Today’s data from the UK’s Department of Works and Pensions confirmed what many have known since Capitalism’s foundation. The income and wealth gap in the UK has got worse in the post war era and poverty has increased, especially amongst children in spite of annual real GDP growth of near 3% per annum. Whilst various critics have blamed the Labour party for the latest figures, wealth inequality is a problem all capitalist free market economies face.
It should be remembered that until the downturn in the global economy politicians made many promises to eradicate and reduce poverty, however despite the supposed prosperity of the last decade a significant number of British society was not so fortunate.Statistics from HM Revenue and Customs show that the top 1% own over 21% of total wealth in the UK with the next 4% owning a further 18% of total wealth. The next 5% own a further 13% of the wealth generated in the UK. Thus 10% of the UK’s population own over 50% of total UK wealth! It is for this reason consumer debt in the UK is 1.4 trillion; the British economy itself is valued at £1.5 trillion.
Creating a level playing field where all of society can partake in wealth creation and circulation is the capitalism’s number one failure. This will always be the case since capitalism is only concerned with wealth creation; it pays little attention to the circulation of such wealth. Freedom of ownership, a revered principle underpinning capitalism, has only allowed the rich to get richer at the expense of the poor and no amount of tinkering with the free market will change this.
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