Max Lawson

Covid-19 infections in most countries have been hugely underestimated — not least because rich countries bought almost all the tests.

The new Netflix drama is set in the early 1800s, but the hyper-unequal patrimonial society it portrays is not far from current realities.

While the world's richest have seen a dip in their stock holdings, those on the bottom of the wealth scale will bear the heaviest burden of the crisis.

Inherited wealth and crony capitalism have created an aristocratic class that undermines social mobility and democracy.