Cost of capitalism

If democracy is to endure, it must tame capitalism, not merely coexist with it.

The top 10 percent own three-quarters of global wealth, while the bottom half holds only 2 percent.” So states the World Inequality Report 2026. Can democracy survive when capitalism concentrates wealth so drastically? The belief that democracy and capitalism are natural allies is as widespread as it is inaccurate. To see this, one has only to observe capitalist accumulation under authoritarian political arrangements. The UAE is just one such example. Why then does this belief persist?