According to a new report by Oxfam America, the wealthiest one percent of the world’s population will control half of the world’s total wealth by 2016. The report included plenty of shocking statistics.
The numbers
The report indicates that the gap between the wealthiest one percent and the rest of the world has been growing since about 2010. Based on Oxfam projections, the lines on this chart representing the wealth shares of the wealthiest one percent and the other 99 percent of the world’s populations will cross in 2016.
As if a 50/50 split in wealth between one percent of the population and the other 99 percent isn’t bad enough, tweaking the numbers a bit reveals some more sobering information. The wealthiest 20 percent of the world owns 94.5 percent of the world’s wealth, and the bottom 80 percent of the population splits the remaining 5.5 percent of wealth.
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Billionaires getting richer
The top of the top, the world’s wealthiest billionaires, are also seeing their share of global wealth on the rise in recent years. According to the report, the combined wealth of the 80 richest billionaires in the world is now equal to the combined wealth of the bottom 50 percent of the world’s population. In other words, the 80 wealthiest people are now worth as much as the 3.5 billion least wealthy people combined.
American influence
The Oxfam report notes America’s disproportionately large presence in the global billionaire community. Of the 1,645 global billionaires in 2014 (according to Forbes), nearly 30 percent are Americans.
The report highlights the massive amount of money spent every year by wealthy individuals and corporations in America on lobbying against issues such as the federal budget and the tax code, two areas of legislation that can be manipulated to benefit the super wealthy.
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