Democracy cannot be reduced to voting every four years. A truly democratic society demands that the people have control not only over political power but also over economic power. However, what we experience today is a hidden fiscal dictatorship: a system where economic elites dictate the rules through their influence on political parties, while citizens are left to secondary debates that obscure the true core of power: who controls the money, and to what extent do they contribute to the common good?
Democracy without an economy is an empty shell. We are sold the idea that democracy is reduced to civil liberties and periodic elections. But what good is the right to protest if one cannot question real power—the economic power—that determines who lives in precarity and who accumulates fortunes in tax havens?
Tax justice should be at the heart of any healthy democracy. A system where those who have more contribute proportionally more, funding public services that reduce inequalities. However, the reality is very different: today, legal mechanisms and political complicity allow large fortunes and multinational corporations to evade their obligations, while citizens bear the burden with cuts and privatizations.
The myth of economic neutrality is based on making us believe that ‘the economy is technical,’ that ‘there is no alternative’ to cuts or bank bailouts, but this is a smokescreen. Iceland demonstrated that bankers can be jailed, debts restructured, and public services recovered when there is political will.
For instance, while 70% of Europeans support taxing the rich more (Eurobarometer, 2023), governments lower taxes for multinationals. This raises the question: where is popular sovereignty here? The disconnect between voters and economic decisions is more than evident, undermining the illusion that politicians are our representatives.
Tax fraud is so blatant that we wonder why governments don’t stop it. The answer lies in the revolving door between politics and big business. In Spain, Luis de Guindos, former Minister of Economy, ended up working for BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, which benefits from privatizations and cuts (El Confidencial, 2018). Meanwhile, promised laws against SICAVs (a tool used by millionaires to pay only 1% in taxes) were diluted after pressure from the banking sector (Público, 2023).
In the United States, the phenomenon is even more obscene. Donald Trump approved a 2017 reform that reduced corporate taxes from 35% to 21%, benefiting himself (ProPublica, 2021). And it’s not an isolated case: 70% of congressmen receive donations from corporations that later block anti-fraud laws (OpenSecrets, 2023).
The great deception: how parties hide the economy behind cultural wars. The major parties—both ‘left’ and ‘right’—have turned politics into a spectacle of cultural battles (identity, symbols, moral debates) while silently agreeing on the essentials: not touching the fiscal privileges of those who finance their campaigns.
Examples of this hijacking of debate include Spain, where endless discussions on historical memory or inclusive language occur while the government forgives €15 billion in debt to large companies (AIREF, 2023) and maintains SICAVs—a tool that allows millionaires to pay only 1% in taxes.
In the U.S., Republicans and Democrats clash over cultural wars (abortion, guns) but agree not to audit billionaires: in 2023, only 0.001% of large fortunes were investigated by the IRS (ProPublica).
In Europe, the EU promotes ‘social cohesion’ rhetoric but allows Luxembourg and the Netherlands to remain tax havens where companies like Nike pay only 2% in taxes (Tax Justice Network).
This tacit consensus among parties to avoid discussing the real redistribution of wealth is no coincidence: 86% of European deputies who voted against anti-fraud laws had ties to business lobbies (Corporate Europe Observatory).
In Spain, parties receive €24 million annually in donations from banks and construction companies (Court of Auditors, 2023), the same ones that later benefit from tax amnesties.
The economy as a taboo: why the media doesn’t talk about what’s important. Major media outlets, dependent on corporate advertisers, treat tax justice as a technical and boring issue, while giving 24/7 coverage to political or sports scandals.
The Pandora Papers (2021), which exposed hidden fortunes of 35 world leaders, made fewer headlines than the latest Real Madrid signing.
The Spanish bank bailout (€60 billion) was sold as ‘inevitable,’ but no major media outlet questioned why criminal responsibilities were not demanded.
Democratizing the economy: real alternatives. In Spain, the Platform for Tax Justice denounced that 82% of tax fraud is committed by large fortunes and companies, not workers (El Diario, 2022). And there are hopeful examples: Iceland jailed bankers after its crisis, and Norway taxes millionaire inheritances at 35%, demonstrating that another fiscal policy is possible. Breaking this circle requires demanding radical transparency and redistribution of power.
Ban revolving doors: No politician should be able to work for companies they regulated.
Citizen audits of debt: As Ecuador did in 2008, canceling illegitimate debts.
Independent public media from oligopolies: Norway taxes large corporation advertising by 65% to fund critical journalism.
Recovering politics is recovering the economy. Fiscal injustice is not a technical failure but a hijacking of the democratic system. While the powerful buy influence, parties prioritize their electoral survival over the common good. Only citizen mobilization, independent journalism, and bold laws can break this circle. Until we dismantle the false separation between ‘politics’ and ‘economy,’ we will continue to live in a low-intensity democracy. The real struggle is not left vs. right, but the 99% against the 1% that hijacked the rules. As economist José Luis Sampedro said: ‘There is no political freedom without economic freedom. And there is no economic freedom without fair taxation.’
— new from Kaos en la Red