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Wealth inequality is reaching new levels. Instead of measuring when some segment of the population will hold half of the wealth, it is now reasonable to mark when they will hold two-thirds of the wealth.

“Since 2008, the wealth of the richest 1% has been growing at an average of 6% a year – much faster than the 3% growth in wealth of the remaining 99% of the world’s population. Should that continue, the top 1% would hold wealth equating to $305tn (£216.5tn) – up from $140tn today.” – The Guardian

The fact that wealth inequality continues to grow is further evidence that the current economic system is unstable. As wealth accumulates within a small group, the remaining population and economy has less money to work with. While the total economy and global wealth may improve and increase, it happens for a smaller segment of the population. Not only do the poor get poorer, but the number of non-rich people increases. Systems analysis can estimate systemic instabilities that lead to reversals or disasters; but there is no consensus on the critical limit for human economies. Whether we’ve already reached the threshold, or may take decades to get there, we don’t know and will probably only know in retrospect.

2 thoughts on “Wealth Inequality Escalates

  1. That money isn’t actually bottled up with the 1%, though, is it? That’s invested money, not just being spent on luxury, but on new ventures, stable ventures, and risky ventures. I would venture a guess thay a lot of that money is in real estate development. Is it really being completely withheld from the rest of the world?

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  2. Pingback: Data That Matters April 2018 | Pretending Not To Panic

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