Oxfam: 85 richest people as wealthy as poorest half of the world

[xchrom]

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/jan/20/oxfam-85-richest-people-half-of-the-world


The InterContinental Davos luxury hotel in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos. Oxfam report found people in countries around the world believe that the rich have too much influence over the direction their country is heading. Photograph: Arnd Wiegmann/REUTERS

The world's wealthiest people aren't known for travelling by bus, but if they fancied a change of scene then the richest 85 people on the globe – who between them control as much wealth as the poorest half of the global population put together – could squeeze onto a single double-decker.

The extent to which so much global wealth has become corralled by a virtual handful of the so-called 'global elite' is exposed in a new report from Oxfam on Monday. It warned that those richest 85 people across the globe share a combined wealth of £1tn, as much as the poorest 3.5 billion of the world's population.



The wealth of the 1% richest people in the world amounts to $110tn (£60.88tn), or 65 times as much as the poorest half of the world, added the development charity, which fears this concentration of economic resources is threatening political stability and driving up social tensions.

It's a chilling reminder of the depths of wealth inequality as political leaders and top business people head to the snowy peaks of Davos for this week's World Economic Forum. Few, if any, will be arriving on anything as common as a bus, with private jets and helicoptors pressed into service as many of the world's most powerful people convene to discuss the state of the global economy over four hectic days of meetings, seminars and parties in the exclusive ski resort.

[TBF]

1. Should be mandatory reading. K&R nt

[secondwind]

2. eye-opening.... thanks for posting

[Trillo]

3. Owners versus slaves

same as it ever was

[ck4829]

4. Instead of the 1%, it will soon be the .001%

[valerief]

5. Oh, but you're missing the point. Those 85 people have **earned** that money. They **deserve** it.

Half the world are just layabouts.

That's what we're supposed to believe.

[JackInGreen]

6. I always come back to Tommy whenever I think about this or related...

Truth from a good Irish boy.

(edited because I'm having issues linking a youtube video)

[cer7711]

7. Shameful. Absolutely Shameful.

But unsurprising. This is exactly the result end-game capitalism leads to without proper taxation policies in place to circulate wealth.

As liberals we shouldn't be running from extolling the virtures of progressive taxation, but rather explaining at every turn how regressive taxation destroys the middle and working classes of a country.

[tblue]

16. What ^^^ said. It's obscene! nt

[frwrfpos]

8. Capitalism is arguably the worst economic sham ever

Capitalism not only condones but encourages greed and hoarding of money at the expense of people. When 85 human beings control as much wealth as the other half,something is very very wrong

[reformist2]

18. We don't believe in the divine right of kings, we shouldn't believe who the free market chooses eith

[niyad]

9. k and r

[Progressive dog]

10. one half of the world's richest 1% live in the USA

That would be over 10% of the USA population.

[PumpkinAle]

11. Interesting that Sweden that socialist country where taxes are

so high is number 3 on the list.

[cer7711]

15. The Explanation for that Statistic

http://super-economy.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-upper-class-and-wealth-inequality.html

See especially the line: "Sweden has continued to lower taxes on the rich . . ."

[PumpkinAle]

25. Wow - thanks for the info n/t

[Rex]

12. But but but...greed is good!

America is always leading the way!

[BelgianMadCow]

13. K & R for truth

it will set us free.

[reformist2]

14. Capitalism is as antiquated and stupid as monarchy was 200 years ago.

[LondonReign2]

19. Capitalism is fine

It's uncontrolled, unregulated, and untaxed capitalism that is the problem.

[reformist2]

21. I'm not sure it is "fine" at all, not anymore.

[cer7711]

22. I Agree!

Last edited Wed Jan 22, 2014, 11:15 AM - Edit history (2)

Nothing wrong with the profit motive--duly taxed, regulated and controlled by governmental authority for the good of all.

It's unrestrained, gangster-style Crony-Capitalism--or the term I prefer, "Scroogilistic Crapitalism"--that leads to obscene disparities of wealth (and health, happiness, education, opportunities for advancement, etc.)

[El_Johns]

17. Democracy = a joke under such conditions.

[JEB]

20. Sharpen the guillotine. Send in the drones. Tax them!

What a better world it could be.

[cer7711]

24. Damn Straight.

[polly7]

23. Horrifying, isn't it.

In other words, we could fill a 300-seat plane with the 300 richest persons in the world, yet their wealth exceeds the combined wealth of three billion people: nearly half of humankind.

So the real question is: in a vastly unjust society, does democracy work? Or does it become just a formal mechanism to accommodate those inside the system, and ignore the excluded? Do those 300 sitting in the plane of extreme wealth have the same view of the world as the 3 billion poor left on the ground? And if not, does their view of the world counts as much as that of the 300 people on the plane?

http://www.globalissues.org/news/2013/09/12/17458