Crisis of rising inequality
Editor,
The world’s wealthiest people have gathered at Davos for the annual World Economic Forum where the latest version of the Oxfam report titled “Takers, Not Makers,” is under discussion. This shows the truth before the world and while the billionaire wealth is increasing by leaps and bounds, poverty is driven largely by steep inequality and it remains a pestering problem the world over. This needs to be seriously considered. In 2024 alone the billionaires grew richer by USD 2 trillion-amassing an astonishing USD 5.7 billion a day whereas millions struggle to survive on less than USD 6.85 a day. This is a grim reality that has been a constant since the early 1990s. It bears mention that India also is afflicted by the scourge of inequality and to an alarming extent. Oxfam’s findings challenge the myth of the self-made billionaire where the report reveals that 60 percent of billionaire wealth isn’t earned through innovation or hard work but inherited, monopolised or secured through crony connections.
It must also be mentioned here that every billionaire under 30 today inherited their fortune from their parents. Moreover, the trend of wealth passing from one privileged generation to the next is only growing stronger. It is an interesting fact that much of the world’s extreme wealth is taken, not made. Mahatma Gandhi once aptly remarked, “There is enough for everyone’s need but not for everyone’s greed. This growing concentration of wealth comes at a heavy cost. Public services in many countries are deteriorating as governments lose revenue due to tax avoidance by corporations and the ultra-rich and to make up for these losses regressive taxes on goods and services are imposed which ultimately hit the poorest the hardest.
Although billionaires have expanded their fortunes but ordinary people are facing shrinking access to healthcare, education and other basic needs. This in a way makes governments complicit in furtherance of inequality. Oxfam also highlights the continuing exploitation of the Global South by the Global North. Billionaires and corporations extract wealth from poorer nations which is often through unfair financial systems or exploitative supply chains. The report aptly calls this modern-day colonialism—a system where resources and labour are taken from the world’s poorest to fuel the lifestyles of the richest. Women and marginalised communities remain the worst sufferers in this unequal system. In informal economies, women often work under exploitative conditions, and migrant workers in wealthy nations are paid significantly less than their local counterparts. Climate change further worsens their plight, with those who contribute the least to global emissions facing the harshest consequences.
US President, Donald Trump is not setting foot in Davos this week but the head of the World Economic Forum says the new president has brought renewed interest in the annual gathering of business and political leaders. “It’s true that everyone here is very interested to understand more what Trump 2.0 is all about,” WEF President Borge Brende told AFP in an interview.
Trump is casting a long shadow over the Swiss Alpine resort, where corporate and political leaders will debate his policies on conflicts, trade, taxes, immigration and climate change, to name a few. Oxfam international also predicted that at least five trillionaires will crop up over the next decade. A year ago the group forecast that only one trillionaire would appear during that period. OxFam’s research adds weight to a warning by outgoing President Joe Biden last week of a “dangerous concentration of power in the hands of very few ultra-wealthy people.” The group’s sharp-edged report, titled “Takers Not Makers,” also says the number of people in poverty has barely budged since 1990. The World Economic Forum expects to host some 3,000 attendees, including business executives, academics, government officials, and civic group leaders at its annual meeting in the Alpine village of Davos. President-elect Donald Trump, who visited Davos twice during his first term and was set to take the oath of office on Monday, is expected to take part in the forum’s event through video conferencing on Thursday. He has long championed wealth accumulation — including his own — and counts multibillionaire Elon Musk as a top adviser.
Like Biden’s call for making billionaires, “begin to pay their fair share,” through the U.S. tax code, Oxfam — a global advocacy group — called on governments to tax the richest to reduce inequality and extreme wealth, and to “dismantle the new aristocracy.” The group called for steps like the break-up of monopolies, capping CEO pay, and regulation of corporations to ensure they pay “living wages” to workers.
Yours etc.,
Yash Pal Ralhan,
Via email