Paying for the pandemic: Fighting class by fighting COVID-19
Channel: SOAS University of London
Date: 10/05/2021

Paying for the pandemic: Fighting class by fighting COVID-19 was recorded on the 25th of November with speaker Ben Tippet. 

Who will pay for the pandemic? How we answer this question will define political and economic life over the coming decade. To help stop the bill being forced on the global south, marginalised communities and the working class, economists should outline ways that we can pay for the crisis without reproducing class-based and racialised inequalities. My talk will discuss a menu of progressive policies to mobilise resources from those with the broadest shoulders, bringing together research my latest research project with the Transnational Institute (TNI), ‘Paying for the Pandemic’ and from my book Split: Class Divides Uncovered (2020). Split seeks to make sense of our world by looking at class society – delving into the deep-rooted economic inequalities that shape our lives. From the gig economy and racist policing, to the world of tax havens and property empires, how can we make sense of a world where we have both too many billionaires and too many foodbanks?

This is part of a webinar series "Intensifying Inequalities and the Limitations of Global Capitalism", organised by the SOAS Department of Economics.