What’s behind the growing economic gap?

The gap between the poor and the super rich is growing. The world’s eight richest people have the same wealth as the poorest half of the entire world.

That’s according to a new report by Oxfam, which describes this trend as obscene, unfair and grotesque.

The eight men are mostly American, including Microsoft’s Bill Gates, investor Warren Buffett and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.

Oxfam warns this economic inequality threatens to pull societies apart and undermine democracy.

Its report says people have lost trust in their governments and are no longer willing to accept the status quo.

The anti-poverty organisation suggests that may help explain Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election. And the UK’s vote to leave the European Union. So what needs to be done to reduce wealth inequality?

Presenter: Laura Kyle

Guests:

Deborah Hardoon – Deputy head of research at Oxfam

Aly Khan Satchu – CEO of Rich Markets and an emerging-markets economist

Ben Southwood – Head of Research at Adam Smith Institute