Gap between rich and poor growing, fuelling global anger - Oxfam

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Gap between rich and poor growing, fuelling global anger - Oxfam

By Hereward Holland

 

Oxfam International Executive Director Winnie Byanyima speaks during an interview in New York, NY, U.S., February 11, 2018. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo

 

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Tax systems that put a high burden on the poor mean public services are underfunded, stretching the gap between rich and poor and fuelling global public anger, Winnie Byanyima, executive director of Oxfam International, said on Monday.

 

The Nairobi-headquarted charity said in a report that a new billionaire was created every two days last year, just as the poorest half of the world's population saw their wealth decline by 11 percent.

 

The report, released on Monday as political and business leaders gather for the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, said governments are increasingly underfunding public services and failing to clamp down on tax dodging.

 

"Poor people suffer twice from being deprived of basic services and also paying a higher burden of taxation," Byanyima said in an interview.

Billionaire fortunes increased by 12 percent last year, or $2.5 billion a day, while the 3.8 billion poorest people saw their wealth drop $500 million every day, Byanyima added.

 

The charity said tax rates for the rich and corporations had been cut in recent decades. And when governments fail to tax the wealthy, they pass the tax burden on to poor people through consumer levies like value added tax, Byanyima said.

 

"An indirect tax like that, that taxes salt, sugar or soap, the basics that people need ... then poor people pay relatively more out of their income than rich people," she said.

 

(Reporting by Hereward Holland; Editing by Omar Mohammed and David Holmes)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-01-21

[ThreeEyedRaven]

Greed, going by the name capitalism makes the world go round, but will probably end up being its undoing too. The wealthy are seriously outnumbered and the day is bound to come when the majority have had enough. There is no excuse in this day and age for people to be living below the poverty line, especially in so called developed countries.

[thaibeachlovers]

Sooooo, what's new? It's always been that the rich get richer and the poor get screwed.

If anyone ( that could actually do anything about it cared, it could be stopped, but as always the governments work for the rich ) is "globally angry" I haven't noticed it in my country, which gave in to greed long ago.

[thaibeachlovers]

3 minutes ago, ThreeEyedRaven said:

Greed, going by the name capitalism makes the world go round, but will probably end up being its undoing too. The wealthy are seriously outnumbered and the day is bound to come when the majority have had enough. There is no excuse in this day and age for people to be living below the poverty line, especially in so called developed countries.

Sorry, but think about it- who has all the guns?

[sammieuk1]

Invade the Caymans and seize the taxpayers cash would be a good start???? 

[edwinchester]

Read an article last week that detailed the world's six, yes six, richest people controlled more wealth than the whole world's poorest 50%. That it simply wrong.

[thaibeachlovers]

3 minutes ago, edwinchester said:

Read an article last week that detailed the world's six, yes six, richest people controlled more wealth than the whole world's poorest 50%. That it simply wrong.

Of course it's wrong, but WHO is going to do anything about it? Certainly not the current collection in governments around the world. 

The president of the US is a billionaire- does anyone think he's going to declare war on the wealthy?

[RickBradford]

Wealth will always follow a Pareto distribution, where a few people have most of the cash. The only way to break that rule is massive and damaging state intervention.

 

People in the developing world have much more money than they did 50 years ago. Why would that fuel "global, public anger"? Just look at places like Vietnam, which has gone from malnutrition to obesity in 30 years or so.

 

Oxfam, for its own reasons, may want to believe that there is anger about global development, but that hardly makes it gospel truth.

 

“Oxfam have, again, come up with a gross misrepresentation of world poverty which fails to line up with everything else we know about human advancement and income improvements,” said the Institute of Economic Affairs.

 

Oxfam then shows its real grievance.

 

"What we’re opposed to is distorted markets denying people basic services and giving others disproportionate power to determine the wellbeing of literally millions of people because their wealth and incomes aren’t being taxed properly.” -- Paul O’Brien, Oxfam America’s vice president for policy and campaigns
 

Ah, yes, tax the rich, complain about power. Hardly original.

[jollyhangmon]

 

 

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-20/dimon-schwarzman-and-other-davos-a-listers-add-175-billion-in-10-years

 

 

[worgeordie]

48 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Of course it's wrong, but WHO is going to do anything about it? Certainly not the current collection in governments around the world. 

The president of the US is a billionaire- does anyone think he's going to declare war on the wealthy?

Just the opposite,He gives himself and all the fabulous wealthy, tax breaks in the USA, while the public debt rate exculates.

regards worgeordie

[bristolboy]

48 minutes ago, RickBradford said:

Wealth will always follow a Pareto distribution, where a few people have most of the cash. The only way to break that rule is massive and damaging state intervention.

 

People in the developing world have much more money than they did 50 years ago. Why would that fuel "global, public anger"? Just look at places like Vietnam, which has gone from malnutrition to obesity in 30 years or so.

 

Oxfam, for its own reasons, may want to believe that there is anger about global development, but that hardly makes it gospel truth.

 

“Oxfam have, again, come up with a gross misrepresentation of world poverty which fails to line up with everything else we know about human advancement and income improvements,” said the Institute of Economic Affairs.

 

Oxfam then shows its real grievance.

 

"What we’re opposed to is distorted markets denying people basic services and giving others disproportionate power to determine the wellbeing of literally millions of people because their wealth and incomes aren’t being taxed properly.” -- Paul O’Brien, Oxfam America’s vice president for policy and campaigns
 

Ah, yes, tax the rich, complain about power. Hardly original.

Nonsense. We see much better income distributions in the economically developed nations of Northern Europe. Thanks to strong unions and advanced social services.

When the US economy was growing its fastest, tax rates on the wealthy were much higher and income distribution was far more equal. There have been drastic tax cuts on the rich with none of the promised benefits to the economy. And on top of that, they're now going after food stamp (or whatever it's called nowadays)recipients because of lies about abuse of the system.

[RickBradford]

^^

That has nothing to do with the OP, which is about the poor in developing nations.

[bristolboy]

1 minute ago, RickBradford said:

^^

That has nothing to do with the OP, which is about the poor in developing nations.

The article is about the growing gap between the rich and the poor. No poor people in USA?

[RickBradford]

Compared to what constitutes poverty in some parts of the world, I would say No. That is, the daily struggle to get enough food to stay alive.

 

That has always been Oxfam's focus, which they expressly mention in the OP. 

 

 

[bristolboy]

4 minutes ago, RickBradford said:

Compared to what constitutes poverty in some parts of the world, I would say No. That is, the daily struggle to get enough food to stay alive.

 

That has always been Oxfam's focus, which they expressly mention in the OP. 

 

 

"The charity said tax rates for the rich and corporations had been cut in recent decades. And when governments fail to tax the wealthy, they pass the tax burden on to poor people through consumer levies like value added tax, Byanyima said.

 

"An indirect tax like that, that taxes salt, sugar or soap, the basics that people need ... then poor people pay relatively more out of their income than rich people," she said."

 

Right. This doesn't apply to the USA. Good luck with that.

[RickBradford]

The OP is quite explicit about its focus on the world's poorest people, very few of whom live in the US.

 

That is why Oxfam was founded (Oxford Committee for Famine Relief). How many famines are there in the US?

 

If you want to continue disputing this obvious point, do it on your own.

[bristolboy]

22 minutes ago, RickBradford said:

The OP is quite explicit about its focus on the world's poorest people, very few of whom live in the US.

 

That is why Oxfam was founded (Oxford Committee for Famine Relief). How many famines are there in the US?

 

If you want to continue disputing this obvious point, do it on your own.

And the YMCA started out as an evangelical organization and now provides hostel and hotel services for all and sundry. Organizations and their missions can develop and broaden over time.

[dick dasterdly]

I don't have much time for Oxfam, but they are right (as far as I can see) in pointing out that the gap between the richest and poorest is growing.

[scorecard]

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Of course it's wrong, but WHO is going to do anything about it? Certainly not the current collection in governments around the world. 

The president of the US is a billionaire- does anyone think he's going to declare war on the wealthy?

Seems to me the day could come when there is serious protest and revolt about this and probably not pretty.

 

However there are countries (e.g. many Scandinavian countries) who have successfully installed mixed economic platforms; small c capitalism with caps on prices etc., plus selected socialism, e,g, health care.  I wonder if the day will come where more countries will realize they need to do the same because of gross imbalance and to avoid nasty conflicts and bloodshed. 

 

[natway09]

Interesting report by Oxfam the biggest robbers of all.

About 9% (if that) of donations get to where they should go,,,, the remainder

,,,,,,,, "admin costs" ?

[attrayant]

3 hours ago, RickBradford said:

Compared to what constitutes poverty in some parts of the world, I would say No. That is, the daily struggle to get enough food to stay alive.

 

Not even a month has passed in the government shutdown and there are already thousands lining up at food banks and looking for part time jobs.  People don't have enough savings to stay afloat even for a few months. 

 

The 'suddenly poor' are all around us, but aren't always easy to see.

[guest879]

wealth inequality is a tricky thing. all I ever hear is tax the rich and give to the poor. neither of those things works or ends up benefiting anyone.

[attrayant]

1 minute ago, guest879 said:

all I ever hear is tax the rich and give to the poor. neither of those things works or ends up benefiting anyone.

 

Nothing ever works when expressed in such simplistic terms.  Progressive tax rates have clearly been a winner in the past, but we also need to close loopholes on income from capital gains and dividends (this is how Warren Buffett managed to have an overall lower tax rate than his secretary).

 

The 70% marginal tax rate is only the beginning of a fair system

[bristolboy]

14 minutes ago, guest879 said:

wealth inequality is a tricky thing. all I ever hear is tax the rich and give to the poor. neither of those things works or ends up benefiting anyone.

Life is just awful in the Scandinavian nations.

[bristolboy]

1 hour ago, natway09 said:

Interesting report by Oxfam the biggest robbers of all.

About 9% (if that) of donations get to where they should go,,,, the remainder

,,,,,,,, "admin costs" ?

Care to share your source for that info?

[RickBradford]

1 hour ago, dick dasterdly said:

I don't have much time for Oxfam, but they are right (as far as I can see) in pointing out that the gap between the richest and poorest is growing.

First, we have to define what the "gap" means.

 

Say you have $100 income and I have $10. Then, in the next decade, your income shoots up to $300 and mine goes up to $30. Or even to $40.

 

Has inequality increased? Should I be complaining that my income has gone up by 3 or 4 times? Why should your income increase be a source of "anger" for me, as Oxfam claims?

 

In fact, incomes are rising much faster in the developing world than the developed world. In 2017, the IMF estimates, the biggest real GDP increases were recorded in Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, India, Bangladesh, Romania, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Senegal.

 

But Oxfam would rather gargle battery acid than tell us that. Instead, they have to play the social justice game of Victim v Oppressor.

[Emdog]

1 hour ago, natway09 said:

Interesting report by Oxfam the biggest robbers of all.

About 9% (if that) of donations get to where they should go,,,, the remainder

,,,,,,,, "admin costs" ?

I looked up Oxfam in Charity Navigator. Came up with Oxfam America. 77% spent on programs, 7.2% on administration.

https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=4288

[attrayant]

3 minutes ago, RickBradford said:

First, we have to define what the "gap" means.

 

No, we don't have to do that because it has been done for us.

 

Income Inequality

 

Income includes the revenue streams from wages, salaries, interest on a savings account, dividends from shares of stock, rent, and profits from selling something for more than you paid for it. Income inequality refers to the extent to which income is distributed in an uneven manner among a population. In the United States, income inequality, or the gap between the rich and everyone else, has been growing markedly, by every major statistical measure, for some 30 years.

 

"By every major statistical measure".

 

 

 

 

[RickBradford]

6 minutes ago, attrayant said:

 

No, we don't have to do that because it has been done for us.

 

Income Inequality

 

Income includes the revenue streams from wages, salaries, interest on a savings account, dividends from shares of stock, rent, and profits from selling something for more than you paid for it. Income inequality refers to the extent to which income is distributed in an uneven manner among a population. In the United States, income inequality, or the gap between the rich and everyone else, has been growing markedly, by every major statistical measure, for some 30 years.

 

"By every major statistical measure".

 

*Sigh*

 

Once again, the OP is not about the United States, but about the developing world.

 

It's not about the changing balance within one country, but the balance between the developing world and the developed world. That is what Oxfam does.

[puukao]

post edited:

 

bottom line, this is history.  we all started with nothing millions of years ago.  some people work harder, get luckier, a zillion things happen, and we end up here.  

 

it's really not my concern if someone spends all their time making money or doing something financially smarter than me.  Maybe I can try, and maybe I can't do it.  Life isn't all about this metric.  It's a super important metric, but I'm OK where I'm at.  

 

Worrying about the gap is a waste of time and energy.  Worry about yourself.  

 

The fact that we have free time to post and post....well, we aren't really at the bottom of the list and have no idea how the real gap feels to someone near the bottom