One  in every ten UK households now have total assets exceeding £1m, according to researchers at the London School of Economics. An increase in stock markets, London house prices and the valuation of pensions will have pushed the entry point into that wealthiest tenth over the million-pound mark.

This may reduce social mobility because educational attainment will begin to depend more on having parents who can pay, and being able to take that good job in London will depend on having parents who can help you buy a place to live!

So why are house prices so high? It is not, as often suggested, because we have too few homes. Prices are high because a few have so much more money to spend than before. They buy a big house for a small family, or more than one home, and reduce what is available for everyone else.

And why are so many young people unemployed? Our overall wage and salary bill has never been higher. It is not that we don’t have enough money to employ them. If fewer people were allowed to hoard so much of the wealth and those at the top were paid a little less than they currently are, it is not hard to calculate that everyone aged under 25 without a job could have one, full-time paid at the living wage.