From the Wikipedia article on Economic inequality: "In 1820, the ratio between the income of the top and bottom 20 percent of the world's population was three

From the Wikipedia article on Economic inequality: "In 1820, the ratio between the income of the top and bottom 20 percent of the world's population was three to one. By 1991, it was eighty-six to one." The article does say that global inequality may have decreased in the last few decades. However, considering that the richest 85 people have a combined wealth equal to the bottom half of the world's population (according to the same article), the claim that the capitalist, growth-driven economies have led to enormous inequalities is a basic fact.