'World's richest 1% get 82% of the wealth', says Oxfam
By Katie Hope
BBC News, Davos

The gap between the super rich and the rest of the world widened last year as wealth continued to be owned by a small minority, Oxfam has claimed.

Some 82% of money generated last year went to the richest 1% of the global population while the poorest half saw no increase at all, the charity said.

Oxfam said its figures - which critics have queried - showed a failing system.

It blamed tax evasion, firms' influence on policy, erosion of workers' rights, and cost cutting for the widening gap.

Oxfam has produced similar reports for the past five years. In 2017 it calculated that the world's eight richest individuals had as much wealth as the poorest half of the world.

This year, it said 42 people now had as much wealth as the poorest half, but it revised last year's figure to 61. Oxfam said the revision was due to improved data and said the trend of "widening inequality" remained.

'Unacceptable'

Oxfam chief executive Mark Goldring said its constant readjustment of the figures reflected the fact that the report was based "on the best data available at the time".

"However you look at it, this is an unacceptable level of inequality," he said.

Oxfam's report coincides with the start of the World Economic Forum in Davos, a Swiss ski resort. The annual conference attracts many of the world's top political and business leaders.

Inequality typically features high on the agenda, but Mr Goldring said that too often "tough talk fades away at the first resistance".


Analysis by Anthony Reuben, BBC Reality Check

It's really hard working out how much wealth the super-rich and the very poor have.

The super-rich tend not to publicise their worth and many of the world's poorest countries keep poor statistics.

To illustrate that, this time last year, Oxfam told us that eight individuals have as much wealth as the poorest half of the world's population. Now it has revised that figure to 61 people for last year, falling to 42 people this year - that's a pretty big revision.

And there are other caveats around the data on which all this is based, such as that the people on the list with the lowest wealth are not necessarily poor at all - they may be highly qualified professionals with large amounts of student debt, for example, or people with high incomes but enormous mortgages.

But whether it's eight people, 42 people or 61 people who have the same wealth as half of the world, there is still great wealth inequality around the world, which is the message Oxfam is taking to Davos.

The charity is urging a rethink of business models, arguing their focus on maximising shareholder returns over broader social impact is wrong.

It said there was "huge support" for action with two thirds (72%) of 70,000 people it surveyed in ten countries saying they wanted their governments to "urgently address the income gap between rich and poor".

But Mark Littlewood, director general at free market think tank The Institute of Economic Affairs, said Oxfam was becoming "obsessed with the rich rather than the poor".

"Higher taxes and redistribution will do nothing to help the poor; wealth is not a fixed pie. Richer people are also highly taxed people - reducing their wealth won't lead to redistribution, it will destroy it to the benefit of no one," he added.

It was a criticism echoed by Sam Dumitriu, head of research at another free market think tank - the Adam Smith Institute - who said the charity's inequality stats "always paint the wrong picture".

"In reality, global inequality has fallen massively over the past few decades.

"As China, India and Vietnam embraced neoliberal reforms that enforce property rights, reduce regulations and increase competition, the world's poorest have received a massive pay rise leading to a more equal global income distribution."

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-42745853


Emphasis added by irate Poster!

I’ll give you that poverty is increasing....but it is in spite of government policy, not because of it. We have more social programs and opportunity to learn and grow earning potential than ever...but we not only condone being lazy and poor but we encourage it. We teach our children (some of us, especially the poor) that their failure in life is the fault of someone else and that we are not responsibie for our own well being. We teach them that they are guaranteed equal outcome, not equal opportunity. That is what will bring us to revolution....if it hasn’t already.

There is plenty of wealth to go around....if you’re willing to go get it. The problem is that too many of us expect it to be delivered to us. That’s NEVER going to be sustainable. We are already at critical mass, with nearly half of income earners contributing no tax or “negative” tax (paying zero and getting refundable tax credits to boot).https://taxfoundation.org/summary-latest-federal-income-tax-data-2016-update/

Hey Twardlow, you keep talking like Chicken Little, the World is about to end, with things getting worse and worser. New York Times columnist Nicolas Kristoff wrote an article two weeks ago where he declared "2017 was the best year in Human History." Things are happening all around us that are making the planet better, and it all goes unnoticed by the people who watch 24 hour news networks that only portray the bad stuff. I, for one, feel privileged to be living in what can only be described as a "Golden Age" of human history.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/06/opinion/sunday/2017-progress-illiteracy-poverty.html
http://www.myajc.com/news/opinion/opinion-why-2017-was-best-year-human-history/eQD3PQRdKSYuptXjXiCJCP/

And once again, you are wrong and don’t get it. Yes, Nick said we’ve made progress on human freedom and health, etc. You did read the article, didn’t you?

And you dishonestly claim I’m saying the world is about to end; not so. And you know better, don’t you? I don’t say anything like that, if you can read.

What I do say, is that the US is in decline, perhaps permanent decline, perhaps manageable decline that can be corrected, but we’re losing world political leadership and probably economic leadership (to China), and that is documented.

I also say we are laying the foundation for a two-tier society of the super-wealthy versus those in permanent and debilitating poverty; can you doubt it?

BTW, I hate to break into your glee, but the issues I talk about aren’t seen on Cable TV news shows. I have seen only Leon Panetts addressing the issue of US decline, and no one seems aware of the ramifications of the new tax law and the last 30 years of republican building nirvana for the investing class and disaster for the working class.

Try to stay informed, and try also to speak accurately. Truth starts with accuracy.