The wealth of the five richest men has doubled since 2020, while almost 5 billion people have become poorer since the beginning of the decade, says the report on inequality prepared by the non-governmental organization Oxfam.
On the occasion of the start of the World Economic Forum, which brings together business, political and academic leaders from numerous countries in the Swiss town of Davos, Oxfam estimates that it may take more than two centuries to eradicate poverty.
According to Oxfam, at the end of November 2023, the five richest men in the world were Elon Musk (X, former Twitter), Bernard Arnault (and his family/French luxury goods businessman), Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Larry Ellison (from the software sector) and Warren Buffet (American investor).
Furthermore, it states that seven of the ten largest companies in the world have a billionaire as president or main shareholder.
Faced with these profound inequalities, the NGO reiterates that transformative public action is urgently needed, capable of prioritizing public services, defending greater regulation of large companies, ending monopolies and applying permanent taxes on wealth and excessive profits.
Specifically, the NGO says that the combined wealth of the five richest men in the world has gone from US$405 billion to US$869 billion – an increase of US$14 million per hour.
Meanwhile, the wealth concentrated by nearly 5 billion people has decreased, so at this rate, it would take 229 years to eradicate poverty globally.
In its report, titled ‘Inequality SA’, Oxfam reveals that the combined market value of mega companies is US$10.2 trillion, more than the combined gross domestic product (GDP) of all countries in Africa and Latin America. .
“We are witnessing what seems like the beginning of a new decade of great division, in which billions of people face the economic effects of the pandemic, inflation and war, while the fortunes of billionaires grow exponentially. exorbitant”said Oxfam International’s acting executive director, Amitabh Behar, when the report was released.
“This inequality is no coincidence; “Billionaires ensure that large companies generate more wealth for them at the expense of the rest of the population.”he added.
As he explained, the growing power of large companies and monopolies has become “a machine for generating inequalities” and set up tax evasion schemes, privatize public services and accelerate climate collapse.
“These large corporations also channel power, undermining our democracies and rights. No company or person should be able to monopolize so much power over our economies and our lives. In other words: no one should own a billion dollars.he pointed out.
The disproportionate increase in wealth in the last three years has been consolidated while global poverty continues at levels similar to those recorded before the pandemic, the report says.
Like the fortunes of the super-rich, big companies will make record annual profits in 2023, says Oxfam.
The report reveals that for every US$100 of profits generated by 96 large companies between July 2022 and June 2023, US$82 ended up in the hands of rich shareholders.
According to Oxfam, in Spain, in 2022, the 10% richest of the country’s population concentrated more than half of the value of wealth. He 1% richer monopolized the 22% of that wealth, while the fifty% of the poorest households barely reached 8%.
The NGO analyzed how 50 of the main Spanish companies contribute to aggravating inequalities.
The extreme concentration in key sectors, such as electricity, where a small number of actors dominate until the 86.1% of the market, or banking, encourages behavior contrary to the interests of the majority of citizens, he adds.
In Latin America, the wealth of the three richest billionaires in the region (Carlos Slim Helu and family, Germán Larrea Mota Velasco and family and Iris Fontbona and family) has increased by 70% since 2020, while the bottom half has become poorer.
“Monopolies negatively affect innovation and have devastating effects for small and medium-sized businesses, as well as for workers,” Behar noted.
Source: Gestion
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