The world’s richest 1 percent will own more wealth than the bottom 99 percent combined by next year, according to a new study released Monday by Oxfam.
In 2014, the wealthiest one percent owned 48 percent of the overall wealth, while everyone else had 52 percent combined. Their share of the wealth has steadily risen in recent years and is poised to surpass 50 percent by 2016, the study found.
The last six years have been very kind to the richest of the rich. In one data point to illustrate this staggering trend, the wealth of the top 80 people was a collective $1.9 trillion in 2014, doubling (not adjusted for inflation) since 2009.
Meanwhile, the bottom 50 percent had less wealth in 2014 than they did in 2009.
“Global wealth is increasingly being concentrated in the hands of a small wealthy elite,” the report concluded. “These wealthy individuals have generated and sustained their vast riches through their interests and activities in a few important economic sectors, including finance and pharmaceuticals/healthcare. Companies from these sectors spend millions of dollars every year on lobbying to create a policy environment that protects and enhances their interests further.”
The findings by Oxfam, an international organization which aims to mitigate global poverty, rely on Credit Suisse global wealth data and the annual Forbes billionaire list. The full report is available at this link.
Actually, those graphs trend to show that before long the 1% will have ALL the wealth, and then the greedy parasite will have killed the host and will have no means of feeding. Poor, starving 1%!
That’s what Marx said…in the end it will all be in the hands of a few. But he was crazy…right?
What’s with the pic of those two upper middle class guys when you should be showing Putin, Romney, Bush and Sheldon Adelson?
Er, click through to the study. The first graph tells a different story, that it was actually greater wealth separation in 2000 than today. I believe that the headline is cherry picking stats to make a point, but nevertheless, the huge disparity in wealth can’t ultimately be good for anyone. It suppresses demand or generates unsustainable borrowing (e.g. 2007), social unrest (Islamic extremism for instance), and political stagnation (gridlock anyone?) can be results of this kind of inequality.
So long as this is true nothing that can be achieved through the democratic process amounts to a hill of beans. There should be a global/international tax on the wealthy to remedy and prevent this sort of inequality.
No tax havens on Planet Earth.