Economists have been cautioning about the rising inequality around the world for some time now. The rising concern over the uneven distribution of the fruits of capitalism forewarned of a future when capitalism would eventually need saving from itself. The Covid-19 pandemic is probably that moment. It has revealed the deep fissures running through what was presumed to be the most efficient system of allocating resources.
While there have been calls for replacing capitalism with other more equitable economic systems, it must also be considered that replacing a system with another one might not eliminate those problems as long as individuals do not change their motivations and practices, and we might end up with neither equality nor efficiency. The solution instead lies in reworking the ethics underpinning capitalism.