Economists Challenge Global Wealth Redistribution Plan

The Global Justice Report, released in June by experts at the World Inequality Lab, makes a bold case for reducing inequality through global taxation, fiscal transfers, and a World Sovereign Fund. Its proposal to cut average annual working time from about 2,100 hours to 1,000 by 2100 is especially appealing in wealthy economies, where productivity gains have historically supported shorter hours. But the report’s assumptions do not easily fit the Global South. More than 60% of the global workforce—about two billion people—works informally, and many depend on self-employment or irregular earnings. For a street vendor, small farmer, or home-based producer, fewer working hours can mean less income rather than more leisure. A group of economists argues that redistribution must be paired with “pre-distribution”: better infrastructure, access to finance and markets, stronger social protection, and worker representation.