There is no use denying the fact that the modern age can be characterized by the blistering development of some giant corporations which are well known all over the world. These organizations bring huge incomes to their owners, who become multimillionaires, while the rate of poverty is still high. That is why it is possible to speak about the unfair distribution of funds. It is oblivious that this issue is worth discussing as it is very important nowadays.
Thomas Piketty, an outstanding French economist, also cogitates about this issue. In his book Capital in the Twenty-First century, he analyses the main patterns of wealth distribution, which were topical in different periods of time. Moreover, the voices the idea that the modern age can be characterized by the inequality of labor income (Thomas Piketty: New thoughts on capital in the twenty-first century 2014).
He admits some positive tendencies, which were peculiar to the economy of the first half of the 20th century; however, modern tendencies are threatening. It is obvious that he is right. Moreover, it is a very important question. The thing is that nowadays, only one percent of the population owns almost 50% of the world’s wealth while the rest of people own another half (Llewellyn 2014). In Australia situation was better; however, in the last decades, the tendency for its worsening appeared, and unfair distribution of funds also became topical.
There is no use denying the fact that such unfair distribution is threatening and leads to the appearance of a great number of different problems. It is even possible to say that poverty and famine can be taken as a result of the unfair distribution of funds. People who really need money, are not able to get it as capital is concentrated in the hands of rich owners of giant corporations. That is why Thomas Piketty points out this important issue.
In his book, Thomas Piketty also tries to shift people’s attention from the labor income to rising wealth inequality (Thomas Piketty: New thoughts on capital in the twenty-first century 2014). Being a good economist, he understands perfectly that there is a great difference in the ways in which people earn money, and that is why there is also a great difference in the capital stock. That is why the author wants to show that very often; people cannot do anything under modern conditions to improve their state. It is obvious that there is a great number of factors that determine the level of income for every person. These factors exist in all countries, and Australia is not an exception.
With this in mind, it is impossible to speak about the unfair character of wealth and its increase in Australia. Thomas Piketty also says that investment in some businesses will be able to bring benefit to people. However, some part of this income will always be consumed by a person as he/she has his/her own needs, which also need some investments. The amount of money that will be available for a person depends on the complexity of his/her needs. With this in mind, it is possible to say that there will always be a great difference in the tempo of the increase of wealth.
Having analyzed some of the arguments presented by Thomas Piketty, it is possible to come to a certain conclusion. First of all, it should be said that there is a great problem nowadays connected with the distribution of capital and labor income in the whole world. The minority owns almost half of the world’s wealth while other people do not have an opportunity to improve their state. Additionally, the inequality of wealth leads to the appearance of some important problems. With this in mind, this issue should be investigated for people to be able to understand the main peculiarities of the distribution of money.
Reference List
Llewellyn, M 2014, Thomas Piketty’s “Capital in the twenty-first century” explained. Web.
Thomas Piketty: New thoughts on capital in the twenty-first century 2014. Web.