Analyst Marc Vidal denounces that inflation and the lack of updating the income tax since 2015 generate a hidden tax increase that has not gone through Congress, costing taxpayers billions annually.
Nearly two decades ago, the word 'crisis' caused panic in the markets and on the streets. Today, however, it seems to have disappeared from official vocabulary. But Marc Vidal warns in his latest analysis that this apparent calm hides a silent collection mechanism that falls on citizens.
The Surgical Management of Modern Crises
The content creator recalls how, in 2023, the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse was resolved over a weekend with no losses for depositors. The 2020 pandemic, with its global economic collapse, was met with trillions in stimulus within weeks. Compared to the slow agony of 2008-2012, management has improved significantly. But, Vidal points out, the key question is not whether the tools work — they do — but at what cost and why that cost never forms part of the public debate.
This is where economists Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff come in for him, whose studies on financial history warn that crises do not disappear but rather mutate in form.
The Monetary Illusion: The Mirage of Rising Salaries
According to Vidal, the first tool is the most elegant and ancient: inflation. Your salary grows, the price of your house appreciates, your bank account has more zeros than it did five years ago. The feeling is one of progress. But when measuring salary in shopping baskets or in the years needed to buy a house similar to your parents', the mirage shatters.
In Spain, real wages have barely moved in three decades, while nominal wages have continued to rise. No one has visibly taken anything from you; it’s just that what you have buys less. As the analyst recalled, even in 1919, economist John Maynard Keynes wrote that 'through a continuous process of inflation, governments can secretly and inadvertently confiscate a significant part of their citizens' wealth.' A century later, the phrase remains a technically accurate description.
Cold Progressivity: The Tax You Didn’t Vote For
Vidal emphasizes that the monetary illusion has a second twist of the fiscal screw. The income tax is a progressive tax: higher income, higher rates. For the system to be fair, the brackets must be updated with inflation. If they are not adjusted, something perverse happens. A 3% salary increase that merely compensates for the rise in the cost of living does not actually improve your purchasing power, but it can push you into a higher tax bracket.
The result is that you end up paying a higher average rate and come out worse off. This phenomenon is known as 'cold progressivity' and, according to the creator, it is a tax increase that has never gone through Congress. In Spain, the state income tax rate has been frozen since 2015. In eleven years, accumulated inflation exceeds 12% just in the last cycle. The Tax Agency itself has estimated that this lack of indexing generates significant extra revenue, amounting to several billion euros annually.
Simply put, what you have now buys less.
— Marc Vidal
Brussels Reinforces the Trend
The analyst adds that this week a proposal from the European Commission would confirm this line of hidden fiscal pressure. Without giving many details, he points out that Brussels is seeking mechanisms that, under the guise of harmonization or digitalization, could institutionalize the de-indexing of tax brackets or facilitate revenue collection without political noise. Vidal insists that this is not a conspiracy, but a design that allows the state to finance its growing needs without calling for a public debate on tax increases.
Reading for Your Wallet
For the average citizen, this reflection has very concrete consequences. If nominal wages rise but prices and hidden taxes eat it away, the only defence is smart investment. Leaving savings in an account that earns nothing is, in Vidal's words, a bad decision. Persistent inflation, which he believes is maintained to dilute debt and sustain public spending, turns idle money into a diminishing asset. The recommendation is clear: seek profitability and protect yourself from this 'phantom tax.'
The next time you hear that 'we have tools' to avoid a crisis, remember that no tool is free. The bill will not arrive in a single shocking charge, but in a silent drip on your purchasing power and your tax return. And perhaps for that very reason, it is wise not to lose sight of it.
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