Inequality of wealth increases

Submitted by martin on 19 December, 2015 - 10:51 Author: Martin Thomas

The Guardian of 19 December 2015 summarises the latest results from the Office of National Statistics.

The top 10% now own almost half of the country’s £11.1tn total private wealth. Since the previous survey two years earlier, the top tenth of households had seen a 21% increase in their wealth, including property and shares.

That was three times as fast as the increase over the same period for the poorest half of households, who saw their wealth rise by 7%.

Real inequality is even greater than these figures show. Ownership of houses is still fairly widespread, and most wealth below the top 1% or so is house property.

Wealth in the means of production - businesses, factories, offices - is much more concentrated. That wealth, unlike home-ownership wealth, brings power over other people, who have to sell their labour-power to the wealthy in order to be able to work and live.

Tax the rich! Expropriate the banks! Social ownership of industry!

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