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. Show less