1% of the world is richer than the other 99%?

(Baonghean.vn) - The richest 1% of the world's population now owns more assets than all the others combined. That was the affirmation of the aid organization Oxfam on January 18, ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.

A homeless child with toys collected by his parents from their job of collecting trash and filtering plastic bottles to sell in Manila, Philippines on January 13. Photo: AFP.

“Inequality has created a world in which 62 people own as much wealth as the poorest half of the world – a far cry from the 388 richest people five years ago,” the anti-poverty body said in a report released ahead of the annual gathering of the world’s financial and political elite in Davos.

The report, titled “An Economy for the 1%,” asserts that women are disproportionately affected by global inequality.

“One of the key trends behind the rising inequality outlined in the Oxfam report is the declining share of national income that the workforce has in most developed countries and a majority of developing countries. The majority of low-paid workers globally are women.”

Despite increased discussion among world leaders about the need to tackle inequality, Oxfam said that “the gap between the richest and the rest of the world has widened significantly in the past 12 months”.

Oxfam's forecast, made just before last year's Davos meeting that the richest 1% would soon overtake the rest of the world, "finally came true in 2015," the report added.

While the number of people living in extreme poverty was halved between 1990 and 2010, the average annual income of the poorest 10% of the world's population has increased by no more than $3 a year over the past quarter century.

World Economic Forum Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab describes the theme of this year's annual meeting - The Fourth Industrial Revolution - in Cologny, Switzerland on January 13. Photo: AFP.

“The few super rich”

More than 40 heads of state and government will attend the forum in Davos, which opens tomorrow evening (January 19) and ends on January 23.

Those coming to the famous Swiss resort town for the annual summit also include 2,500 “leaders from business and civil society”, the WEF said in a statement released earlier.

Describing this year's theme - the Fourth Industrial Revolution - WEF founder Klaus Schwab said it “refers to the use of technology across the physical, digital and biological worlds, creating entirely new capabilities and significantly impacting political, social and economic systems”.

“It is certainly unacceptable that the poorest half of the world’s population owns as much wealth as the super-rich enough to fit a seat on a bus,” said Winnie Byanima, Oxfam’s global executive director, who will also attend the Davos conference this year and co-chaired last year’s.

She added that world leaders' concerns about the escalating inequality crisis “have so far not translated into concrete action – the world has become a more unequal place and this trend is accelerating”.

Oxfam is calling for an end to the era of “tax havens” which have seen the increasing use of offshore centres to avoid paying tax. Photo: AFP.

The end of the era of “tax havens”

Oxfam is prioritising calls to end the era of tax avoidance, with the growing use of offshore centres to avoid paying tax.

“This deprives governments of valuable resources needed to tackle poverty and inequality,” the report said.

It is also estimated that about 30% of all financial assets in Africa are located abroad, causing a loss of tax revenue of about 14 billion USD/year.

Maintaining reasonable tax rates is “absolutely crucial” if leaders are to achieve the target set last September of eradicating extreme poverty by 2030.

Ms Byanima challenged attendees at the Davos meeting to “help end the era of tax avoidance, which is fuelling economic inequality and preventing hundreds of millions of people from escaping poverty”.

Of the 62 people thought to hold as much wealth as the poorest 50% of the world's population, Oxfam said 53 were men and just nine were women, highlighting the underrepresentation of women even at the highest levels. The organisation said it had calculated the wealth of the 62 richest people based on Forbes magazine's billionaires list.

Guests attending this year's Davos conference include British Prime Minister David Cameron, US Vice President Joe Biden, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls and newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Argentine President Mauricio Marci, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras are also expected to be present.

Thu Giang

(According to AFP)