A RECURRING THEME of this book is that it is unreasonable to expect markets to always deliver outcomes that are just, acceptable, or even efficient. For example, in the sticky economy, government intervention is necessary to help people move when it makes sense, but also sometimes to remain in place without having to give up their livelihood and their dignity.

More generally, in a world of skyrocketing inequalities and “winner take all,” the lives of the poor and the rich are diverging wildly and will become irremediably different if we allow markets to drive all social outcomes.

As we saw, taxation can be used to rein in inequality at the top of income and wealth distribution. But abolishing the one percent cannot be the end-all of social policy. We also need to find out how to help the rest.

Any innovation in social policy is likely to require new resources. The ultra-rich will probably not be rich enough to finance the entire government, especially if pre-tax inequality goes down, as we hope. Moreover, if history is any guide, they will resist, probably with some success. Others will also need to pay; the experience of many countries shows this is perfectly feasible. The challenge is political. The problem is the eroding legitimacy of the state. The state is perceived as unreliable, or worse, by an increasing majority of the electorate. How can that legitimacy be restored?