Very true, in terms of poverty the world was never as equal as today. My guess is that Free Software had the consequence of providing a lot of value to people for free, taking part of the cost of the supply chain.
This is the real equaliser, it is not tax and it's not the market. In all honesty even in their example, the 1% in the US is not stable .. it's more like a game of chair, if you blink you can loose your seat.
Free Software is a miniscule part of that process, if it even is a part at all. The main reason is reduced transport and communication costs making it feasible to outsource work across continents.
This is the real equaliser, it is not tax and it's not the market. In all honesty even in their example, the 1% in the US is not stable .. it's more like a game of chair, if you blink you can loose your seat.