The much talented Ravi Agrawal the editor of the Foreign Affairs magazine came up with a very timely topic for the Spring Season “THE BILLIONAIRE RULE”.
“The image of the world’s most powerful CEOs attending Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20 is seared by now in our collective memories. Power attracts money, of course—especially if tax cuts and deregulation are on the table. But is the increasing salience of billionaires in public life making the United States more corrupt? And is this the new global norm, or is America an outlier?
Those are some of the questions we set out to explore in our Spring 2025 cover package, “Billionaire Rule.” I don’t buy the argument that there’s something intrinsically wrong with the existence of billionaires. But a few trend lines are worth noting. The rich are getting far richer: According to Forbes, the 400 richest Americans were worth $5.4 trillion in 2024, up by nearly a quarter from the previous year. Meanwhile, the American Dream is fading. A team of researchers at Harvard University found that while 90 percent of children born in the 1940s grew up to make more money than their parents, only half of Americans entering their 40s hit that benchmark today. There is likely a correlation here with data suggesting that the United States is becoming less fair. A World Bank corruption index shows that the United States dropped from the 90th percentile of countries in 2016 to the 83rd percentile in 2023.
If graft was already on the rise in the United States, much worse may be on the horizon, Jodi Vittori writes in our cover essay. Vittori is one of the world’s leading experts on the links between corruption and state fragility and finds signs that America may be paving the way for kleptocracy—a “rule of thieves” that goes well beyond everyday bribery. If this sounds hard to believe, Vittori brings receipts, from the recent dismantling of anti-corruption safeguards to the twin use of tariffs and tax cuts, which typically favor the rich and hurt the poor.” Foreign Affairs.
More interesting is the data that comes from Knight Frank and the comparative image of the US Billionaires holding $5.7 Trillions while the rest of the world billionaires holding $5.5 Trillions. This includes China with $1.43 Trillions, India with $950 Billions, France $670 Billions, Germany with $640 Billions, Hong Kong with $330 Billions, Italy with $300 billions, Russia with $540 Billions, Canada with $300 Billions, Brazil with $230 Billions and UK with $230 billions. Reference www.VORONOI.com.
As it happens the majority of the populations in these countries are struggling with enough income to live on daily basis, from an average hourly rate of $15 in the US to mere $2 a day in India.
That is why one of the main mission of the Islam House of Wisdom is to come up with “Offering an alternative perspective on addressing economic justice distinct from both the failed Marxist system and the Capitalist Neoliberal system that enriched the few at the costs of billions. With the challenge of adopting classical principals to modern financial complexity, together with developing institutional framework that can operate at a scale in a global economy from an Islamic perspective with several principals forming the foundation of economic justice.
Understanding the contemporary implementation challenges of Islamic economics, such Zakat as Wealth Redistribution Mechanism, Prohibition of Riba (Interest), Inheritance Laws, Ethical Limitations of Economic Activities, Purpose of Wealth, Concept of Stewardship, Balance between Individual and Collective Rights and prohibition of harmful economic activities. Islamic economic principals might give a fresh perspective on persistent global challenges to include Financial Instability, Environmental Degradation, Income Inequality.”
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