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Ingrid Robeyns

@ingridrobeyns.bsky.social

5K followers 830 following 1.6K posts

Political philosopher; once upon a time economist. Prof @ Utrecht University | Public values (social justice, sustainability, quality of life). Fair economies, caring societies. #limitarianism

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Ingrid A. M. Robeyns is a Belgian/Dutch philosopher who holds the Chair Ethics of Institutions at Utrecht University, Faculty of Humanities and the associated Ethics Institute.

Source: Wikipedia

Political science 45%

Sociology 15%

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Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · Aug 7

Zero tolerance for trolls, agitators and liars, including those who falsely equate critics of the Israeli genocide to be supporters of Hamas or antisemitic.
You will be blocked without warning. I recommend to study basic logic and what it means to have fallen for, and not resist, propaganda.

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Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 6h

About the line: "I think the World Bank would probably not accept the idea of a world line, except in the context of satiation, or making it clearer in the context of the goals of the World Bank. Relating it to the poverty line will probably create resistance."

Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 6h

Lustig: We need to focus also on inheritance taxes, which are nil in many countries. Yet this is a matter of pure luck.
Philanthropy: they play a role. But they will not fill the gaps that good governance should fill - we need something institutionalised, hence also tax. (but depends on country).

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Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 6h

Fernanda Balata:
Solutions? When Brazil hosted the G20, they talked about a global minimum tax on the fortunes of the billionaires - that's an example of global political leadership [this is the @gabrielzucman.bsky.social proposal, see gabriel-zucman.eu/files/report... ]

gabriel-zucman.eu

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Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 6h

Philanthropies should fund people and movements, rather than projects. My suggestion is: "Do less, take longer, spend more." We must want to really change the dynamics of the society we live in.

Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 6h

The real change will be something that offers a much deeper dent.

On Philantropy; NO, just no. The richest philanthropists keep getting richer; there is no sense of urgency. What have we been doing for all these years? We have been applying Band-Aids.

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Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 6h

Final notes from the 3 panelists.

Abigail Disney: How do we make a dent with this discourse? Google the POLL-memo, published in 1971. They succeeded in doing all they wanted: capturing the universities, the legal system, getting their news on air, making politics to the right.

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Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 6h

Now the question, which always comes up in these discussions: what to think about philanthropy as a solution.
Q whether the EWL-initiative has already engaged with the World Bank.
Q whether there are any potential solutions. Where does one get buy-in from the richest?

Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 6h

A woman from Kenia reporting on the deadly riots in Kenia, in a time in which the number of extremely wealthy in Kenia is increasing. The superrich own the land. -> We need to bring the people on board to make the connection between extreme wealth and poverty clear(er).

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Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 6h

@febalata.bsky.social is now stressing the heuristic value of the Extreme Wealth Line and the importance of maximally opening up the debate on this topic.

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Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 7h

FWIW - I will address precisely this question at the Gresham lecture on limitarianism and capitalism - London, Wed 5 Nov, 6PM - or online - free tickets here: www.gresham.ac.uk/whats-on/lim...

Limitarianism and Capitalism

Limitarianism holds that it is immoral to have personal wealth above a certain level. Is this idea compatible with capitalism? Defenders of capitalism have argued that it is not, whereas those who wan...

www.gresham.ac.uk

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Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 7h

Lora Nustig answers this question. She says: the alternatives to capitalism we had did not work. So what is achievable, without going through bloody revolution.
(this response irritates me, because THERE IS NOT JUST CAPITALISM AND USSR-STYLE COMMUNISM. FOR GOODNESS SAKE).

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Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 7h

Excellent question from the audience: Is extreme wealth a consequence of the system that we must correct, or is the system DESIGNED to create extreme wealth?
(other thinkers would say: should we make corrections of 21st century capitalism, or should we overthrow 21st century capitalism?)

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Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 7h

She argues that there is already all sorts of work by economists, e.g. satiation theory by Kahneman and Deaton. BUT... [my comments]: she is repeatedly mixing up income with wealth. We do NOT have solid empirical research on satiation and Wealth.
(this was Nora Lustig, btw).

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Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 7h

But personal wealth data are very hard to get in most countries. International organisations and scientists struggle to have access to to those data.
Plea to look not just at taxes, but also at how they are spent - on weapons or on poverty reduction? We should have a view with both integrated.

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Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 7h

[I got distracted by a kid in the house with requests...] so missed a bit of the next presentation. I believe I am now watching from the World Bank, which agrees with some of what Fernanda says, but also shares that there is already quite some information available.

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Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 7h

(3) accountability - changing social norms.

The WBs aim is to eliminate poverty; this requires an extreme wealth line, since the inequality indicators cannot capture all the harms of extreme wealth concentration.

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Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 7h

Therefore the Extreme Wealth Line initiative proposes the introductino of an extreme wealth line, just like an extreme poverty line.
how could it serve on World Bank activities? (1) visibility, complementing inequality indicators. (2) could play a role in tax design and other policies. >

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Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 7h

The tax system is enabling tax avoidance by the superrich, and is disproportionately taxing workers. Levels of inequity are not just 'unfortunate disparities'.
Why not just inequality measures? Extreme wealth = veto right in the public domain.

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Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 7h

"What does the evidence tell us about extreme wealth?" We must move from the language of risks to the language of harms, since it is not something for the future; we can see them already now. The harms: power over housing and land. Political and media capture. Ecological damage. Vast emissions.

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Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 7h

Now @febalata.bsky.social on the reasons to focus not just on inequality, but specifically on the concentration of assets at the top. Fernanda is sharing the work that she (also within @neweconomics.bsky.social) and others in the extremewealthline.com have been doing.

Extreme Wealth Line

extremewealthline.com

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Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 7h

"What does all of this have to do with income inequality and the World Bank? Everything". She points to self-justifying political-economic visions of billionaires that have an influence on economic policies and institutions.
She argues: we must decide there is a level of wealth that is too much.

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Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 7h

For superrich adults: the problem is that no-one will tell you the truth. And there are a couple of rigid rules, including: leave your children better of than yourself. Don't touch the principle. Everyone is in awe of you, "which is better than heroine". [she is saying this in a supercynical voice]

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Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 7h

And this is how the children of the uberrich learn how they are special - by constantly marking that they are different from the "ordinary people out there". And they learn that their wants are their needs.

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Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 7h

first panelist: @abigaildisney.bsky.social who shares the badness of growing up in wealth. In essence, she's describing how growing up in wealth creates social and moral suffering for those children, alienation, and silence. "What often comes with a wealthy life of a child is terrible isolation."

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Reposted by Garry Peterson

Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 7h

Watching the livestream now: www.worldbank.org/en/events/20...

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Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 9h

hahahahaha

dr. Marina @drmarina.bsky.social · 14h

#BBB logica van Van der Plas "Zelfs als je alles uit Nederland weghaalt, dus vee, wegen, huizen, mensen. Dan nog komt er teveel stikstof neerslag op de natuur." #verkiezingen2025

Reposted by Ingrid Robeyns

dr. Marina @drmarina.bsky.social · 14h

#BBB logica van Van der Plas "Zelfs als je alles uit Nederland weghaalt, dus vee, wegen, huizen, mensen. Dan nog komt er teveel stikstof neerslag op de natuur." #verkiezingen2025

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Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 2d

"It is not that hard, okay? And it is not too late. Just pick your side."

From @leaypi.bsky.social, Indignity. [the last lines from part 2, Chapter 8].

www.penguin.co.uk/books/458930...

Indignity

When Lea Ypi discovers a photo of her grandmother, Leman, honeymooning in the Alps in 1941 posted by a stranger on social media, she is faced with unsettling questions. Growing up, she was told record...

www.penguin.co.uk

Reposted by Stefan Rahmstorf, Ingrid Robeyns, Katja Rietzler

PIK_climate @pik-potsdam.bsky.social · 2d

Bleaching, Melting, Slowing: New Global Tipping Points report tracks growing risks of Earth system tipping points. It highlights mounting risks, from melting glaciers, ice fields to slowing ocean currents, ice sheets & rainforests under pressure.
www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/late...

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Ingrid Robeyns @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · 3d

Ik denk dat deze uitspraak op LinkedIn veel meer effect heeft. Hier zitten nauwelijks Nederlandse journalisten, en de meesten die ik hier heb kunnen spotten zijn kritisch. Op LinkedIn is ook de VVD zeer actief, en veel rechtse Nederlanders. (Over X kan ik niets zeggen… )

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