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The World Debate: For richer or poorer: Does global inequality matter?

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For Richer or Poorer: Does Global Inequality Matter?

28/09/2019 GMT

For richer or poorer: Does global inequality matter?

BBC World Service - The World Debate, For richer or poorer: Does global inequality matter?

What effect is inequality having on the future of the planet?

No one doubts the world’s rich are getting richer, but does this widening inequality matter if, as the statistics appear to show, global capitalism is lifting so many out of extreme poverty? Life for millions has undoubtedly improved in places like China and India thanks to global capitalism.
 
Others argue this level of inequality is unsustainable, because it’s not just about the unfair distribution of money – it’s also about the inequality of opportunity, of voice and of access to resources. In a world already facing the challenges of exploding population growth and climate change, will super-rich global elites foster resentment, dangerous discontent and political populism?
 
Zeinab Badawi discusses the issues with a high-profile panel at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Goalkeepers event in New York. Does global inequality really matter, and should we care? And if we should, what should we do about it?

Panel - 
Mo Ibrahim, businessman, philanthropist 
Sigrid Kaag, minister for foreign trade & development cooperation, Netherlands 
Kay James, president of the Heritage Foundation 
John Fugelsang, political comedian, actor, broadcaster, commentator  
 
Produced by Ben Carter for the BBC World Service.

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