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A new report has found that the wealthiest 1 percent of the population will have more money than the rest of the world by next year.
Anti-inequality charity Oxfam used data from Credit Suisse and Forbes’ annual billionaires list to conclude that the richest 1 percent have gone from owning 44 percent of the world’s wealth in 2009 to 48 percent in 2014.
That number will exceed 50 percent in 2016 should the wealth of the 1 percent increase at the same rate.
Almost 46 of the remaining 52 percent of the world’s wealth is currently owned by the rest of the richest 20 percent, Oxfam says in the report, titled Wealth: Having It All and Wanting More.
It adds that the remaining 99 percent owns just 5.5 percent of the world’s wealth, giving the average adult a net worth of $3,851.
The average wealth of an individual within the 1 percent, on the other hand, is approximately $2.7 million.
Adding together the wealth of the 80 richest people alive yields a sum of $1.9 trillion, according to the Huffington Post, nearly the same amount possessed by the poorest 3.5 billion people.
America is home to the most members of the 1 percent, accounting for 35 of the 80 richest.
Germany and Russia are tied for second with just seven people each.
Oxfam’s report also focuses on how the 1 percent, 70 percent of which are men, achieves and maintains its wealth.
More than a third of the people on Forbes’ billionaires list inherited a decent portion of their money, with the Huffington Post noting that 11 members of the 80 richest people had their wealth passed down to them.
Lobbying was discovered to be a major factor as well, especially for the finance, insurance, healthcare and pharmaceutical industries.
Oxfam reports that these businesses spent over a combined billion dollars persuading lawmakers in their favor in 2013.
This may explain why the billionaires involved in pharmaceuticals and healthcare have seen their wealth increase by a massive 47 percent.
Winnie Byanyima, executive director of Oxfam International, said,
In the past 12 months we have seen world leaders from President Obama to Christine Lagarde talk more about tackling extreme inequality but we are still waiting for many of them to walk the walk. It is time our leaders took on the powerful vested interests that stand in the way of a fairer and more prosperous world.
Over 2,500 of the world’s richest people will meet in Davos, Switzerland, this week to attend the World Economic Forum.
Oxfam will be there to discuss a seven-point plan aimed at eliminating inequality.
It focuses on investing in free public services like health and education, increasing penalties for tax dodging and ensuring that all workers are paid enough money to sustain themselves.
Read more: http://elitedaily.com/news/world/richest-percent-half-worlds-wealth-2016/909893/
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