The Richest: The richest 1 per cent of people have amassed $42 trillion in new wealth over the past decade, roughly 34 times more than the entire bottom 50 per cent of the world’s population, according to a new analysis by Oxfam. The assessment is significant as it has been released ahead of the third meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Oxfam’s top findings are that average wealth per person in the top 1 per cent has risen by almost $400,000 in real terms over the past decade, compared to just $335 for a person in the bottom half – an increase of less than nine cents a day. Oxfam’s research also found that the share of income held by the top 1 per cent of earners in G20 countries has risen by 45 per cent over four decades, while top tax rates on their income have been cut by almost a third. Globally, billionaires are paying a tax rate equivalent to less than 0.5 per cent of their wealth.
Their wealth has grown by an average of 7.1 per cent annually over the past four decades, and curbing billionaires’ excessive wealth would require an annual net wealth tax of at least 8 per cent. Nearly four out of five of the world’s billionaires live in G20 countries. This week G20 finance ministers are expected to lay the foundations for an unprecedented global agreement to raise taxes on the super-rich. Backed by Brazil’s G20 presidency and supported by countries including South Africa, Spain and France, the proposal comes amid growing public demand for measures to rein in extreme levels of inequality and ensure that the rich pay their fair share. “Inequality has reached obscene levels, and so far governments have failed to protect people and the planet from its devastating impacts,” said Max Lawson, Oxfam International’s inequality policy chief. “The richest one per cent of humanity keep filling their pockets while the rest are left scratching for crumbs.” “The momentum to raise taxes on the super-rich is undeniable, and this week is the first real litmus test for G20 governments. Do they have the political will to set a global standard that prioritises the needs of the many before the greed of an elite few?” Lawson said. The “war on fair taxation” has seen tax rates on the wealth and income of the richest plummet. Oxfam has calculated that less than eight cents of every dollar raised in tax revenue in G20 countries now comes from taxes on wealth.
