The rise of the ultra-wealthy  

The world saw a surge of the ultra-wealthy by 12.9 per cent in 2017 with their combined wealth gaining at the proportion of 16.3 per cent. This would have been a cause for global celebration but for quite a few dampers. Isn't the world getting richer? If more people become richer, it should benefit the planet unless their richness is at the expense of a significant proportion of the rest of the population. But here is a picture of the world's top 75 economies accounting for 98 per cent of the global GDP. How tilted the map of the planet's economy is!

Now, how the individuals moved up the wealth ladder is not explained, although there are a few hints to it. The finance, banking and investment sector was the chosen field for money-making by the majority of the ultra-wealthy in 2017. This was followed by the manufacturing sector from where they garnered their wealth. The econometric techniques used to estimate the private wealth relied on national variables such as stock market values, GDP, tax rates, income levels and savings may have a closer view of individual wealth but still some portion may still remain outside of the New York-based research  firm Wealth-X's focus. For example, suspected money laundering in the guise of false LC (letter of credit) opening may not have presented an authentic picture of wealth accumulation by a significant number of people in Bangladesh. It will hardly surprise anyone if the number of ultra-wealthy goes further up if such people are included. People with their second homes in Malaysia or Canada have cleverly managed to have the best of both worlds. 

Even without these evading sharks, Bangladesh has earned the laurel of the top nation to have scored the fastest growth of the ultra-high net-worth (UHNW) among all nations in the world during the past five years. The World Ultra Wealth Report 2018 prepared by the Wealth-X estimates that the population with investable assets of no less than $30 million (roughly Tk 2,400m) excluding primary residence, collectibles, consumer durables has witnessed an increase by 17.2 per cent, surprisingly, as against its nearest competitor China's 13.4 per cent.

This is no mean achievement by any standard. The number of ultra-wealthy people may still be the highest in the United States of America followed by Japan, China, Germany, Canada, France etc; but in some of the rich countries including Japan, Canada, the UK and Italy, the process of moving up the ladder by the ultra-wealthy has almost stagnated. It is in the emerging nations, apart from China and Bangladesh, such as Vietnam, India, Kenya and Pakistan where the opportunities for wealth creation has largely been opened up.

Clearly, the only piece of good news is the contribution of the manufacturing sector to the wealth creation by the ultra-wealthy. But with only 7.6 per cent of its share, it pales before the finance and banking sector accounting for a share of 14.2 per cent. Does this point to a process where money breeds money under a system that is not only flawed but also exploitative of the people who create wealth with their labour -physical and mental? If this is no direct exploitation, it is unlikely to be a rational distribution of wealth. The other day a foreign expert felt embarrassed when he was asked to be precise about the rising hunger in this country he referred to in his lecture. No doubt, the system of wealth creation overwhelmingly favours the privileged and the powerful and many of the ways they take advantage of are simply dubious and at times outright corrupt.