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Global governance needs to be redesigned to give Global South countries a voice that truly represents them. Allocation of voting rights through monetary variables is by no means the definition of democracy, and it should be dropped immediately.

Rich countries also use their power to maintain the status quo, blocking others from increasing their vote share even if they are willing to pay. This has been the case of China in the IMF for example.
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When richer countries can buy more votes, they then use their power to divert the collective resources to their geopolitical allies.
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In undemocratic inst. (WB, IMF, MDBs) countries "buy" votes. This results in richer countries hoarding more votes -because for them is cheaper to buy-, ensuring the necessary majority to govern the institution.
In more democratic inst. (EU, UN) votes are not tied to money.
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The study draws on a new dataset tracking the finances and governance of major international organizations from 1920 to today. This includes the League of Nations, the United Nations and its umbrella (WHO, WTO, ILO, etc.), the Bretton Woods (IMF, WB), the EU, and MDBs.
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The Global Democratic Deficit: Undemocratic international institutions favor powerful countries—and shape who pays and who benefits - WID - World Inequality Database The Global Democratic Deficit: Undemocratic international institutions favor powerful countries—and shape who pays and who benefits Paula Druschke and Gastón Nievas construct a novel historical databa...

The Global Democratic Deficit: Undemocratic international institutions favor powerful countries—they secure power in the international system at a very cheap cost and chose who benefits from aid

🧵A thread on a NEW STUDY written with
@PaulaDruschke
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wid.world/news-article...

World Inequality Conference 2026 - World Inequality Lab The World Inequality Lab is organizing the third edition of the World Inequality Conference, to be held at the Paris School of Economics on June 4-5, 2026.

📢 We’re excited to announce that the 3rd edition of the World Inequality Conference will take place on 4–5 June 2026 in Paris.

📄The call for papers is now open — submit by December 1!

▶️ inequalitylab.world/en/event/wor...

@pse.bsky.social @cris-sciencespo.bsky.social @taxobservatory.bsky.social

[Séminaire] : Ce vendredi 11h45, reprise du séminaire EPCI à la MSE Paris 1

Gaston Nievas (PSE) & Thomas Piketty (PSE,EHESS):

Unequal Exchange and North-South Relations: Evidence from Global Trade Flows and the World Balance of Payments 1800-2025

www.parisschoolofeconomics.eu/evenements/e...

New WP w/@thomaspiketty.bsky.social !

We build a database of World Historical BoP (wbop.world) and study +200 years of economic transactions

Key takeaway: power plays a key role in global imbalances.
Collective rules are needed to correct them.

Check this thread 👇

Colonial extraction and unequal exchange have shaped two centuries of North-South inequality - WID - World Inequality Database In a new study, Gastón Nievas and Thomas Piketty examine patterns of global imbalances, current account surplus/deficit and net foreign wealth accumulation over more than two centuries.

🚨Global economic relations have long been defined by imbalances and unequal power, not by self-correcting market forces, NEW STUDY finds.

@thomaspiketty.bsky.social & @gatonievas.bsky.social call for structural reforms to the international monetary and exchange system.

wid.world/news-article...