Social Justice Activism

power since the first gilded age a century ago." In 2016, the world's billionaires
increased their combined global wealth to a record $6 trillion. In 2017, they increased
their collective wealth to 8.9 trillion. Income inequality in the US is significantly worse
than people think. In 2018, U.S. income inequality reached the highest level ever
recorded by the Census Bureau.
The existing data and estimates suggest a large increase in international (and more
generally inter-macroregional) component between 1820 and 1960. It might have
slightly decreased since that time at the expense of increasing inequality within
countries. The United Nations Development Programme in 2014 asserted that greater
investments in social security, jobs and laws that protect vulnerable populations are
necessary to prevent widening income inequality.
There is a significant difference in the measured wealth distribution and the public's
understanding of wealth distribution. Michael Norton of the Harvard Business
School and Dan Ariely of the Department of Psychology at Duke University found this to
be true in their research, done in 2011. The actual wealth going to the top quintile in
2011 was around 84% where as the average amount of wealth that the general public
estimated to go to the top quintile was around 58%.
Two researchers claim that global income inequality is decreasing, due to strong
economic growth in developing countries. However, the OECD reported in 2015 that
income inequality is higher than it has ever been within OECD member nations and is at
increased levels in many emerging economies. According to a June 2015 report by
the International Monetary Fund:
Widening income inequality is the defining challenge of our time. In advanced economies,
the gap between the rich and poor is at its highest level in decades. Inequality trends
have been more mixed in emerging markets and developing countries (EMDCs), with
some countries experiencing declining inequality, but pervasive inequities in access to
education, health care, and finance remain.
In October 2017, the IMF warned that inequality within nations, in spite of global
inequality falling in recent decades, has risen so sharply that it threatens economic
growth and could result in further political polarization. The Fund's Fiscal Monitor report
said that "progressive taxation and transfers are key components of efficient fiscal
redistribution." In October 2018 Oxfam published a Reducing Inequality Index which
measured social spending, tax and workers' rights to show which countries were best at
closing the gap between rich and poor.
Wealth Distribution within Individual Countries
The following table shows information about individual wealth distribution in different
countries, from a 2018 report by Crédit Suisse.
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