The Gilded Age was one of the darkest periods in history for the common industrial worker. Extreme wealth in the hands of a few, a lack of industrial regulation, and ruthless laissez faire markets all conspired to oppress an entire generation of workers into inescapable poverty. While it mainly took place in America, industrializing European countries felt similar shocks of inequality during the Industrial Revolution.
For such a bleak period of history, it seems to have been easily forgotten by the modern public as the industrial world seems to be rapidly approaching a similar situation. Generations of reforms, regulations, and benefits forged in a period between 1900 and 1945 have been thrown away by the liberal capitalism of leaders such as Thatcher and Reagan. A global plutocracy is forming, centered on the American super rich. In 1992, the Forbes 400 list (comprised of the 400 wealthiest Americans) was valued at 300 billion. Now, it’s 1.7 trillion. Another terrifying statistic? In 2005, the US Secretary of Labor said that the two wealthiest Americans at that point, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, had a joint income comparable to the bottom 40% of America, which is in the top 15GDP-PPP per capita nations on lists from the CIA, IMF and World Bank. Although these statistics focus primarily on America, a growing plutocracy can easily be seen Russia, the Middle East, and especially in the developing world.
But I’ll stop stealing Chrystia Freeland’s thunder and statistics. Her talk on income inequality is concise, informative, and strikes a subtle balance between hopeful and depressing.
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