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6 Men Have as Much Wealth as Half the World's Population
https://www.ecowatch.com/richest-men-in-the-world-2274065153.htmlHow to account for the dramatic increase in the most flagrant and perverse of extreme inequalities? Two well-documented reasons:
1. The poorest half (and more) of the world has continued to lose wealth; and
2. The very richest individuals—especially the top thousand or so—continue to add billions of dollars to their massive fortunes.
Inequality deniers and apologists say the Oxfam methodology is flawed, but they're missing the big picture. Whether it's six individuals or 62 or 1,000 doesn't really matter. The data from the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Databook (GWD) and the Forbes Billionaire List provide the best available tools to make it clear that inequality is extreme and pathological and getting worse every year.
How It's Gone from 62 to Six in One Year
As of Feb. 17, the world's six richest individuals (all men) had $412 billion. Tables 2-4 and 3-4 of the 2016 GWD reveal that the poorest five deciles of the world population own just .16 percent of the $256 trillion in global wealth or $410 billion. That latter figure is based on mid-2016 data, but since then the status of the bottom 50 percent has not improved and has in fact likely worsened, as both global debt and global inequality have increased.
Just a year ago, on March 1, 2016, the world's six richest men had $343 billion. They're the same men today, although slightly rearranged as they play "king of the hill": Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos, Amancio Ortega, Mark Zuckerberg, Carlos Slim Helu (with Larry Ellison jockeying for position). The wealth of these six men increased by $69 billion in just one year.
Just a year ago, according to the 2015 GWD, the poorest five deciles of the world population owned much more than today, close to $1.5 trillion. What happened? It's very clear: the world's richest 10 percent (mostly the richest 1 percent) gained nearly $4 trillion while every other segment of the global population lost wealth.
...............
1. The poorest half (and more) of the world has continued to lose wealth; and
2. The very richest individuals—especially the top thousand or so—continue to add billions of dollars to their massive fortunes.
Inequality deniers and apologists say the Oxfam methodology is flawed, but they're missing the big picture. Whether it's six individuals or 62 or 1,000 doesn't really matter. The data from the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Databook (GWD) and the Forbes Billionaire List provide the best available tools to make it clear that inequality is extreme and pathological and getting worse every year.
How It's Gone from 62 to Six in One Year
As of Feb. 17, the world's six richest individuals (all men) had $412 billion. Tables 2-4 and 3-4 of the 2016 GWD reveal that the poorest five deciles of the world population own just .16 percent of the $256 trillion in global wealth or $410 billion. That latter figure is based on mid-2016 data, but since then the status of the bottom 50 percent has not improved and has in fact likely worsened, as both global debt and global inequality have increased.
Just a year ago, on March 1, 2016, the world's six richest men had $343 billion. They're the same men today, although slightly rearranged as they play "king of the hill": Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos, Amancio Ortega, Mark Zuckerberg, Carlos Slim Helu (with Larry Ellison jockeying for position). The wealth of these six men increased by $69 billion in just one year.
Just a year ago, according to the 2015 GWD, the poorest five deciles of the world population owned much more than today, close to $1.5 trillion. What happened? It's very clear: the world's richest 10 percent (mostly the richest 1 percent) gained nearly $4 trillion while every other segment of the global population lost wealth.
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