The gap between the super-rich and the poorest half of the global population is starker than previously thought, with just eight men – Bill Gates, (pictured above) Jeff Bezos, etc – owning as much wealth as 3.6 billion people, according to an analysis by Oxfam.
Presenting its findings on the dawn of the annual gathering of the global political and business elites in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, anti-poverty organisation Oxfam says the gap between the very rich and poor is far greater than just a year ago.
It’s urging leaders to do more than pay lip-service to the problem.
If not, it warns, public anger against this kind of inequality will continue to grow and lead to more seismic political changes akin to the election of Donald Trump as US president and Britain’s vote to leave the European Union.
“It is obscene for so much wealth to be held in the hands of so few when one in 10 people survive on less than $2 a day,” said Winnie Byanyima, executive director of Oxfam International.
“Inequality is trapping hundreds of millions in poverty; it is fracturing our societies and undermining democracy.”
The same report a year earlier said that the richest 62 people on the planet owned as much wealth as the bottom half of the population.
However, Oxfam has revised that figure down to eight following new information gathered by Swiss bank Credit Suisse Group AG.
Oxfam used Forbes‘ billionaires list that was published in January 2021 to make its headline claim.
According to the Forbes list, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is the richest individual with a net worth of $182.1 billion dollars.
The others, in order of ranking, are:
Elon Musk – $176.2 Billion
Bernard Arnault & family – $154.6 Billion
Bill Gates – $121.4 Billion
Mark Zuckerberg – $94 Billion
Zhong Shanshan – $90.1 Billion
Warren Buffett – $88.1 Billion
Larry Ellison – $88 Billion
Oxfam outlined measures that it hopes will be enacted to help reduce the inequality.
They include higher taxes on wealth and income to ensure a more level playing field and to fund investments in public services and jobs, greater cooperation among governments on ensuring workers are paid decently and the rich don’t dodge their taxes.
And business leaders should commit to paying their fair share of taxes and a living wage to employees.
Max Lawson, Oxfam’s policy adviser, urged billionaires to “do the right thing,” and to do “what Bill Gates has called on them to do, which is pay their taxes.”
The ability of the rich to avoid paying their fair share of taxes was vividly exposed last year in the so-called “Panama Papers,” a leaked trove of data that revealed details on offshore accounts that helped individuals shelter their wealth.
“We have a situation where billionaires are paying less tax often than their cleaner or their secretary,” Lawson told the Associated Press. ‘That’s crazy.’
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