are saying, "Technology
has always created more jobs,
1480
01:35:13,540 --> 01:35:15,475
and so it will continue to,"
1481
01:35:15,508 --> 01:35:18,679
I say, "Technology has always
created more jobs,
1482
01:35:18,714 --> 01:35:23,586
as long as you had things
that human beings could do."
1483
01:35:29,228 --> 01:35:32,666
But when technology
starts actually getting at
1484
01:35:32,699 --> 01:35:35,970
the basic functionality
of a human being,
1485
01:35:38,774 --> 01:35:43,613
then human beings start becoming
the equivalent of horses.
1486
01:35:45,716 --> 01:35:47,519
And that doesn't mean
1487
01:35:47,552 --> 01:35:50,758
that we can no longer
have meaningful lives,
1488
01:35:50,790 --> 01:35:52,893
but it means that you
have to change your model
1489
01:35:52,927 --> 01:35:56,698
because capitalism is
no longer about labor.
1490
01:36:01,539 --> 01:36:05,043
And the problem is this is
coming soon, soon, soon.
1491
01:36:06,512 --> 01:36:09,749
You look at driverless
technologies.
1492
01:36:09,783 --> 01:36:14,222
Driving is, by the way, the
single largest or second largest
1493
01:36:14,257 --> 01:36:18,528
employer of people in every
one of the 50 US states,
1494
01:36:18,562 --> 01:36:22,234
and within 10 years,
most of those jobs are gone.
1495
01:36:25,004 --> 01:36:30,245
So you will address capital,
because if you don't, right,
1496
01:36:30,278 --> 01:36:33,916
you are going to have
very serious problems.
1497
01:36:53,677 --> 01:36:55,279
We're leaving
an industrial economy
1498
01:36:55,313 --> 01:36:58,684
and going to
a post-industrial economy.
1499
01:36:58,716 --> 01:37:01,020
And we have to make choices
1500
01:37:01,053 --> 01:37:03,723
about which future
we wind up in.
1501
01:37:06,060 --> 01:37:10,098
You can have abundance that
is very unequally distributed,
1502
01:37:10,133 --> 01:37:13,837
where we have the robots
that can do anything,
1503
01:37:13,870 --> 01:37:16,741
but the only people that own
the robots are a very small
1504
01:37:16,775 --> 01:37:18,777
segment of society,...
1505
01:37:20,614 --> 01:37:23,251
basically like Elysium,
where a bunch of people
1506
01:37:23,284 --> 01:37:25,853
live in ecologically
protected spaces
1507
01:37:25,887 --> 01:37:30,294
and everyone else is living in,
like, a hot, putrid mess.
1508
01:37:33,164 --> 01:37:36,034
And so it's
a political problem.
1509
01:37:46,044 --> 01:37:50,420
The challenges today of
creating a more equal society
1510
01:37:50,712 --> 01:37:52,838
are obviously different
from the 20th century.
1511
01:37:53,588 --> 01:37:57,590
But the important point
I want to stress is that
1512
01:37:58,923 --> 01:38:01,508
it's not technically
impossible;
1513
01:38:01,549 --> 01:38:03,425
it's primarily a political
and intellectual challenge.
1514
01:38:07,843 --> 01:38:09,636
And the good news is that
1515
01:38:09,677 --> 01:38:12,470
we can also find reasons
from history to be optimistic.
1516
01:38:17,180 --> 01:38:21,473
History shows us that if we
want society to be cohesive
1517
01:38:21,515 --> 01:38:23,724
in a peaceful and
harmonious way,
1518
01:38:23,766 --> 01:38:27,184
we must prevent inequality
from becoming too high.
1519
01:38:31,477 --> 01:38:35,770
I am for controlling capital
to go beyond capitalism,
1520
01:38:38,563 --> 01:38:42,773
with ways that are more
democratic, more inclusive,
1521
01:38:43,273 --> 01:38:47,191
and finally allow us to project
ourselves into the 21st century.
125706
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