The rich get rich, the poor get poorer? That could kill capitalism. 1. Uneven sharing of global wealth could undermine the entire capitalist system the World Economic Forum was told yesterday. 2. There is a growing feeling among political leaders in Davos that change is needed. In particular, pay and rewards cannot disproportionately flow to the already rich. 3. Nouriel Roubini, who was speaking on the future of capitalism, warned that financial and social imbalances could trigger unrest. 4. Mr. Roubini was nicknamed Doctor Doom after he highlighted the excesses in the financial system before the crash. 5. He said: “The 1920s were a gilded age but there was also rising inequality. Then we had the crash, and a range of policy responses led to the Great Depression. We then had the rise of the authoritarian regimes and we ended up with World War Two. I'm not saying that is going to happen again but if we don't relieve the financial, fiscal and social problems that exist there are risks for the future.” 6. There has already been unrest in European countries after austerity measures, and "occupy" protests in New York and London against capitalism. 7. Lael Brainard, US Undersecretary of the Treasury, said: “Leading up to the crisis we saw a disproportionate share of wealth going to the richest, and changes to the tax system reinforced that. We need to turn that around.” 8. Much criticism of excessive rewards has been directed at bankers, who are frequently blamed for causing the financial crisis that pushed countries into recession. 9. Angel Gurria, Secretary General of the OECD, said:“1 think compensation is one of the problems [that creates inequality]. This is one of the things that brought about the crisis: unrelenting greed. It is happening again.” 10. Mr. Roubini said:“ There has been a massive increase in wealth in the past decade and also an increase in inequalities. We are also now seeing this rising inequality in some countries and other emerging economies that will be a problem.” 11. Even after the crisis there is certainly a perception that nothing has changed. In good times there were profits, risks were taken and excessive rewards earned. In the bad times the losses were put on the balance sheets of governments and that created the massive sovereign debt problems. 12. The participants in the Davos debate called for an injection of morality into the capitalist system and for businessmen and companies to act in the interests of broader society. 13. Anders Borg, Sweden's finance minister, said:“ If profits are taken out of Swedish society and put in some Channel Island to avoid tax, that is bad. Profits invested to create jobs is good for society. Companies must see the moral difference. The business world must behave in a more moral way.”