British economist Gary Stevenson, known as 'the People's Economist' has delivered blunt advice to Australian politicians during his tour of Australia, warning that living standards will continue to deteriorate unless they start taxing the “super-rich elite.”
Fri 27 Feb 2026 01.00
British economist Gary Stevenson, known as ‘the People’s Economist’ has delivered blunt advice to Australian politicians during his tour of Australia, warning that living standards will continue to deteriorate unless they start taxing the “super-rich elite.”
“Be they centre-right or centre-left … they either do something about this or they die,” he told Ebony Bennett, deputy director of the Australia Institute and host of Follow the Money podcast.
“This is terminal. This will not get better.”
The former finance insider turned inequality critic said Australia had been “a lucky country so far” but pointed out that “sometimes you need to step up and protect what you’ve got”.
“You’ve got a great country with good living standards. Things can get a lot worse if you’re not careful,” Mr Stevenson warned.
Speaking on the Australia Institute’s Follow the Money podcast, the social media sensation and former Citi trader warned of a growing poverty problem and said he was unsurprised by Australia’s cost-of-living and housing crises as it’s “happening across the world”.
“This is a big-picture problem and it’s being caused by the simple fact that we have created a super-rich, super wealthy class who can buy everything.”
He said all the Australian Government’s 5% deposit scheme for first-home buyers will do is “push house prices up.”
“I don’t think anyone will be surprised to hear that.”
While Treasurer Jim Chalmers considers rolling back the capital gains tax, The Trading Game author contends “it’s not a bad policy,” it just won’t be enough.
“You can reduce the discount all you like; it’s not going to hit the richest people because they will never sell.”
It’s why his slogan has become: “tax wealth, not work”.
“You have a choice. Either you tax rich people on their wealth or you accept that your kids and grandkids will not own wealth such as a house.
“You have to do one of those things.”
He urged the Australian Government to focus on taxes that explicitly target the rich, such as a wealth tax or an inheritance tax on very large fortunes.
“Because it’s harder to tax the super-rich. They have more political power, they have more media power, if we don’t have an explicit focus on the very rich, all of our policies will end up hitting the upper middle class.”
“They’ll fight to protect themselves and I think the Australian public should fight to protect themselves as well.”
Mr Stevenson said Australia is in a unique and fortunate position.
“Australia, more than any other country, has this enormous amount of wealth which is overwhelmingly either built on, attached to, or lying underneath the ground.
“There is no country I can think of on earth that has a better shot at taxing its billionaires because these guys can’t take the iron ore with them.
“Australia’s wealth is overwhelmingly property and natural resources. And this is all stuff which cannot be taken away from Australia.
“The rich cannot take them away unless, of course, you let them dig it up, take it away, and you don’t make them pay for that.”
Ms Bennett pointed out that Australia Institute research shows the Federal Government “collects more money from taxing beer than it does from our Petroleum Resources Rent Tax”.
Again, the British YouTub phenomenon wasn’t surprised “because this is the kind of story all over the world”.
He pointed out that living standards “have fallen a long way” in the UK now and in Europe and Australia wasn’t too far behind.
“I think you’re going in the same direction, but you’re not so far down the slope.
“This will get worse and unfortunately, in many cases, your politicians are not looking at it.”
If the Albanese Government can’t turn it around soon, he predicts far right parties will continue to rise in Australia.
“I don’t think it’s any more complicated than 20 years of falling living standards. I think it’s as simple as that.
“People will vote for sensible hope and sensible change once, twice, three times, four times.
“But if it becomes really, really clear that these centrist politicians … are consistently delivering falling living standards, then they’re holding their rights to vote for something crazy.”
As far-right politics experiences a significant global resurgence, Mr Stevenson said they’re likely to ‘do a Steven Bradbury’ in Australian politics.
“There was an Australian that won gold in the Olympic ice skating because everyone else fell over. That’s the far right.”
He urged Australians to keep the pressure on politicians.
“If the Government don’t do it, you’ve got to make them do it.
“Hold their feet to the fire and demand, we want you to do something about inequality.”
Gary Stevenson is currently touring Australia and New Zealand, with Ebony Bennett hosting the Sydney event on Sunday 1 March at Sydney Town Hall.
The Point is delighted to be a media partner for the Gary Stevenson People’s Economist tour.
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