Why wealth inequality matters

Over the past decade, wealth inequality – driven by the private ownership of assets such as property, savings, and investments -– has increasingly been recognised as a major divisive force in the UK, and across the globe. Numerous studies have emphasised that because wealth builds over long time periods and offers huge advantages to the wealthy, it is rapidly becoming the major driver of contemporary socio-economic inequality1. These arguments are not only gaining academic currency but are also increasingly gaining public attention, notably around strategies for taxing the super-rich. More needs to be done, however, to broaden the awareness of the challenges of wealth inequality across numerous policy fields, so that the true gravity of the issues is realised.