Global social protection: applying the principles

across borders

Gorik OomsHélène De Beir Foundation

May 2012

The vision…

The problem…

“Recent estimates of the money needed to reach the health Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) … in 49 low-income countries … suggest that … these countries will need to spend a little more than US$  60 per capita by 2015...”

http://whqlibdoc.who.int/whr/2010/9789241564021_eng.pdf

http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/reo/2012/afr/eng/sreo0412.pdf

The other problem…

“Since the 1980s, globalization and greater capital mobility have led many developing countries to adopt the policy of competing with one another to attract capital investment. One of the main forms taken by this competition has been the granting of tax holidays and other tax reductions to investing multinationals.”http://

whqlibdoc.who.int/whr/2010/9789241564021_eng.pdf

… is a problem for wealthier countries too!

“Top rates of personal income tax, which were in the order of 60-70% in major OECD countries, fell to around 40% on average by the late 2000s.”

The principles…

… could be applied across borders too!

Will it ever happen?

“It is likely that steps towards a formal system of global redistribution that might eventually involve a Global Tax Authority and a Global Social Affairs Ministry will build upon firstly existing ad hoc mechanisms and secondly proposals for such mechanisms that are already within the global policy debate. Among the existing mechanisms for international redistribution are the ones used by the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.”