Eight men possess wealth equal to half (3.6 billion) of the world’s population, according to the charity organization, Oxfam. The divide between rich and poor has never in the history of the human race been greater than it is today.
The wealth of the world’s 3.6 billion poorest people equals the combined value of six Americans, one Spaniard and a Mexican, according to the British aid organization.
Among the world’s richest are the Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, the Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos, who started Amazon. In 2015, it was the 62 richest who owned as much as the poorest half. In 2017, it is the 8 richest.
The growing inequality will lead to greater political, military and economic instability, warned the Oxfam organization before the World Economic Forum (WEF), which is starting in the alpine town of Davos.
Oxfam writes in the report, called ‘An economy for the 99%’, that if more people are not going to be added to the statistics of the current poverty situation, the world’s political and economic elite must actually do something about it, and not just speak ‘empty words’ and ‘pretend’ that they are concerned about inequality.
‘It’s obscene that so much wealth is in the hands of so few, when one in ten people survive on less than two dollars a day’, said Oxfam International’s Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima.
Last week, the WEF presented the ‘Global Risk Report 2017’. In this, the forum highlighted that the growing inequality in income and wealth will be the number one threat over the course of the next ten years.
In the report, the WEF were warned about a ‘lack of solidarity’ between the wealthiest and those further down the economic ladder.
This is also seen in practice during the economic summit itself, where world leaders are staying in suites in luxury hotels, while the hotel staff, cleaners and waiters are staying 5 to a room and sleeping in bunk beds, according to The Guardian newspaper.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
