Capital in the Twenty-First Century by
Thomas Piketty, 2014, Excerpts
Physical reality of inequality
is visible to the naked eye. Peasant and noble, worker and factory owner,
waiter and banker: each has his or her own unique vantage point and sees
important aspects of how other people live and what relations of power and domination
exist between social groups, and these observations shape each person’s
judgment of what is and is not just. There is a fundamentally subjective and
psychological dimension to inequality, which inevitably gives rise to political
conflict.
From 1977 to 2007, the richest
10 percent appropriated three-quarters of the growth. The richest 1 percent
alone absorbed nearly 60 percent of the total increase in US national income in
this period. In the United States, income inequality in 2000-2010 regained the
record levels observed in 1910-1920. Capital ownership is increasingly
concentrated once again today.
An economy and society cannot
continue functioning indefinitely with such extreme divergence between social
groups. The widening wealth gap raises many questions as to its long term
consequences. The way this large divergence of income distribution has evolved
demands an explanation.
The unlimited growth of global
wealth inequality, which is currently increasing at a rate that cannot be
sustained in the long run, ought to worry even the most fervent champions of
the self-regulated market. It is an illusion to think that the laws of the
market economy ensure that inequality of wealth will decrease and harmonious
stability will be achieved.
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| http://inequality.org/income-inequality/ |
