“A world where 1% of
humanity controls as much wealth as the bottom 99% will never be stable.‟
-Barack Obama
In a gloomy world economy, rise of protectionist, nationalist
leader with no political experience and a communist china willing to step into
the mighty shoes of USA to run the world, here we have eight (8) men who own
the same wealth as the poorest half of the world. As growth benefits the
richest, the rest of society – especially the poorest – suffers.
Oxfam’s 2016 and 2017 reports put
out the facts of growing inequalities. Just 8 billionaires own the same wealth
as the poorest 3.6 billion people. These reports have triggered the alarm yet
again regarding the growing wealth and income inequalities.
What are the latest figures?
- In 2015, the richest 1% owned more
wealth than the rest of the planet.
- Now we have eight men who own the same
wealth as the poorest half of the world. i.e. $426 bn.
- What is India’s GDP? It is $2
trillion for a population of 130 crore. Here we have 500 people who will hand
over close to $2 trillion to their heirs in the next 15-20 years.
- It is said that, the richest man in
Vietnam earns more in a day than the poorest person earns in a decade.
However the world should be proud
of lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty in the recent decades,
but one in nine still go to bed hungry.
UN General Assembly -Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development : adopted by 194 countries has No Poverty and Zero hunger as one of the 17 goals to be achieved by 2030 seems to be very ambitious. It is said that the period after 1990’s, had the global growth been pro-poor more than 700 million people would have escaped poverty.
The countries with higher income inequality tend to have larger gaps between women and men in terms of health, education, representation in institutions like parliaments and in market participation. It also has to be noted that 53 of the world’s richest 62 people are men.
How much does the poorest half of the world contribute to global emission footprint? It is 10% of total global emissions and the richest 1% globally adds as much as 175 times the poorest 10%. The world has failed to address the problems of the poor and unequal. Instead of creating an economy that works for the prosperity of all, the future generations, an economy for the 1% has been created. The owners are seeing their capital grow day by day whereas the workers are earning less when compared to gains from the profit.
As more and more taxes are not paid/avoided, the burden falls on the government to run the economy which leads increase in indirect taxes. The indirect tax is paid even by the poorest of the poor. The problem of tax avoidance is global which denies the poor countries the resources to tackle the poverty.
In India 57 billionaires own the same amount of wealth as the bottom 70%. With concentration of wealth in the hands of a few there is also concentration of power and influence and also influence on the policies of the government, institutions that govern the countries activity.
If the growing inequality is left unchecked our societies will be pulled apart, there will be increase in crime and insecurity. Fighting poverty will be a distant dream unless inequality is not fought. The poor die poor and the rich grow richer.
“It’s time to build a human economy that benefits everyone, not just the privileged few” |
