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Political silence on inequality is strangling our prosperity and democracy
- Academics warn that inaction is corroding politics and trust, and weakening prosperity and multilateralism, as support grows for the idea that democracy delivers unfair outcomes
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David Dodwell is a journalist focused on Hong Kong and China since the 1970s.
As we ordinary human beings worry about stagnating incomes, rising job uncertainty, increased electricity bills and the like, I was prompted this week to spare a thought for the super-rich, the shockingly different world they occupy, and to ponder the sustainability of such ridiculously extreme inequality.
At one end of the spectrum, you have South African financier Ken Costa wringing his hands over the threat of wealth destruction in a world set to become an “inheritocracy” as the world’s rich baby boomers transfer their wealth – around US$70 trillion in the US alone – to their “zennial” (his portmanteau for millennials and Gen Z) children or grandchildren.
Alongside Costa are the world’s wealth managers, stressed by an 11.7 per cent contraction in business volumes from their uber rich clients and a 4 per cent fall in global financial wealth last year – to US$255 trillion. One source of relief was that real asset wealth – covering property, art, jewellery, antiques, rare wines and such – continued to grow, rising by 5.5 per cent to US$261 trillion, which meant that total wealth squeaked out a 1 per cent growth last year to US$516 trillion.
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