took off in the 80s when Reagan "unbridled the greed" and globalization went wild thanks to global transportation and communications advances. Some other countries tended to follow the U.S. lead into predatory capitalism since the U.S. economy was the "western" model.
Cutting taxes on the wealthy probably incentivizes doing whatever it takes including criminal activity to amass an absurd fortune if more of it is yours to keep since you won't have to give as much of it to the tax man. Another incentive is the option to move vast sums abroad as necessary to shield it from taxes. Governments used to try to monitor "cross-border money flows" but I don't hear much about that anymore.
Today there are maybe 10 countries where people are in the streets protesting corrupt governments and inequality--and sometimes getting killed for it. More than 300 dead in Iraq since the protests began in October, for example.
Reagan obviously didn't invent greed; he just openly promoted it as a positive role model for the world economy.
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