The Age of Outrage in Europe and America

In Britain, Greece and elsewhere in Europe, outbreaks of street violence have disrupted the usual tranquility of spring and summer. The combination of high unemployment and new austerity measures is creating a loss of hope in the future among young people. Sound familiar? Multibillion-dollar investor Warren Buffett has made headlines by suggesting that he and other rich people pay too little in taxes. Are countries in the developed West facing a crisis of confidence? On both sides of the Atlantic, the gap between the rich and the rest of the population is growing fast. Is the work ethic losing its currency? Is it time for the rich to pay more taxes and share what they have or face an outbreak of class warfare?