The inequality of wealth: why it matters and how to fix it

The super-rich have never had it so good. But millions of us can’t afford a home, an education or a pension. And unless we change course soon, the future will be worse. Much worse.

Yet, it doesn’t have to be like this. In his new book The Inequality of Wealth: why it matters and how to fix it, former Treasury Minister, Liam Byrne, explains the fast-accelerating inequality of wealth; warns how it threatens our society, economy, and politics; shows where economics got it wrong – and lays out a path back to common sense, with five practical new ways to rebuild an old ideal: the wealth-owning democracy. Liam Byrne draws on conversations and debates with former prime ministers, presidents and policymakers around the world together with experts at the OECD, World Bank, and IMF to argue that, after twenty years of statistics and slogans, it's time for solutions that aren’t just radical but plausible and achievable as well. Liam will discuss the themes of his new book with LSE's Mike Savage and Polly Toynbee.

Meet our speakers and chair

Liam Byrne (@liambyrnemp) is the Labour MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill, a member of His Majesty's Privy Council, elected Chair of the Global Parliamentary Network on the World Bank and IMF and Chair of the House of Commons Business and Trade Select Committee. 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.

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.

Polly Toynbee (@pollytoynbee) is a columnist for The Guardian and a former BBC Social Affairs Editor. She has won two national press awards as Commentator of the Year and the George Orwell prize. Her books include The Lost Decade: 2010-2020 co-authored with David Walker, and in 2023, An Uneasy Inheritance : My family and other radicals.

Faiza Shaheen (@faizashaheen) is Course Tutor in the Department of Sociology at LSE and Program Lead on Inequality and Exclusion at the Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies at the Center on International Cooperation at New York University. Faiza is an economist, activist, and political commentator.

More about this event

This event will be available to watch on LSE Live. LSE Live is the new home for our live streams, allowing you to tune in and join the global debate at LSE, wherever you are in the world. If you can't attend live, a video will be made available shortly afterwards on LSE's YouTube channel.

The LSE International Inequalities Institute (@LSEInequalities) 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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