If you are reading this, you’re in the top 1% (probably)

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by Daniel Hannan

Suppose I were to tell you that the world’s super-rich are pulling further away from the mass of humanity. Suppose I were to cite the latest figures, showing that the top one per cent now own half the world’s wealth while the bottom 50 per cent own just one per cent.

How does that make you feel? Outraged? Envious? All right, maybe that’s putting it too strongly, but the chances are you’re feeling at least a twinge of unease. After all, we are prompted by our genome to define wealth in relative as well as absolute terms. The Bronze Age farmer with a couple of mangy goats wouldn’t have been as attractive to potential mates as his neighbour with teeming flocks and herds. A measure of disquiet over vast wealth disparities is only human.

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