The poorest 3 and a half billion people in the world have a combined wealth of about 1.6 trillion dollars. So do the world’s richest 85 individuals.
The poorest 3 and a half billion people in the world have a combined wealth of about 1.6 trillion dollars.
That is also the combined financial worth of the world’s richest 85 individuals.
When you throw in the rest of the top 1 percent, you have a small group that is 65 times richer than the world’s bottom 50 percent.
Those shocking statistics come from an Oxfam report titled, ‘Working for the Few’.
In it the global aid organization also discusses the dangers such extreme distributions of wealth pose for the progress of humanity.
Says the text, "Instead of moving forward together, people are increasingly separated by economic and political power, inevitably heightening social tensions and increasing the risk of societal breakdown.”
Among the solutions the organization hopes will be considered at the World Economic Forum is more stringent enforcement of tax responsibilities among the rich.
Another is that laws be both created and tightened to prohibit the financial elite from buying political favor.
It’s through that purchased power, says Oxfam, that economic systems get twisted into vehicles that further favor and enable the rich.
