Oxfam On Monday Revealed Rich Get Richer as Global Inequality Widens
LONDON – Oxfam’s latest report, titled Inequality Inc., has exposed the alarming rate at which global wealth inequality is widening, with the world’s five wealthiest individuals seeing their fortunes more than double from $405 billion to a staggering $869 billion since 2020. The report highlights the stark contrast between the super-rich and the rest of the world, as nearly five billion people find themselves sinking deeper into poverty.
As the elites convene in Davos for the annual World Economic Forum, Oxfam’s report presents a bleak outlook for the future, with the first trillionaire expected to emerge within a decade while the eradication of poverty remains a distant goal, projected to take another 229 years.
Oxfam International interim Executive Director Amitabh Behar expressed concern over the growing economic divisions: We’re witnessing the beginnings of a decade of division, with billions of people shouldering the economic shockwaves of the pandemic, inflation, and war, while billionaires’ fortunes continue to boom. This inequality is not accidental; the billionaire class ensures that corporations deliver more wealth to them at the expense of everyone else.
The report emphasizes the role of runaway corporate and monopoly power in exacerbating inequality, with corporations squeezing workers, avoiding taxes, privatizing the state, and contributing to climate breakdown. As a result, corporations are channeling endless wealth to their ultra-rich owners.
In the past three years alone, extreme wealth has surged at an unprecedented rate, with billionaires now $3.3 trillion richer than in 2020, growing three times faster than the rate of inflation. Moreover, wealthy countries in the Global North, representing only 21% of the global population, commandeer 69% of global wealth and host 74% of the world’s billionaire wealth.
Oxfam’s findings also highlight the skewed distribution of financial assets, with the top 1% owning a staggering 43% of all global financial assets. This concentration of wealth is prevalent in various regions, including the Middle East, Asia, and Europe, where the richest hold significant portions of financial assets.
The report further exposes the astounding profitability of major corporations, projecting record-breaking profits in 2023. The world’s 148 largest corporations collectively amassed $1.8 trillion in net profits in the year leading up to June 2023, marking a staggering 52% increase compared to the average net profits from 2018 to 2021. However, the benefits of this financial windfall disproportionately favor wealthy shareholders, with 82% of every $100 of profit going to them.
Notable figures highlighted in the report include Bernard Arnault, facing scrutiny for alleged anti-competitive practices within his luxury goods empire, LVMH. Africa’s wealthiest person, Aliko Dangote, also faces attention due to concerns over a near-monopoly on cement in Nigeria, raising fears of a new private monopoly in the oil sector. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and the world’s third richest person, is currently facing a U.S. government lawsuit accusing his company of wielding monopoly power to hike prices, lower service quality, and stifle competition.
In response to the findings, Oxfam calls for immediate action from governments to address the growing wealth gap. The organization advocates for revitalizing the state, reining in corporate power, and reinventing business models to ensure a fairer distribution of wealth. The report proposes measures such as universal healthcare and education, breaking up monopolies, legislating living wages, capping CEO pay, and implementing new taxes on the super-rich and corporations. Oxfam estimates that a wealth tax on millionaires and billionaires could generate $1.8 trillion annually.
In a world where the richest individuals’ fortunes continue to skyrocket while billions struggle in poverty, Oxfam’s report serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need for global action to combat inequality.
