Average annual per capita incomes in the US, Japan, and Western Europe are currently around $40,000, and less than $6,000 for the poorer half of the world’s population. The same logic that says we need our $70 more than the people of 2100 need an extra $500 dictates that we should tax the world’s rich more, as long as each extra $500 in first-world taxes generates as little as an extra $70 in poor countries per capita incomes.
但批评家们常常不会言明的是，同样的逻辑也适用于当今世界。美国、日本和西欧的人均年收入约4万美金，而世界上另一半较贫穷的人口的人均年收入则少于6000美金。那么，说我们今天对70美金的需求度大于2100年的人们对500美金额外收入的需求度的这一逻辑就意味着只要向第一世界征收的每一笔500美金的额外税收都能为穷国增加至少70美金的人均收入，那么我们就应该对世界上的富国征收更多的税。