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World's Richest 1% Took 82% Of Wealth Generated In 2017, Claims Oxfam

World's Richest 1% Took 82% Of Wealth Generated In 2017, Claims Oxfam

Mark Goldring, chief executive of Oxfam GB, said the statistics signal that 'something is very wrong with the global economy'

Paddy Maddison

Paddy Maddison

New figures obtained by Oxfam claim 82 percent of wealth generated last year went to the richest one percent of the population. Meanwhile, the poorest half of the world's population saw no increase at all.

Blaming tax evasion, firms' influence on policy, erosion of workers' rights, and cost cutting, the charity said the numbers were indicative of a failing system.

While critics have queried the data, Oxfam says the information speaks for itself, with 2016-2017 seeing the highest number of billionaires ever recorded - one being made every two days.

PA

Mark Goldring, chief executive of Oxfam GB, said the statistics signal that 'something is very wrong with the global economy'.

The charity has produced similar reports for the past half a decade. Last year it calculated that the world's eight richest individuals had as much wealth as the poorest half of the world.

For 2018, it said 42 people now had as much wealth as the poorest half, while revising last year's figure to 61.

Oxfam chief executive Mark Goldring said the ongoing 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, as reported by the BBC.

"The concentration of extreme wealth at the top is not a sign of a thriving economy but a symptom of a system that is failing the millions of hard-working people on poverty wages who make our clothes and grow our food."

Nakashi (Creative Commons)

He added that equality for women, decent conditions and a fair wage were vital if work was to be a genuine route out of poverty.

"If that means less for the already wealthy then that is a price that we - and they - should be willing to pay," he said.

However, Mark Littlewood, director of the free market Institute of Economic Affairs think tank, disagreed, claiming that Oxfam was 'peddling a gross misrepresentation of world poverty'.

He said: "Demonising capitalism may be fashionable in the affluent Western world but it ignores the millions of people who have risen out of poverty as a result of free markets.

"We know from the life cycle of asset and debt accumulation that people do not tend to build up wealth until well into their working lives.

"Furthermore, many of the oldest people will live in the very rich countries, and are usually very asset-rich. It's unsurprising that the global net wealth distribution is so skewed - demographics alone are vastly important."

A UK government spokesman told the Evening Standard: "This government is building a stronger economy through our balanced approach to public finances. As a result, employment is at a near-record high, the richest one percent are paying more tax than ever before, and income inequality has fallen since 2010.

"Globally, the UK is leading the way to drive down poverty, creating jobs and opportunities including for girls and women.

"We are supporting the poorest countries to stand on their own two feet by helping them manage their finances better and reforming tax systems, in order to fund vital health and education services.

"This is helping to boost global prosperity and security, which is firmly in all our interests."

Featured Image Credit: Credit: TaxRebate.org.uk (Creative Commons)

Topics: World News, Money