In 1910, the richest 1 per cent in the United States claimed 45 per cent of the nation’s wealth, while in Europe they claimed nearly 65 per cent of total wealth. Zoom out a bit and the numbers are even more staggering: in the US the richest 10 per cent claimed more than 80 per cent of the nation’s wealth; in Europe, it was as much as 90 per cent. Such levels of inequality would be almost impossible to imagine were we not once again approaching similar extremes today.
