Hello! It’s konkaz (@konkazuk).
Here, I have written an article to introduce “Gary Stevenson,” a former top financial trader who is now an economist, to people living in Japan, with the aim of raising awareness about his efforts to prevent the widening gap between the rich and the poor in society that has been going on everywhere in the world, including the UK, over the past 15 years.
On his YouTube channel, Gary explains the current deadly economic situation in a very clear and understandable way for the general public.
Each of us as ordinary citizens may not have the power to accomplish something big, but fortunately, in this day and age, we have the convenience of SNS to use.
Increasing activists’ social influence by following their social media accounts is something we can do!
If you resonate with what Gary is advocating for after reading this article, be sure to subscribe to his YouTube channel “Garys Economics” and let’s learn together.
Who is Gary Stevenson?
Gary Stevenson was born in East London, UK.
East London was historically an industrial hub, so unlike the glamorous west side, it’s characterized by a lower-class district with a significant immigrant population.
Raised in a low-income household, he spent his early years in the vicinity of Canary Wharf, an area transformed by urban development in the late 1980s, and is dominated by skyscrapers where high-end businessmen work.
With his exceptional mathematical abilities evident since childhood (probably a child prodigy!), he went on to study at the prestigious London School of Economics (LSE), an internationally acclaimed university for economics.
While still a student, Gary caught the attention of the prestigious Citibank and was recruited, and worked as a financial trader from 2008 to 2014.
Growing up in a poor working-class family, Gary was gobsmacked by the enormous £400,000 bonus he received there for the first time – almost twenty times his father’s yearly income – resulting in contemplation of various issues ever since.
As a result, Gary became increasingly frustrated with the rapid expansion of a system in modern society where wealth accumulates among the rich while the lower classes struggle to prosper, regardless of their earnings. This frustration, along with the indifference of economists towards this issue, led him to resign from his job as a financial trader. Following his studies at Oxford University, he began working to inform the general public about the dangers of the current situation.
If you’re interested in learning more about Gary’s background, I would recommend watching an interview conducted by James O’Brien from LBC (the London Broadcasting Company) radio.
The rich get richer → The poor get poorer
First, please watch the YouTube video posted by Gary in 2020 during the pandemic.(It will also be a great opportunity for English learners to practice their listening skills.)
How was it?
During the pandemic, offices and shops had to be closed, so in response, money was printed by the government in many countries and was distributed to alleviate people’s livelihoods.
However, Gary points out the fact that no one has raised the question of…
“Where did that money ultimately end up?“
The government is still in debt, and the money distributed to ordinary households and small businesses has not stayed in their hands… So what does this indicate?
Gary criticizes the government for taking such actions without considering where the money would end up beforehand, and also harshly criticizes professional economists for not discussing this fact. He urgently appeals to us, asking what it means that a vast amount of money has quickly ended up in the hands of the wealthy during this pandemic.
Lastly, one more video…
With numerous informative videos posted, it’s hard to pick just one, but here’s another one that effectively explains the concept of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.
The title is “Shisan-Keizai” in Japanese.
The process of demolishing old houses and constructing new ones may evoke different images in Japan compared to the UK, but I think the mechanism behind it is essentially the same.
When wealth is accumulated among the rich, a portion of it is often invested in properties to assetize it.
As a result, property prices increase.
(For the super-rich, tens of millions of yen can come in annually through passive income alone.)
On the other hand, when middle-class individuals retire, they tend to sell their current homes, move to cheaper areas, and enjoy their retirement lifestyle with the money from the sale. (The properties put up for sale are typically purchased by the rich.)
As prices continue to rise, it becomes increasingly difficult for the children of the middle class’ next generation to afford a deposit when purchasing a home, even if they manage to find good jobs.
In contrast, the children of the wealthy next generation can easily afford to purchase homes because their parents provide the deposit for them. Even if they fail to secure high-paying jobs despite their efforts, they can easily enter the housing market.
As this cycle repeats, the wealth gap widens continuously. However, what dramatically accelerated this process during the pandemic was the massive transfer of wealth to the rich, hence widening the gap further.
Gary urges as many people as possible to become aware of this fact and emphasizes that now is the time for us to unite to prevent the wealth gap from widening further.
Summary
So, what is currently going on is…
Government ➡︎ Financially strapped
Middle class ➡︎ Financially strapped
Working class ➡︎ Homelessness on the rise
When this happens, the country becomes dominated by a few rich individuals, eventually leading to a return to the feudal society of yesteryears.
If you resonate with Gary’s YouTube content, please follow his channel and spread the word to as many people as possible. (Follow his X account from… 👉here! )
Furthermore, Gary’s book “THE TRADING GAME (A Confession)” was published in March this year, so if you’re interested, you can purchase it here. 👇
Thank you for reading until the end.
konkaz
You can read this blog post in Japanese from the link below.
👉 貧富の差拡大を阻止するエコノミスト、ゲイリー・スティーブンソンの活動