A new analysis released by Oxfam, a British-founded international confederation of non-governmental organizations, has revealed that the world’s richest 1 percent have amassed a staggering $42 trillion in new wealth over the past decade.
This figure is nearly 34 times more than the entire bottom 50 percent of the world’s population.
The report reveals that the average wealth per person in the top 1 percent rose by nearly $400,000 in real terms over the last decade, compared to just $335 – less than nine cents a day – for a person in the bottom half.
This widening wealth disparity comes as taxes on the rich have reached historic lows. Oxfam’s research found that less than 8 cents in every dollar raised in tax revenue in G20 countries now comes from taxes on wealth. Furthermore, the share of income of the top 1 percent of earners in G20 countries has risen by 45 percent over four decades, while top tax rates on their incomes were cut by roughly a third.
Globally, billionaires have been paying a tax rate equivalent to less than 0.5 percent of their wealth. Oxfam’s analysis suggests that an annual net wealth tax of at least 8 percent would be needed to reduce billionaires’ extreme wealth.
Oxfam’s Head of Inequality Policy, Max Lawson, criticized the extreme inequality and government inaction, urging G20 governments to show political will in implementing higher taxes on the super-rich to address the disparity.
“Inequality has reached obscene levels, and until now governments have failed to protect people and the planet from its catastrophic effects,” Lawson said. “The richest one percent of humanity continues to fill their pockets while the rest are left to scrabble for crumbs.”
As G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meet in Rio de Janeiro this week, Oxfam hopes to see a groundbreaking global deal to increase taxes on the super-rich, which has been championed by the Brazilian G20 Presidency and backed by several countries.
