There is no doubt that there is a gaping wealth gap between the super-rich and the rest of us. This gap is growing – and growing fast. Both the long years of austerity and the COVID pandemic were wealth accelerators for the super-wealthy - while the rest of the world simply fell behind.
These economic disparities fuel discontent that shows up on polling day, with a vote share for populist leaders who promise to disrupt the status quo. Populist movements have harnessed frustrations over wealth concentration, wage stagnation, and declining economic mobility to gain political traction.
Yet it doesn’t need to be like this. There are policies and ideas that can grow but decarbonise the economy, decentralise power – and democratise opportunity and wealth. So what are the big choices needed to assuage voters’ anger with bold measures that spread ownership of wealth? What does this mean for the choices we make, or the promises that politicians make to us?
This event will explore the critical connection between wealth inequality and the rise of populist politics. Professor Mike Savage will be joined by the Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP, author of ‘The Inequality of Wealth: Why it matters and how to fix it’, alongside an expert panel including Dr Faiza Shaheen and Professor Jonathan Hopkin.
Meet our speakers and chair
Liam Byrne (@liambyrnemp) is the Labour MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill & Solihull North, a member of His Majesty's Privy Council, and elected Chair of the Global Parliamentary Network on the World Bank and IMF. He is a former Gwilym Gibbon Research Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford, Honorary Professor at the University of Birmingham and author of over twenty publications on economics, foreign policy and public service reform.
Jonathan Hopkin (@jrhopkin) is Professor of Comparative Politics in the Department of Government at LSE. His research has mostly focused on parties and elections in Western Europe (and specifically Italy, Spain and the UK), with particular attention to corruption, political finance, and territorial politics. He is the author of Party Formation and Democratic Transition in Spain.
Faiza Shaheen (@faizashaheen) is an economist, writer, and political commentator and activist. She is the author of a range of materials and publications covering the most salient social and economic debates of our times, including inequality, austerity, immigration, and social mobility. Faiza has over 15 years of experience researching the trends and consequences of inequality, as well as designing policies and campaigns to address the causes of inequality and exclusion. Her book, ‘Know your place: How society sets us up to fail and what we can do about it’ was released in July 2023 on Simon & Schuster.
Mike Savage (@MikeSav47032563) is Martin White Professor of Sociology at LSE. Between 2015 and 2020 he was Director of LSE’s International Inequalities Institute, which hosts the Atlantic Fellow’s Programme, the largest global program in the world devoted to challenging inequalities. Mike is the author of eight books, including most recently The Return of Inequality: social change and the weight of the past.
More about this event
The International Inequalities Institute (@LSEInequalities) at LSE brings together experts from many of the School's departments and centres to lead cutting-edge research focused on understanding why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.
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