On 13th September, Ngā Ara Whetū co-hosted a symposium on the challenges of inequality and environmental degradation with Juncture: Dialogues on Inclusive Capitalism, a research centre based in the Business School at the University of Auckland. Held in the Sir Owen G Glenn Building, the symposium saw experts discuss these twin challenges, drawing upon the work of French economist Thomas Piketty.
Convened by Professor Natasha Hamilton-Hart (Management and International Business), the first session saw a keynote address by the Honourable David Parker, the former Attorney-General. Hon Parker discussed the role of the ultra-wealthy in contributing to pollution with their consumption, along with the need to redeploy this wealth to fight climate change. In doing so, Parker drew on the work of the previous Labour government, such as the clean car discount, while also touching on how increasing inequality reduces support for dealing with climate change.
Following this, Professor Craig Elliffe (Law) spoke about the decline of social mobility in recent years, as well as the respective impacts of a capital gains tax compared to a wealth tax, and the impacts of an ageing population. Then Dean Susan Watson (Business School) discussed rising inequality and the power of corporations in modern economies, touching on Piketty’s analysis of the development of economic structures. Finishing off the first session was the Council of Trade Unions Economist and Policy Director Craig Renney, who talked about worker’s issues in Aotearoa New Zealand, pointing to increasing inequality, poverty and unemployment since the economic reforms of the 1990s, along with the presence of short-term thinking in government.
Chairing the second session was Associate Professor Dan Hikuroa (Māori Studies), who highlighted alternatives to capitalism, particularly indigenous economic models, which could exist in greater harmony with the environment. After this address, the second panel began with a talk by Professor Emilson Silva (Business School), who spoke about the differences between market efficiency and social efficiency, pointing to the redistributive pricing of energy in the United States and the impact of economic growth on inequality and the environment. Dr Lynn Riggs (Motu Research) spoke next about the distributional impacts of carbon policies, pointing to a need to offset potential negative impacts with social policies, such as the recycling of tax revenue into public services. Finally, Dr David Hall (Social Sciences and Humanities) spoke about his work with Rewiring Aotearoa and the Toha Network to promote electrification, particularly through expanding the use of rooftop solar panels.
The symposium also featured a question and answer session with both sets of panellists, with closing remarks delivered by Emeritus Professor Nigel Haworth (Management and International Business and Dan Hikuroa. See the programme for details of the sessions and speaker’s bios.
The symposium was organised by the following committee from the University of Auckland: Professor Jacqueline Beggs (Co-director of Ngā Ara Whetū – Centre for Climate, Biodiversity and Society); Dr Billie Lythberg (Associate Director of Juncture: Dialogues on Inclusive Capitalism Centre); Dr Sasha Maher (Management and International Business); Emeritus Professor Nigel Haworth (Management and International Business); Dr Mark Busse (Anthropology); Savage (E tū) and Dr Arie Rosen (Law).
An edited version of the symposium will be made available as an episode of Ngā Ara Whetū’s podcast Sustain!
This article was written by Ben Goldson.
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