"Social cohesion is the other argument for a maximum wage. Crime and unhappiness stalk unequal societies. In the UK the bottom 50% of the population now owns only 1% of the wealth: in 1976 they owned 12%. Our economic system's incentive structure, instead of "trickle-down", is causing a "flood-up" of resources from the poor to the rich. Inequality leads to instability, the last thing the country or world needs right now."