Maybe we all are just born to consume, but I don't buy it

A rising tide lifts all boats, or so the saying goes. Yet despite the world as a whole getting richer, in recent years a growing number of people have found themselves left behind.

This is something that even a bastion of economic orthodoxy such as the International Monetary Fund readily admits, voicing concerns in its latest Fiscal Monitor survey that excessive inequality "can impede social mobility, erode social cohesion and hurt growth".

Its solution is to urge greater economic inclusion, which can apparently be achieved through measures such as more progressive taxation and better access to education and healthcare.