A group of 83 millionaires on Monday called for more tax on the world's wealthiest "immediately" and "permanently" to help recover from the pandemic of the new coronavirus pandemic. "As Covid-19 hits the world, millionaires like us have an essential role to play in healing the world," say signatories of an open letter, including co-founder of American ice cream giant Ben & Jerry's, Jerry. Greenfield, or British director Richard Curtis.
>> LIVE - Coronavirus: follow the evolution of the situation Monday July 13
The letter, issued before the meeting of G20 finance ministers and the extraordinary European summit to revive the EU this week, calls on "governments to raise taxes for people like us. Immediately, substantially and permanently". "We are not the ones caring for the sick in the intensive care units. We are not driving the ambulances that bring the sick to the hospital. We are not the ones who fill the shelves of grocery stores or deliver food from door to door ", writes this group which calls itself Millionaires for Humanity, on an eponymous website.
"Heads of government must take responsibility for raising funds
"But we have a lot of money. We absolutely need money now and we will continue to need it in the years to come" to recover from the crisis, the impact of which "will last for decades "and could" push half a billion people into poverty ". "The problems caused and exposed by the Covid-19 cannot be solved by charity, however generous it may be." Heads of government must take responsibility for raising the funds we need and spending them equitably "to finance" adequately our health systems, schools and security through a permanent increase in taxes on the wealthiest people on the planet, people like us. "
CORONAVIRUS ESSENTIALS
> Coronavirus: what we know about transmission by micro-droplets in the air
> Coronavirus: three reasons to continue to respect barrier gestures
> Holidays: should grandparents worry about looking after their grandchildren?
> Can we catch coronavirus on a plane?
> Coronavirus: 5 mistakes not to make with your mask
The new coronavirus pandemic has led to a historic recession around the world, prompting governments to spend billions on aid to households and businesses hit hard by the economic paralysis resulting from containment. According to the OECD, the decline in global gross domestic product should reach at least 6% this year, and 7.6% in the event of a second epidemic wave, while the rebound expected for 2021 would be 5.2% without the return of the coronavirus , and 2.8% with.
For years, billionaires like Warren Buffett and Bill Gates have been asking for more tax. A year ago, a small group of American billionaires including businessman George Soros, Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, and heirs of the Hyatt and Disney empires, among others, also published a letter to support the idea of a wealth tax.