In Davos, the rich talk about ‘global threats’. Here’s why they’re silent about the biggest of them all | Ingrid Robeyns

Economic inequality is at the heart of all humanity’s major problems, but the wealthiest refuse to confront a system that benefits them

T

his week, hundreds of government leaders, heads of state, and business executives are gathering at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. They will be discussing solutions to the world’s biggest risks and problems.

But everything suggests that, once more, what will not be addressed at their meeting is the biggest threat to humanity and the planet: neoliberal capitalism.

All forms of capitalism are characterised by extensive private ownership of companies as well as the primacy of the profit motive. But the specific neoliberal form of capitalism that has risen to dominance from the late 1970s onwards has additional features: the privatisation of companies previously in public ownership; a shift in power from workers to capital owners; and reduced taxes on entrepreneurs and the richest.