There is a lot of talk here about income inequality being a fairness problem, but not as much about it being an economic problem. But if people don't have money

There is a lot of talk here about income inequality being a fairness problem, but not as much about it being an economic problem. But if people don't have money they can't buy anything. If those poor people had more money they would just go back to Walmart and give it back to the Waltons, which is a good thing to have that economic activity. Wealth gains are not a zero sum game. It is about how much we produce. If the economy is not operating at peak productivity (for example with a lot of people out of work), then not as much wealth is created. And this will happen when there a lot of people who can't buy much, making demand low. It is a vicious cycle. In the US the wealthy have lobbied to push down their taxes, and this is an example of what people mean when they say the system is rigged. This can help those rich people on an individual level and in the short term. But it also effectively takes that money out of the economy, since the rich typically don't go and spend that money but save it instead. If that money went to taxes it would have stayed circulating in the economy, whether it is used to pay for college tuition or used on some pork barrel project. This is the argument made by some for economic inequality hurting the economy.