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Why wealth concentration in the hands of richest 1% may not be a bad thing

Inequality between the very richest and the rest correlates with greater innovation. But we mustn't let the top level become a closed shop

Illustration: Ajay Mohanty
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Illustration: Ajay Mohanty

Ferdinando Giugliano | Bloomberg
The share of income and wealth going to the so-called “1%” has incensed protesters and agitated economists around the world. From the Occupy Wall Street movement to the work of academics such as Thomas Piketty and Gabriel Zucman, attention has zeroed in on what the super-rich earn and own, and on how governments should use taxes for redistribution.

Such policy ideas have taken center stage in the primaries of the US Democratic Party, which decide who will challenge President Donald Trump in 2020. One of the runners, Senator Elizabeth Warren, advocates a 2% wealth tax on fortunes above $50 million.

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