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> we're entering the greatest wealth redistribution I can confidently say: this is nothing compared to the fall of the USSR or the aftermath of the Plague.
by nordsieck 6y ago
> we're entering the greatest wealth redistribution
I can confidently say: this is nothing compared to the fall of the USSR or the aftermath of the Plague.
- Retric 6y agoPlague was in a vastly poorer world. Fall of USSR was not a global event. So, it really depends on what you’re measuring, but I don’t think their clearly ahead when we don’t know the full details for COVID.
- nabla9 6y agoI saw BBC article having title "How the Black Death made the rich richer" https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200701-how-the-black-death-make-the-rich-richer https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200701-how-the-black-... But what I remember from economic history and what the article actually says is mostly opposite. >Before the plague erupted, several centuries of population growth had produced a labour surplus, which was abruptly replaced with a labour shortage when many serfs and free peasants died. Historians have argued that this labour shortage allowed those peasants that survived the pandemic to demand better pay or to seek employment elsewhere. Despite government resistance, serfdom and the feudal system itself were ultimately eroded. This was the main effect of the plague. The wealth concentration BBC talks about affected much fewer people. This time the same is not going to happens because covid just increases demand for automation.
- juniper_strong 6y agoThis time the same is not going to happen because the plague killed ~50% of the population in Europe over a four year period, while covid won't kill even 1%, with most of the covid deaths being among retirees. If 50% of working age people died, both wages and automation would increase.