Concerns about a perceived increase in inequality of income, wealth, life expectancy, and health have grown, both among scholars and in the media. FinanzArchiv/European Journal of Public Finance and the Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance organised a conference under the headline "Inequality and Taxation". 

Many observers of current world affairs believe that global politics has entered a critical phase and that a majorshift in the global political order may be ongoing or imminent. At the same time, there is considerable uncertainty regarding the shape of this new order and the resulting distribution of economic and political influence.