Technology is advancing in leaps and bounds -- and so is economic inequality, says writer Chrystia Freeland. In an impassioned talk, she charts the rise of a new class of plutocrats (those who are extremely powerful because they are extremely wealthy), and suggests that globalization and new technology are actually fueling, rather than closing, the global income gap. Freeland lays out three problems with plutocracy … and one glimmer of hope.

The rise of the new global super-rich

Economic inequality is skyrocketing as technology and globalization create vast fortunes for a select few, leaving the middle class increasingly hollowed out. The wealth of the top 0.1 percent in the United States now rivals where the top 1 percent was just decades ago, and two billionaires once held as much wealth as the bottom 40 percent combined. While globalization has lifted millions out of poverty worldwide, it has also outsourced jobs from Western economies and weakened social mobility. Real change will require ambitious new policies to ensure prosperity is widely shared.