Credit Suisse has predicted that, by the 2070s, there will be around 11 trillionaires (as measured in US dollars) in the world. They claim that the first trillionaires have already been born. $1,000,000,000,000 is a difficult figure to comprehend, but it’s equivalent the entire Australian economy, or $140 for every man, woman and child on the planet. The interest alone on such a fortune would generate Bill Gates’ total wealth every year.
This prediction follows a report from Oxfam which estimates the personal wealth of the world’s 85 richest individuals equates to that of the poorest half of the world’s population. There is absolutely nothing that these billionaires need that is more important than meeting the needs of the masses who live in extreme poverty. And yet we are set to allow a club of 11-or-so individuals to control about 5% of the global economy between them. They will make John D. Rockefeller, the oil magnate whose $350,000,000,000 fortune (which was 1.5% of the US economy) made him the richest man ever to live, look like a small time multimillionaire.
It’s true that the hyper-rich have varied approaches to their vast wealth and power. Some, such as Bill Gates, have decided to use it for social good- though in Gates’ case, not before going through a phase of intense egotism and selfishness. Gates has said that his children inherit very little of his fortune: most will go to charitable causes. Yet other billionaires and trillionaires will be more selfish, opting instead to pass on their fortunes to descendants to create dynasties with vast assets, the huge power that comes with them and a total lack of understanding of the real world.
There are adverse implications for democracy and the global economy if the community decides to allow trillionaires to become a real, rather than a theoretical phenomenon. We’re deluding ourselves if we imagine trillionaires will not influence the political elite. If one has the wealth of a medium-sized economy, few politicians or businesspeople will dare to oppose you. Meanwhile, its us who will work to support these huge fortunes whilst extreme poverty persists.
Does that sound fair to you?