It’s still the rich what gets the treasure: governments ignore this at their peril

Rising political instability and trade disputes are symptoms of the rampant disease of inequality, and rich men giving away their billions is not the answer

There are two worrying things to consider about the world economy in 2018 - beyond the obvious risks of Brexit, Donald Trump's trade war with China and steep losses on the financial markets.

First, there is the news that the world's billionaires made more money last year than at any time in recorded history. The richest people on Earth increased their wealth by a fifth to $8.9tn in 2017, according to Swiss bank UBS.