We have capitalism, socialism and communism. Mixed.

"Global inequality today is at a level last seen in the late 19th century -- and it is continuing to rise," wrote Prof Kaushik Basu. We have heard the figures. According to Oxfam, 8 richest people in the world own as much wealth as 3.6 billion people, or half the population of the world. "A US Senator, Bernie Sanders recently pointed out, the Walton family, which owns Walmart, now owns more wealth than bottom 42% of the US population." Extreme poverty, "defined as consumption of less than $1.90 per day" has declined from 42% in 1981 to below 11% in 2013. On the other hand,"Several million Americans -- black, white and Hispanic -- now live in households with per capita income of less than $2 per day," said Angus Deaton. The wealthy not only earn more but they pay less for services than the poor. "Thanks to frequent flyer programmes, wealthy travellers pay less for each mile they fly." "A study of Indian villages showed that the poor face systematic price discrimination, exacerbating inequality." At one time Rockefeller controlled 80% of the global oil market, today Google controls 90% of search market in Europe and 67% in the US. In the past they were known as 'Robber Barons', today they are the Silicon Sultans. They try to control markets by creating virtual monopolies. But, Henry Ford brought down the cost of a car from $950 in 1908 to $490 in 1914, thereby enabling working class Americans to own cars. He also increased wages to $5 per day so that more workers could afford to buy his cars. With 250,000 km of tracks the US has the largest rail network in the world. Google, Facebook and Twitter are free for the users, including the poor. "Wealthy citizens not only vote; they can influence elections through donations and other means," wrote Basu but then contradicted himself by writing,"As people struggle to hold on to their shrinking share of the pie, their anxiety has created a political opening for opportunistic populists, shaking the world order in the process." He is clearly referring to Donald Trump who wants to force companies to manufacture in the US by imposing a border tax on imports. So, the power of the poor lies in their numbers, to elect anyone who promises more handouts. This is what happened in Venezuela, which has the largest oil reserves in the world, when people elected Hugo Chavez, but is unable to feed the people today. Communism expired with the end of the Soviet Union, socialism failed in Venezuela, and capitalism is under attack for concentration of wealth in a few hands. We in India are lucky. We have socialism, in that the government controls Air India, we have communism, in that it redistributes taxpayer money and crony capitalism, in that we have the best scams in the world. The rich concentrate capital, the poor divide capital by being too many. Reduce population.