[.ca] Democracy Realized (ISBN 1859840094)

Recommended book with one flaw:
Unger is a proactive progressive who does not want to sit idle when the world is being taken over by currency speculators, multinational investors, and global mutual fund managers, what Thomas Friedman calls the 'electronic herd'. Unger's substantive plea needs to be heeded by every right-thinking denizen of this planet. Unger is in serious error, howewer, in one important aspects of his action program. His program of taxation, saving and investment flows from the same faulty premises of establishment economists. His sugestion to replace the progressive income tax by a flat consumption tax is outrageous. Several studies have shown that this would exacerbate income inequalities and, in particular, enrich the top income group at the expense of the bottom income group. I agree with him so far as the desirability of flat tax is concerned so that, among other advantages, this eliminates the scope for discretionary decision-making by the powers that be. But, the way to make sure the change does not adversely affect the lower income groups is to adopt the 'basic income/flat tax' approach advocated by by A.B. Atkinson and others.