The fight against poverty globally is being undermined by the growing gap between rich and poor and it is also damaging national economies and triggering public anger across the world, concluded the new global wealth and inequality report from Oxfam titled “Public Good or Private Wealth”.
Last year, every day, the wealth of billionaires increased by 12 per cent or $2.5 billion a day while there was a daily decline of 11 per cent in the wealth of the rest 3.8 billion people who comprise the poorest section of the world population. The report also found that since the end of the global financial crisis of 2007-08, the number of billionaires has nearly doubled. But despite this increase in wealth, the rate of tax that the super rich and the corporations are paying is much lower than the rates that they have paid in the last decade or so. This is partly because of the new tax law that has been propounded by the United States President Donald Trump.
This report comes at time when the top leaders in the political and business world get together at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland later this week.
“Since the global economy collapsed, we have learned nothing—the number of billionaires has nearly doubled, with a new billionaire being minted every other day,” said Paul O’Brien, Oxfam America’s Vice President for Policy and Campaigns. “While corporations and the super-rich enjoy lower tax bills, millions of girls around the world have no access to a decent education and women are dying due to a lack of maternal health care.”
The new rates of taxes that were introduced by Trump in the 2017 US tax bill has impacted the worldwide tax race which is racing quickly towards the bottom and speeding up the trend for various governments to make dramatic tax cuts wealthy individuals and corporations throughout the world. The wealth imbalance in the world is reflected in the case of the US where just 30 super rich individuals are owners of as much wealth as the poorest half of the country. Globally, men own 50 per cent more wealth than women and the men are helped in increasing their wealth by the cutting of wealth and corporate taxes. Such men also have complete control over 86 per cent of corporations.
“The recent US tax law is a master class on how to favour massive corporations and the richest citizens,” continued O’Brien.
There is chronic underfunding for the public services because of the decision of various governments to under tax the wealthy and big corporations. Due to the lack of government funding is also forcing government to outsource public services to private companies where the poorest people are typically left out, noted the report. It further said that there are many countries where the chance to avail a decent education or quality healthcare is only to the rich and wealthy. It also stated that lack of access to affordable healthcare results in the death of 10,000 people globally every day.
The report and Oxfam also urged governments to devise policies that can ensure that every worker is able to get a minimum ‘living’ wage, reducing or eliminating the gender pay gap, protection of rights of female workers and their fare share of taxes is paid by the wealthy which would help governments in obtaining the above stated goals.
(Source:www.oxfamamerica.com)
Last year, every day, the wealth of billionaires increased by 12 per cent or $2.5 billion a day while there was a daily decline of 11 per cent in the wealth of the rest 3.8 billion people who comprise the poorest section of the world population. The report also found that since the end of the global financial crisis of 2007-08, the number of billionaires has nearly doubled. But despite this increase in wealth, the rate of tax that the super rich and the corporations are paying is much lower than the rates that they have paid in the last decade or so. This is partly because of the new tax law that has been propounded by the United States President Donald Trump.
This report comes at time when the top leaders in the political and business world get together at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland later this week.
“Since the global economy collapsed, we have learned nothing—the number of billionaires has nearly doubled, with a new billionaire being minted every other day,” said Paul O’Brien, Oxfam America’s Vice President for Policy and Campaigns. “While corporations and the super-rich enjoy lower tax bills, millions of girls around the world have no access to a decent education and women are dying due to a lack of maternal health care.”
The new rates of taxes that were introduced by Trump in the 2017 US tax bill has impacted the worldwide tax race which is racing quickly towards the bottom and speeding up the trend for various governments to make dramatic tax cuts wealthy individuals and corporations throughout the world. The wealth imbalance in the world is reflected in the case of the US where just 30 super rich individuals are owners of as much wealth as the poorest half of the country. Globally, men own 50 per cent more wealth than women and the men are helped in increasing their wealth by the cutting of wealth and corporate taxes. Such men also have complete control over 86 per cent of corporations.
“The recent US tax law is a master class on how to favour massive corporations and the richest citizens,” continued O’Brien.
There is chronic underfunding for the public services because of the decision of various governments to under tax the wealthy and big corporations. Due to the lack of government funding is also forcing government to outsource public services to private companies where the poorest people are typically left out, noted the report. It further said that there are many countries where the chance to avail a decent education or quality healthcare is only to the rich and wealthy. It also stated that lack of access to affordable healthcare results in the death of 10,000 people globally every day.
The report and Oxfam also urged governments to devise policies that can ensure that every worker is able to get a minimum ‘living’ wage, reducing or eliminating the gender pay gap, protection of rights of female workers and their fare share of taxes is paid by the wealthy which would help governments in obtaining the above stated goals.
(Source:www.oxfamamerica.com)
