Oxfam: 'eight men own as much wealth as poorest half of world's population'
- 7 years ago
“The global economy is broken,” Oxfam says in a new report which finds eight billionaires own as much wealth as the poorest half of the world’s population.
The charity has urged the all-male group to “play their part” in bridging a gap it describes as “obscene.”
While wealth of world’s billionaires skyrockets, 1 in 10 people survive on less than $2/day https://t.co/gfpjDxRXzA Time to #EvenItUp #wef17 pic.twitter.com/hBegRmkXkm— Oxfam International (@Oxfam) January 16, 2017
Among other things, Oxfam calls for a crackdown on tax dodging, a living wage for all employees, and asks the rich not to use their economic wealth in return for political favours.
“We’ve seen countries in the last ten years that have bucked the trend and that are going in the other direction, and are reducing the gap between rich and poor. One thing they do is they get the rich to pay their tax. We’ve got a situation where billionaires are paying (proportionally) less tax often than their cleaner or their secretary. That’s crazy. We’re seeing wealth channelled upwards,” said Oxfam Policy Advisor, Max Lawson.
The wealth of the super rich has reportedly surged by around 11 percent per year since 2009.
Although some choose to give substantial amounts of money away, Lawson says this does not resolve the fundamental problem of inequality.
“If billionaires choose to give their money away then that is a good thing. But inequality matters and you cannot have a system where billionaires are systematically paying lower rates of tax than their secretary or cleaner,” Lawson added.
The report comes as influential figures and many of the world’s wealthiest gather in Davos, Switzerland, for this year’s World Economic Forum.
The charity has urged the all-male group to “play their part” in bridging a gap it describes as “obscene.”
While wealth of world’s billionaires skyrockets, 1 in 10 people survive on less than $2/day https://t.co/gfpjDxRXzA Time to #EvenItUp #wef17 pic.twitter.com/hBegRmkXkm— Oxfam International (@Oxfam) January 16, 2017
Among other things, Oxfam calls for a crackdown on tax dodging, a living wage for all employees, and asks the rich not to use their economic wealth in return for political favours.
“We’ve seen countries in the last ten years that have bucked the trend and that are going in the other direction, and are reducing the gap between rich and poor. One thing they do is they get the rich to pay their tax. We’ve got a situation where billionaires are paying (proportionally) less tax often than their cleaner or their secretary. That’s crazy. We’re seeing wealth channelled upwards,” said Oxfam Policy Advisor, Max Lawson.
The wealth of the super rich has reportedly surged by around 11 percent per year since 2009.
Although some choose to give substantial amounts of money away, Lawson says this does not resolve the fundamental problem of inequality.
“If billionaires choose to give their money away then that is a good thing. But inequality matters and you cannot have a system where billionaires are systematically paying lower rates of tax than their secretary or cleaner,” Lawson added.
The report comes as influential figures and many of the world’s wealthiest gather in Davos, Switzerland, for this year’s World Economic Forum.