Income Inequality Is Not a Concern of Wall Street’s Money Addicts
The richest 1% of Earth’s citizens own 46% of global wealth. That news comes to us from the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Even more dramatic is this statistic: The planet’s 85 wealthiest people have wealth equal to that held by the poorest half of all humans.
Restated with all the zeros on display, that is a ratio of 85 to 3,500,000,000.
The study that came up with these facts comes from Oxfam International, a British humanitarian organization. Oxfam concludes that this enormous concentration of wealth and power in a few hands perpetuates poverty, increases inequality and undermines democracy. The group is asking Davos participants — some of the richest people in the world — to step in to help close the income gap by supporting higher taxes on the wealthy and elimination of tax dodges, as well as living wages for workers, expanded educational opportunities and guaranteed healthcare for everyone.
In the United States — the country that is leading the way in the shift of wealth into fewer and fewer hands — we will see how the rich respond. If they are anything like the “greed is good” crowd on Wall Street, Oxfam’s pleas will be met with derisive laughter, if not an extended middle finger.
Most rich folks love their money and are not eager to share. As evidence of this, consider the commentary in the Sunday New York Times by Sam Polk, a former Bank of America trader who handled wildly lucrative bond and credit default swap deals. Polk’s account confirms that the money addiction portrayed so vividly in Martin Scorsese’s hit movie, “The Wolf of Wall Street,” is a real and driving force in the financial industry.
More: Income Inequality Is Not a Concern of Wall Street’s Money Addicts