Over the past ten years the volume of funds invested has more than doubled and can today be valued at nearly 28,000 billion US dollars. This exceeds the gross domestic product of all the industrial countries put together. They are a real threat to the global economy and, in particular, to developing countries. They explain the booms experienced in the world's stock markets in the last few years. More particularly, the Dow Jones index rose from 3000 points in 1991 to 11000 points in April 1999.
Human life attracts far less interest today than money.
At the same time certain individuals have acquired personal wealth superior to that of some countries. The private estate of the richest 145 people in the world exceeds the gross domestic product of the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa. At the dawn of the 21st century, the richest three individuals own as much as the gross national product of all the less advanced countries and their 600 million inhabitants. On a planetary scale 3 billion people half of humankind live on less than 2 dollars per day. Whilst the level of goods and services available has reached unprecedented levels the number of those lacking housing, employment, and calories is continually increasing.