Scotland's top economist has warned rampant inequality could lead to violence on the streets and the rise of the far-right if left unaddressed.

Professor Ronnie MacDonald was the Adam Smith Professor of Political Economy at Glasgow University, one of Scottish academia’s most prestigious posts.

In this week's Herald on Sunday he's spoken about new findings on Smith, widely regarded as the father of free market capitalism.

Rather than being the man who laid the foundations for Thatcherism and Reaganomics though, Professor MacDonald believes Smith would be horrified by the neoliberal world order and growing inequality in the world.

And he has warned if the situation isn't addressed the fabric of society itself could start to come apart.

MacDonald told The Herald's Neil Mackay: “Inequality is frightening.

“It presents an existential threat on a par with pandemics and war. You could have a complete breakdown in society eventually if this isn’t addressed.

“I’m not sure how far from that prospect we are, but clearly there’s huge inequalities in all countries which follow these neoliberal policies.”

“We’re seeing that trend already... a vicious circle in the breakdown of trust. People don’t trust politicians, governments or markets. That’s a dangerous scenario. Politicians thought globalisation was a cure for everything - it turned out to be the reverse”.

Read Neil Mackay's big read HERE