Subscribe to Receive the Daily Report

Tuesday, January 20th, 2015

Half global wealth held by the 1%

Author:     Larry Elliott and Ed Pilkington
Source:     The Guardian (U.K.)
Publication Date:     Sunday 18 January 2015 19.01 EST
 Link: Half global wealth held by the 1%
Stephan:   I have been covering the Wealth Inequity Trend for eight years, watching it become ever more grotesque. This year we have come to this:  80 people own the same amount of wealth as more than 3.5 billion people, down from 388 in 2010. That means that in our world of 7 billion people half the wealth the entire human race possesses could be represented by the diners in a restaurant -- upscale of course.  There is something so strange and disproportionate about this that I think most people simply cannot comprehend it.
The Swiss ski resort of Davos, home to the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. Credit: Christian Kober/Robert Hardi/REX

The Swiss ski resort of Davos, home to the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.
Credit: Christian Kober/Robert Hardi/REX

Billionaires and politicians gathering in Switzerland this week will come under pressure to tackle rising inequality after a study found that – on current trends – by next year, 1% of the world’s population will own more wealth than the other 99%.

Ahead of this week’s annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in the ski resort of Davos, the anti-poverty charity Oxfam said it would use its high-profile role at the gathering to demand urgent action to narrow the gap between rich and poor.

The charity’s research, published on Monday, shows that the share of the world’s wealth owned by the best-off 1% has increased from 44% in 2009 to 48% in 2014, while the least well-off 80% currently own just 5.5%.

Oxfam added that on current trends the richest 1% would own more than 50% of […]

Read the Full Article