Oxfam has released a new report, entitled An Economy for the 99%, which argues that income and wealth is being sucked upwards at an alarming rate, with just 8 men now holding as much wealth as the poorest half of the world (3.6 billion people), and 1,810 dollar billionaires owning $6.5 trillion – as much wealth as the bottom 70% of humanity.
Below are some key highlights from the report:
- Since 2015, the richest 1% has owned more wealth than the rest of the planet.
- Eight men now own the same amount of wealth as the poorest half of the world.
- Over the next 20 years, 500 people will hand over $2.1 trillion to their heirs – a sum larger than the GDP of India, a country of 1.3 billion people.
- The incomes of the poorest 10% of people increased by less than $3 a year between 1988 and 2011, while the incomes of the richest 1% increased 182 times as much.
- A FTSE-100 CEO earns as much in a year as 10,000 people in working in garment factories in Bangladesh.
- In the US, new research by economist Thomas Piketty shows that over the last 30 years the growth in the incomes of the bottom 50% has been zero, whereas incomes of the top 1% have grown 300%.
- In Vietnam, the country’s richest man earns more in a day than the poorest person earns in 10 years.
Oxfam estimates that over the last 25 years, the top 1% have gained more income than the bottom 50% put together. Oxfam cites several causes of the growing inequality, including:
- Corporations increasingly working for those at the top by squeezing workers and producers;
- Tax dodging by multinationals and the wealthy elite;
- Super-charged shareholder capitalism; and
- Crony capitalism.
Oxfam argues that neoliberal ‘trickle-down economics’ is largely to blame for the growing inequality, and cites several false assumptions driving this dogma:
False assumption #1: The market is always right, and the role of governments should be minimized… We have seen how corruption and cronyism distort markets at the expense of ordinary people and how the excessive growth of the financial sector exacerbates inequality. Privatization of public services such as health, education or water has been shown to exclude the poor, and especially women.
False assumption #2: Corporations need to maximize profits and returns to shareholders at all costs. Maximizing profits disproportionately boosts the incomes of the already rich while putting unnecessary pressure on workers, farmers, consumers, suppliers, communities and the environment…
False assumption #3: Extreme individual wealth is benign and a sign of success, and inequality is not relevant. Instead, the emergence of a new gilded age, with vast amounts of wealth concentrated in too few hands – the majority male – is economically inefficient, politically corrosive, and undermines our collective progress. A more equal distribution of wealth is necessary.
False assumption #4: GDP growth should be the primary goal of policy making. Yet as Robert Kennedy said in 1968: ‘GDP measures everything except that which makes life worthwhile’…
False assumption #5: Our economic model is gender-neutral. In fact, cuts in public services, job security and labour rights hurt women most…
False assumption #6: Our planet’s resources are limitless. This is not only a false assumption, but one which could lead to catastrophic consequences for our planet…
Accordingly, Oxfam call for an economy and society that works for 99% based on the following goals:
Governments will work for the 99%… Governments must listen to all, not a wealthy minority and their lobbyists…
Governments will cooperate, not just compete. Globalization cannot continue to mean a relentless race to the bottom on tax and labour rights which benefits no one but those at the top…
Companies will work for the benefit of everyone. Governments should support business models that clearly drive the kind of capitalism that benefits all and underpins a sustainable future…
Ending the extreme concentration of wealth to end extreme poverty…
A human economy will work equally for men and women…
Technology will be harnessed for the interests of the 99%…
A human economy will be powered by sustainable renewable energy…
Valuing and measuring what really matters… Moving beyond GDP, we need to measure human progress using the many alternative measures available.
In relation to Australia, The Guardian notes that Australia’s two richest people – Gina Rinehart and Harry Triguboff – are worth some A$21.5 billion and own more than the poorest 20% of Australians.
For those that are interested, the full Oxfam report can be downloaded here.
