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If left unchecked, it'll keep increasing until the people are forced to starve or "eat the rich".

• golergka 5y ago
  No — that relies on the assumption that we're playing a zero sum game, which we're not. There's nothing stopping wealth inequality from raising at the same time as living standards for the world's poorest do. In fact, it's exactly what's happening right now.
  • pwinnski 5y ago
    There may be nothing stopping wealth inequality from rising alongside living standards for the poorest--but that is not what is happening right now. That trend ended in the US during the 1980s, and it is no longer true that "the rich are getting richer while the poor are also getting richer." On a global scale, it may be possible to show that the world's poorest are improving. I hope so! But when people talk about income inequality, they're generally referring to national economies, where living standards for the poorest have been declining as the number of billionaires skyrockets.
    • golergka 5y ago
      I wasn't talking about US, and that's exactly the point: global poorest are rapidly improving. And the only reason why a national economy like US is seeing income inequality is exactly because in reality, it's not a "national economy". It's part of the global economy, and in particular it's the part where the richest people from all around the globe end up.