'Top 1% Own 43.8%': Oxfam Report Links Inequality to Political Power Asymmetry

Описание: The level of billionaire wealth today is the highest it’s ever been. For the first time in history, the number of billionaires in the world has crossed three thousand.
But while the top is soaring, the rest are struggling. One in four people across the world now face hunger and food insecurity, says Oxfam’s new report titled ‘Resisting the Rule of the Rich’.

The numbers are staggering. On average, a person in the richest 1% owns 8,251 times more wealth than someone in the bottom 50%, and the poorest half of humanity holds just 0.52% of the world’s wealth. The richest 1% own close to half, or 43.8%.

The report points out that governments across the world are choosing to defend wealth over rights and freedoms. Since November 2024 – when Donald Trump’s re-election was announced – billionaire fortunes have grown at a rate three times faster than the average of the previous 5 years.

The rise in authoritarianism globally, the Oxfam report notes, is tied directly to deepening income inequality. As the rich are getting richer, they’re also getting more politically powerful: “Data from 136 countries confirms that as economic resources become more unequally distributed, so too does political power.”

That income and wealth inequality is at an all-time high has become more widely accepted and talked about of late. While the Oxfam report focuses on how economic inequality fuels political inequality, and the dangers of that, other research has also pointed out how current global systems are reinforcing gender inequality, forcing the most marginalised to bear the brunt of climate change, and deepening regional divides

This report shares one clear message: inequality is not natural. It is a political choice. Oxfam says every country should create clear and time-bound plans to reduce inequality. Taxing the super-rich is one way to do this. And progress should be regularly monitored to make sure real change is happening.

For more, visit The Wire’s website and read the detailed report.


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