  We propose a highly schematic economic model in which, in some cases, wage
inequalities lead to higher overall social welfare. This is due to the fact
that high earners can consume low productivity, non essential products, which
allows everybody to remain employed even when the productivity of essential
goods is high and producing them does not require everybody to work. We derive
a relation between heterogeneities in technologies and the minimum Gini
coefficient required to maximize global welfare. Stronger inequalities appear
to be economically unjustified. Our model may shed light on the role of
non-essential goods in the economy, a topical issue when thinking about the
post-Covid-19 world.

General Economics;Economics