Lhe question of purchasing power is, today, at the top of the concerns of the French and the acceleration of inflation, just like the current volatility of energy prices, reinforces the feeling of insecurity. But we must beware of simplistic political solutions: the protests against the high cost of living in fact intersect with multiple issues, which must be dealt with individually, but also according to a coherent overall strategy.
The lack of purchasing power first suffers from an overflow of ” market power” of companies that take advantage of a competitive framework that has become unsuitable. The top 10% of the highest performing companies today have a rate of return five times higher than the median rate, while this ratio was closer to two twenty-five years ago. The 10% of the most profitable companies have seen their margins increase by 35% since the beginning of the 2000s, while they have stagnated for the other companies, and their profitability has increased by 50% more than the others. The top 1% of the most exporting companies represent 67% of all exports. The top 1% of patent-holding firms control 91% of total patents. This increasingly extreme concentration should push the public authorities to review competition policy to avoid the constitution of these veritable private taxes which are price distortions and monopoly rents, or even to make businesses pay the costs of environment and infrastructure supported by public budgets.
Moreover, repeated crises, whether health, economic, climatic or geopolitical, have disproportionately affected the most disadvantaged. During the Covid pandemic, an arsenal of aid was used which certainly mitigated the economic impact of the crisis, but whose lack of sufficiently precise targeting could, in some cases, create unfair situations and increase deficits. public. Similarly, if in the fight against the rise in the price of gasoline, emergency aid from the State and the regions appears necessary, it contradicts the impact of the carbon tax in the fight against global warming.
Be less afraid of tomorrow
These risks derived from emergency action would be considerably reduced if we had an ex ante approach to crises, i.e. safety nets offering a reasonable guarantee of not being left behind. . Universal income can act as a shock absorber, with the significant advantage of changing the psychology of expectations: with less fear of tomorrow, we can take more personal risks that contribute to the country’s prosperity and citizens can better accept long-term political choices.
You have 42% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.