An interesting milestone is about to be passed:
Half global wealth held by the 1%
Oxfam warns of widening inequality gap, days ahead of Davos economic summit in Switzerland
Billionaires and politicians gathering in Switzerland this week will come under pressure to tackle rising inequality after a study found that – on current trends – by next year, 1% of the world’s population will own more wealth than the other 99%.
So what? Well…
Pope Francis and the IMF managing director Christine Lagarde have been among those warning that rising inequality will damage the world economy if left unchecked, while the theme of Thomas Piketty’s best-selling book Capital was the drift back towards late 19th century levels of wealth concentration.
Raising concerns about this state of affairs is not “the politics of envy” (or if it is, then by the same token defending it is “the politics of greed”). A more equal society is more productive. It is also happier and healthier. Just how long can the current trends continue?
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