The top 1% has earned almost twice as much new wealth as the rest of the world in the past two years.

Tami Luhbi, CNN

The richest people in the world have been getting richer much faster than everyone else in the past two years.

According to Oxfam’s annual Inequality Report released on Sunday, the top 1% earned nearly twice as much new wealth as the rest of the world. Their wealth has increased by $26 trillion, while the poorest 99% have only increased their net worth by $16 trillion.

And the wealth accumulation of the super-rich has accelerated during the pandemic. Looking back over the past decade, they have received only half of all the new wealth created, compared to two-thirds in the past few years.

The report, based on data compiled by Forbes, is timed to coincide with the launch of the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, an elite gathering of some of the richest people and world leaders.

Meanwhile, many of the less fortunate struggle. About 1.7 billion workers live in countries where inflation is outpacing wages. And poverty reduction likely stalled last year after the number of poor people around the world soared in 2020.

“While ordinary people sacrifice essentials such as food on a daily basis, the super-rich have surpassed even their wildest dreams,” said Gabriela Bucher, chief executive of Oxfam International. “Just two years later, this decade promises to be the best for billionaires — the roaring boom of the 20s for the richest people in the world.”

billionaire fortunes

Although their wealth has decreased somewhat over the past year, the world’s billionaires are still much richer than they were at the start of the pandemic.

According to Oxfam, their net worth is $11.9 trillion. While this is nearly $2 trillion less than at the end of 2021, it still far exceeds the $8.6 trillion that billionaires had in March 2020.

The rich are benefiting from three trends, said Nabil Ahmed, director of economic equity at Oxfam America.

At the beginning of the pandemic, world governments, especially richer countries, poured trillions of dollars into their economies to prevent collapse. This prompted stocks and other assets to soar in value.

“Most of this fresh money went to the super rich who were able to take advantage of this stock market surge, this asset boom,” Ahmed said. “And the fair tax fences weren’t in place.”

In addition, many corporations have done well in recent years. About 95 food and energy companies more than doubled their profits in 2022, Oxfam reports, as inflation drove prices up. Most of this money was paid out to shareholders.

In addition, long-term trends of weakening labor rights and greater market concentration exacerbate inequalities.

By contrast, global poverty increased significantly at the start of the pandemic. While there has been some progress on poverty reduction since then, it is expected to stall in 2022, in part due to the war in Ukraine, which has exacerbated high food and energy prices, according to World Bank data cited by Oxfam.

For the first time in 25 years, huge wealth and extreme poverty increased simultaneously, according to Oxfam.

tax on the rich

To counter this growing inequality, Oxfam is calling on governments to raise taxes on their richest residents.

He proposes a one-time wealth tax and contingency taxes to end the global crises, as well as permanently increasing taxes on the top 1% to at least 60% of their income from labor and capital.

Oxfam believes that the rates for the top 1% should be high enough to significantly reduce their numbers and wealth. Then the funds must be reallocated.

“We are indeed facing an extreme crisis of wealth concentration,” Ahmed said. “And it is important first of all, I think, to recognize that this is not inevitable. A strategic prerequisite for curbing extreme inequality is taxing the super-rich.”

However, the group faces an uphill battle. About 11 countries have cut taxes for the rich during the pandemic. And Congressional efforts to raise taxes on the rich failed in 2021, even though Democrats controlled both houses and the White House.

The-CNN-Wire
& © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Company. discovery. All rights reserved.

Fast. The top 1% has made nearly twice as much new wealth as the rest of the world, appearing first on KION546 in the past two years.

Content Source

Dallas Press News – Latest News:
Dallas Local News || Fort Worth Local News | Texas State News || Crime and Safety News || National news || Business News || Health News