There are still more reasons why we can’t afford the rich. Here we look at how they spend their money, and how this affects others and the planet. There is not only the obscenity of wasteful expenditure in a world in which 721 million people – a third of them children – have to live on less than $1.25 a day. Excess has come to be defined as the key to a good life, so millions seek ever greater and more unsustainable consumption. But actually it is unlikely to improve their well-being. The plundering of the earth’s resources cannot continue; above all, our insatiable appetite for fossil fuels is driving global warming. The effects are already impacting on populations across the world, threatening our environment, food systems and futures.

Stopping global warming is the biggest challenge modern society has had to face, and it’s clear that few want to face it, least of all those who have the biggest stake in the status quo and can protect themselves from its worst effects – the rich. But it also is incompatible with capitalism itself, for capitalism depends on endless growth and we have already far outstripped the capacity of the planet to cope. For wealthy countries, growth is producing more problems than solutions.

Part Five explores these issues.