About A wealth scale
A wealth scale is a global interactive platform designed to visualize the incomprehensible magnitude of extreme economic inequality and raise awareness about the problem posed by the current accumulation of wealth in the hands of so few people.
Faced with the difficulty of processing figures with so many zeros, we created this tool to translate abstract amounts into tangible experiences, breaking cultural and monetary barriers. Whether you are in Tokyo, Madrid, or Buenos Aires, we want everyone, regardless of the language they speak, to understand what having "limitless" resources truly means.
The real problem with limitless wealth
Beyond being a visualization and comprehension tool, we believe that once one is able to appreciate the disproportionate wealth accumulated by a few, one must also understand the problem this generates.
The current economic system systematically prioritizes capital accumulation over labor, sacrificing the human rights of the vast majority and depleting the planet's resources.
This massive concentration of wealth is not collateral damage, but a deliberate goal. It is actively used to hijack political power, impose narratives that justify inequality, and ensure their fortunes keep growing; not only through the private market (which is the argument we are sold), but also by parasitizing public resources and funds.
The social cost of this dynamic is devastating. The obscene overabundance of a few deprives a large part of the global population of essential resources for survival and endangers the future of the planet, accelerating the destruction of ecosystems and creating scarcity where it shouldn't exist.
Putting a cap on extreme wealth is no longer just an ethical or material imperative; it is a matter of global survival.
The big lie
These are some of the most common myths, deeply rooted in our economies, that push us to accept limitless accumulation as normal or even necessary.
The myth of meritocracy and the rentier trap:
The "self-made billionaire" is an illusion. The system is designed to reward prior capital accumulation and inheritances over effort or innovation.
The trickle-down fallacy:
Constant tax cuts for the richest are justified by the false promise that this wealth will "trickle down" to the rest of society. Data shows the opposite: real economic growth is achieved by reducing inequality and improving bottom-up incomes, not by fattening the profits of those who already have the most.
The false blackmail of capital flight:
The threat that "the rich will flee the country" if their taxes are raised is an exaggerated statistical myth. It is used exclusively as a weapon of economic terrorism to paralyze any fair tax reform.
Subsidizing the oligarchy (the myth of private risk):
Many large business empires have been built on subsidies, bailouts, state monopolies, and the exploitation of publicly funded research. Society assumes the risk, but the profit is privatized.
The real cost
Protected by the system's myths, extreme wealth may seem harmless or even a sign of progress. However, its effects are devastating and very real. In a finite world, the excessive accumulation by a few directly impacts the lives of the majority.
Extreme wealth as the deprivation of rights:
In a world with finite resources, the extreme abundance of a few directly generates scarcity for the majority. The global economy finances stratospheric fortunes at the expense of the universal right to housing, health, and food.
Rentier hoarding (the rigged "Monopoly"):
The housing market is one of the clearest examples of how the system favors limitless wealth extraction without providing real value. It works like a game of Monopoly that the vast majority of the population enters when the game is already far advanced. Those who have already accumulated capital hoard a basic necessity, a finite resource that no one can do without.
The planet's bill (class pollution):
The climate crisis has owners. The greatest environmental impact of billionaires lies not only in their lavish consumption but in the immense "carbon intensity" of their assets. Their wealth books planetary extraction as profit, ignoring the ecological destruction they leave behind as a liability.
The debt trap and the looting of the public sector:
Entire countries today spend more on paying interest on their external debt to large private funds than on social programs. This suffocating burden forces states to cut essential public services, further enriching the creditor elites who refuse to restructure that debt.
How the big lie is sustained
Why don't things change if the damage is so obvious? To understand the current gridlock, we must identify the tools elites use to shield their privileges, evade their responsibilities, and parasitize our societies.
The hijacking of democracy:
Extreme economic inequality inevitably translates into political inequality. Limitless wealth allows them to buy influence, fund campaigns, control the media, and dictate laws, transforming democracies into oligarchies.
The monopoly of information:
The concentration of wealth leads to the concentration of media ownership. Billionaires buy social networks, newspapers, and television networks, not for their profitability, but to control the public debate. This ensures that strikes are perceived as mere nuisances, taxes as theft, and their extreme enrichment as an inspiring success story.
The philanthropic illusion:
The charity of the ultra-rich is used as a smokescreen to avoid paying taxes and bypass regulation. Through enormous foundations, they decide which global problems are prioritized (and which are ignored), bypassing democratic processes. They convince us that we depend on their generosity, when in reality they are deciding public policies with the money they evade from state coffers.
The design of tax evasion:
The tax engineering and evasion of large fortunes and corporations is not a flaw in the system, but its design. They use a global architecture of tax havens and loopholes to loot public coffers with complete impunity.
Possible solutions
We have the power to correct situations created by political decisions. No one has a magic wand to offer a simple and definitive solution to such a complex problem, but we certainly have tools at our disposal, and we want to share some of them.
Truthful information, shifting myths, and transparency:
It is vital to dismantle myths like "trickle-down economics" or capital flight. We must redefine common sense: a country's success should not be measured by GDP, but by the real well-being of its population. This must be coupled with a non-negotiable demand for transparency against lobbies and revolving doors.
Limitarianism (the ethics of "having too much"):
Just as there is an unacceptable poverty line, it is urgent to establish a "maximum wealth line". There is no ethical justification for limitless accumulation when that surplus could eradicate avoidable suffering.
Tax justice and global sovereignty:
We need an international tax framework (led by the UN, not by rich country clubs) that imposes effective global minimum corporate taxes and provides real tools against tax evasion.
Climate taxation on property:
Climate policies should not penalize the basic consumption of the working class, but heavily tax the ownership of carbon-intensive assets. Those who own the machinery of pollution must pay for the transition.
Taxes on speculation:
Reviving the spirit of the "Tobin Tax" to tax financial transactions. The goal is twofold: raise funds for social purposes and hinder the gears of short-term speculation that destabilizes the real economy.
Human rights economy:
The economy must be redesigned to put life at the center. This requires structural changes, such as democratizing the operation of opaque institutions (like central banks) so that their policies do not suffocate the population in the name of the market.
What can you do on our website?
We have created four interactive modules so that anyone can better visualize the horrifying disparity in personal wealth among the richest people in the world. Through these tools, we hope the public becomes more aware of the problem this accumulation represents and better understands its implications:
Legal disclaimer
awealthscale.com is a personal project offered for free and without advertising under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. The data shown on this website is obtained from the cited sources, but we cannot guarantee its accuracy or completeness. We do not offer financial advice, courses, or related services.