The disparity in wealth inequality continues to grow, don't miss the other 3 charts.

"Graphorama" is a selection of four infographics chosen by the editorial team each week that give a new perspective on the news.

Each week, Alternative Economiques selects four graphics for you, highlighting the news from different angles. In this issue: rising inequality in property ownership in France, slowing Amazon forest destruction in Brazil influenced by Lula's return to power, professional industries not increasing wages in France, and global inequalities in internet access.

The rise of inequality in property ownership in France

Capitalism is often like a train that passes by once, and it's best not to miss it. INSEE's latest Social Portrait, one part of which examines changes in property values from 2004 to 2018, gives us some insight into this.

In this period, marked by a sharp rise in real estate prices, most families managed to significantly increase the value of their assets. For example, the average gross property has increased in France from just under €140,000 per household in 2004 to just over €180,000 in 2018, an increase of almost 30%.

But some have not had time to target the real estate bulldozer. Unable to afford housing, their assets were left with little to no equity. Thus, unemployed families and those with only one working member have almost nothing. At the same time, dual-activity families on average moved noticeably forward, especially those with predominantly laborers (+ 44.2%) and those with predominantly employees (+ 33%).

Should we conclude from this that being a worker is a good thing? That would be too hasty a conclusion. INSEE reminds us that while the latter have "taken full advantage of the real estate opportunities opened up by their distance from urban centers," this has come "at the expense of greater debt and the importance of the car. "

In addition, if we look at changes in absolute value rather than relative value, top earners remain the big winners of this period. Thus, their average gross wealth in 2018 was almost 280,000 euros higher than that of workers, compared to "only" 225,500 in 2004. Those who have already played Monopoly do not need a diagram to understand the mechanisms that led to this situation.

Slow the destruction of the Amazon forest in Brazil

9000 square kilometers is the area of the Dordogne department. This is also the area of forest destroyed in the Amazon between August 2022 and July 2023, according to a report by the Brazilian Institute for Space Research (INPE).

The good news, however, is that the area of deforested forest decreased by 22.3% compared to the previous twelve months. Brazil's new President Lula, who has made the environment a major focus of his campaign, will be able to boast of this result. Especially since he only took office in January, and other recent data show a significant decline in forest destruction since his return to power.

Even in the first two presidential terms of the socialist president (2003-2006 and 2007-2010), forest destruction in the Amazonian part of Brazil decreased significantly, then stabilized and increased strongly during the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022). The latter abandoned the Plan to Combat Forest Destruction and served the interests of the agro-industry seeking new farmland.

Although Lula has pledged to achieve "zero forest destruction" by 2030, the road is still long.

Professional sectors not increasing wages in France

"I don't want to discuss anything, I just want to wait." In the morning, while showering, do some employers sing a rearranged version of a Pink Martini song inspired by a short poem by Guillaume Apollinaire? In any case, as of November 24, 39 of 171 major occupational fields still had minimums less than the minimum wage (SMIC), according to the Labor Department's tally. These industries employ more than 2 million people. For a dozen of them, this situation is structural and affects 200,000 workers.

We recall that an employer is not allowed to set wages below the SMIC minimum wage: it is obliged to pay this minimum wage even when the industry does not meet the standard. Nevertheless, this situation is having a negative impact on wages and career development.

In the coming weeks, some of the recalcitrant industries are to be summoned to a meeting at the Department of Labor. "We are putting pressure on them," the Ministry explains, saying it is ready to "take action" if no significant progress is seen by mid-2024.

But is the government really ready for sanctions? During a social conference in October, the Prime Minister mentioned the possibility of relying on social contribution benefits not based on the minimum wage, but on the industry's minimum rate. This is a way of penalizing recalcitrant industries, as mechanically, calculating on a lower basis will result in lower benefits.

This option has its own difficulties, however: "It is not worth penalizing bona fide companies that are part of recalcitrant industries," the Ministry explains. This issue will be revisited at the meeting of the committee for the follow-up of professional tariff agreements, scheduled for December 11, in the presence of the social partners and the executive.

Global inequalities in access to the Internet

Use of the Internet has become so commonplace in rich countries that we don't even think about its accessibility. However, the latest figures from the International Telecommunication Union show that a third of the world's population is still not connected to a network. Although this figure is declining, there are still about 2.6 billion people who remain unrelated. By comparison, just twenty years ago, 85% of the world's population was not connected to the internet.

Inequality in access to the Internet remains significant. Between countries: nine out of ten people use the internet in rich countries, but only three out of ten in the poorest countries. Between people, too: 70% of men worldwide use the internet compared to 65% of women, and the biggest difference between the sexes is in poorer regions (42% of men use the internet in Africa, compared to only 32% of women).

These disparities are gradually narrowing as new generations come of age. Globally, for example, 79% of young people aged 15 to 24 are now connected to the World Wide Web.