💲Inequality: World's 5 Richest Men Double Their Money As Poor Get Poorer -1st Trillionaire Within 10 Yrs
The Guardian, Jan. 14, 2024. -Ed. 'Oxfam predicts first trillionaire within a decade, with gap between rich & poor likely to increase.'💰
The world’s 5 richest men have more than doubled their fortunes to $869bn (£681.5bn) since 2020, while the world’s poorest 60% – almost 5 billion people – have lost money. The details come in a report by Oxfam as the world’s richest people gather from Monday in Davos, Switzerland, for the annual World Economic Forum meeting of political leaders, corporate executives and the super-rich. The yawning gap between rich and poor is likely to increase, the report says, and will lead to the world crowning its first trillionaire within a decade.
It warns, if current trends continue, world poverty will not be eradicated for another 229 years.
Highlighting a dramatic increase in inequality since the Covid pandemic, Oxfam said the world’s billionaires were $3.3tn (£2.6tn) richer than in 2020, and their wealth had grown 3 times faster than the rate of inflation. The report, Inequality Inc., finds that 7 out of 10 of the world’s biggest corporations have a billionaire as CEO or principal shareholder, despite stagnation in living standards for millions of workers globally. The combined wealth of the top 5 richest people - Elon Musk, Bernard Arnault, Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison and Mark Zuckerberg - have increased by $464bn, or 114%.
Over the same period, the total wealth of the poorest 4.77 billion people - 60% of the world population - has declined by 0.2% in real terms. “People worldwide are working harder and longer hours, often for poverty wages in precarious and unsafe jobs." In 52 countries, average real wages of nearly 800 million workers have fallen. Workers have lost a combined $1.5tn over the last 2 years, equivalent to 25 days of lost wages for each worker. Calling for a wealth tax to redress the balance between workers and super-rich bosses and owners, the report says such a levy on British millionaires and billionaires could bring in £22bn for the exchequer each year.
Julia Davies, a founding member of the Patriotic Millionaires UK that campaigns for a wealth tax, said levies on wealth were “minuscule” compared with taxation on income from work. "£22bn a year invested in public services and infrastructure could pay for improving the lives of every one of us who live in the UK.." The most recent Gini index- which measures inequality - found that global income inequality was now comparable with that of South Africa which has the highest inequality in the world. The world’s richest 1% own 59% of all global financial assets.
Aleema Shivji, Oxfam interim chief exec., said: “These extremes cannot be accepted as the new norm, the world can’t afford another decade of division...
- Read More, https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2024/jan/15/worlds-five-richest-men-double-their-money-as-poorest-get-poorer
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