Oxfam says the rich will only get richer during the crisis. For every $1 per capita in wealth gained in the poorer 90 percent of the world’s population, a billionaire gained an average of $1.7 million.
Since the beginning of the corona pandemic, the richest one percent of the world’s population has accounted for around two-thirds of global wealth growth. This emerges from the study “Survival of the Richest” (Survival of the Richest), which the emergency aid and development organization Oxfam presented at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
For the first time in 25 years, extreme wealth and extreme poverty have increased at the same time: According to the Oxfam report, 81 percent of all wealth growth generated in Germany between 2020 and 2021 went to the richest percent of the population. The remaining 99 percent of citizens accounted for only 19 percent of the increase in wealth.
Corporations benefit from crises
The Oxfam report also shows that 95 food and energy companies more than doubled their profits last year. These would have made 306 billion US dollars in excess profits and distributed 257 billion US dollars (84 percent) to shareholders. The bottom line is that corporations and the super-rich are the winners of the corona pandemic and energy crisis, Oxfam noted. At the same time, 1.7 billion workers lived in countries where wage developments do not compensate for inflation.
The combined wealth of all billionaires has increased by an average of $2.7 billion per day since 2020. For every $1 per capita in wealth gained in the poorer 90 percent of the world’s population, a billionaire gained an average of $1.7 million. “While millions of people don’t know how to pay for food and energy, the crises of our time are bringing gigantic wealth gains for billionaires,” said Oxfam spokesman Manuel Schmitt.
Against this background, the organization called on governments to counteract this trend with taxes on excess profits and high wealth. The resulting income would have to be invested in the expansion of social security, education and health in order to combat inequality and poverty. “Corporations and their super-rich main owners must finally make their fair contribution to the common good,” demanded Schmitt.