Wealth and Income: Capital in the Twenty-First Century

Wealth and Income
Income inequality is a chronic economic condition affecting the modern world. In his book, "Capital in the Twenty-First Century," Thomas Piketty details the income and wealth historical changes that have taken place all over the world, since the industrial revolution. Western European countries were highly unequal and private wealth ruled the financial system. Rich families dominated the economy, just as is the case today (The Economist, 2014).
The egalitarian shocks of the 20th century, including depression, inflation, bankruptcies, high taxes, and the growth of welfare reduced the income inequality in societies. However, the invention of more loopholes in which individuals and large corporations evade taxes, and where the global politics and economy is controlled by unscrupulous entrepreneurs has hampered efforts to cut down on income inequality (The Economist, 2014). Consequently, the fact that the world's richest 8 billionaires own as much wealth as 50 % of the global population (3.5 billion people) is not surprising (Elliott, 2017).
According to Piketty, the rich-poor gap and the resultant income inequality can be reduced. Government interference, the imposition of global tax on the wealthy, technological progress, and rising population can play a major role (The Economist, 2014). Faster economic growth, Piketty noted, reduced the value of wealth and it is based upon this fact that the wealthiest individuals in the world try to undermine economic growth in many ways (The Economist, 2014).
It is sad to note that 1 out of every 9 people in the world go to bed hungry yet 8 people have so much wealth and income that they need several lifetimes to consume it (Elliott, 2017). The 8 individuals largely influence government decisions all over the world hence the global political system is, to a ...