The rich just became richer and the poor poorer in 2017. A new report from Oxfam International said there was no increase in wealth for the bottom 50 percent of the world's population.
However, during the same period, more than $8 for every $10 wealth created went to the richest 1 percent. The trend indicates how the global economy is skewed in favor of the wealthy elite, CNN reported.
Billionaire boom
Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of Oxfam International, pointed out that the people who manufacture our clothes, put together our phones, and grow our food are exploited to make the companies and those already wealthy richer. The situation has led to a billionaire boom that is a symptom of a failing economic system and not a sign of a thriving economy.
Oxfam used data from the Global Wealth Databook of Credit Suisse for the study which was released before the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
While political and business leaders often claim to be worried about inequality, it is harder to find one who is doing something about the wealth gap. By slashing taxes and scrapping labor rights, many of these leaders are actively making things worse, Byanyima said.
Oxfam pushed for governments to address tax avoidance and place limits on shareholder returns and executive pay. Unless companies pay their employees a living wage, it should not issue dividends to shareholders. Tax policies should be used to reduce extreme wealth instead.
Gender inequality
Besides the huge wealth gap, the report stressed the negative impact of gender inequality since data showed that the bulk of land, shares, and other capital assets are held by men than women.
Even for progressive nations such as Canada which has moved the issue of gender equality from a side issue to a priority, Oxfam Canada pointed out the lack of progress on pay equity and women's employment. The organization issued this week its second yearly scorecard, "Turning Feminist Promises into Progress" ahead of International Women's Day, iPolitics reported.
Oxfam Canada gave the Trudeau government a green rating for women's leadership and representation in global development, and climate change, the rating for jobs and pay equity were red. Diana Sarosi, the policy manager of Oxfam Canada, pointed out that too many women in Canada and around the world are stuck in precarious, low-paying jobs. Their wages are still below what men earn and it is difficult to find affordable and accessible childcare.
Matt Pascuzzo, the spokesperson of Patty Hajdu, the employment minister, agreed that women deserve equal pay for work of equal value. The Canadian federal government plans to implement proactive pay equity legislation and pay transparency requirements in workplaces that are regulated federally.
Paid work placements
Pascuzzo said that to ensure more women will succeed in the workforce, the ministry had helped women get paid work placements in STEM through the Student Work Placements program that increased the number of women in senior leadership positions and made more financial help available to women entrepreneurs.
While Sarosi acknowledged the proposal in the federal budget to introduce legislation on pay equity and to address gender-based violence, she said Oxfam Canada wants to see an improvement in the situation of women who live in poverty.
Oxfam Canada gave the federal government a yellow rating for gender-based violence, tax, conflict, and crisis. But Julie Delahanty, the executive director of Oxfam Canada, noted the report came out when Oxfam itself was grappling with issues of sexual misconduct. At the introduction of the report, she asked if it was proper for Oxfam to assess the progress of the Trudeau government on women's right when the organization needs to reflect and work on these issues too.
Billionaire club
Among the wealthy people who just got richer in 2017 was Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. Forbes reported that he topped the publication's yearly World's Billionaire list for the first time with a net worth of $112 billion. He displaced Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to second place because of an almost $40-billion jump in his assets, making him richer than Gates by $22 billion.
Bezos became the first centi-billionaire in Forbes' 32-year history of compiling the list. The $39.2 billion boost in his net worth earned over the past 12 months is the biggest single-year hike on the Billionaires List this century. He broke the record set in 2000 by Larry Ellison of software giant Oracle whose net worth grew $37.5 billion during the dot-com bubble. Ellison broke Bezos' previous record of $27.6 billion in 2016.
It was the continuous growth of Amazon stock that made Bezos overtake Gates when the former's net worth hit $127.8 billion as of March 7. As early as February 9, Bezos was already richer than Gates by $15.8 billion. Besides owning e-commerce giant Amazon, Bezos also owns The Washington Post and Blue Origin, an aerospace
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