[P2P-F] Fwd: ZNet Daily Commentary: Profits of World's 100 Wealthiest Could End Poverty Four Times Over: Report By Jon Queally

[Michel Bauwens]

Profits of World's 100 Wealthiest Could End Poverty Four Times Over: Report

January 24, 2013 By *Jon Queally*

Jon Queally's ZSpace
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The profits of the world's one hundred most wealthy individuals last year
would be enough to wipe out world poverty, says a new report. And not just
once over, or twice over, but the vast amount of money that has flowed to
the top of the world's financial food chain would be enough to eradicate
the worst kind of poverty a full four times over.

Such an explosion in extreme wealth and income inequality represented by
these numbers is exacerbating and hindering the world’s ability to tackle
poverty, warns<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKW3VplGJ6Noj1a57ys4jUB0VBaOxrUnQwx5vodKxmiYBML-2B2AmMg2r82k6kakd8S4dG0AvcTN9h0wASjrq9wHTyfBwVgqSTuSQZjgnjn4MMoPSFK6eqLRGZhHoquIGlqPhfypCxkuIT5CumNrvsgS6QXp1NBRsZDwmM7GglOaQX6Z_V-2FUUiW5KvBPNV-2FItFYsbuIFOqr58NacNTIV3-2FGcH-2BSC8iIClkYlMERlKQz1iNmB7jV4iFyL5XlTs38ZLkozK3LqET-2FEkuG4IPn34Pn-2FkovS4WhQOaSR1-2BiQYkqqVQShqC9yUmSBQYI2dN-2FkSXq-2B-2FUTqxEo-2FO-2FSeZRBHUzdPZ2Kk-3D>
international
aid group Oxfam International in a new analysis published ahead of the
World Economic Forum starting in Davos this week.

According to the report, ‘*The cost of inequality: how wealth and income
extremes hurt us
all*<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwZV1k6Mt54fhOCI8ib-2FF8NRyvZet-2B5EWZ9H9bFA4SHEIQ-2FIJjIlq0zaOYodCsc2otExl-2F1AHQIoONY9hObvrCr-2BELlXvXfzuzSUV9hDOfe3_V-2FUUiW5KvBPNV-2FItFYsbuIFOqr58NacNTIV3-2FGcH-2BSC8iIClkYlMERlKQz1iNmB7jV4iFyL5XlTs38ZLkozK3AcvY9xL72OPm-2BMRvV-2BlspWkgILcK3ba3py9kbpGQXbJnJ2Pso7O-2FWdnROIOtDH5OJjEJklYPhGRdvtvl8QzLQ4-3D>,’
the $240 billion net income in 2012 of the richest 100 billionaires would
be enough to eliminate extreme poverty four times over. In releasing the
report, Oxfam is calling on world leaders to curb today’s income extremes
and commit to bringing back inequality levels to at least those experienced
in the early 1990's.

“Concentration of resources in the hands of the top one per cent depresses
economic activity and makes life harder for everyone else – particularly
those at the bottom of the economic ladder," said Jeremy Hobbs, Oxfam's
executive director.

“We can no longer pretend that the creation of wealth for a few will
inevitably benefit the many – too often the reverse is true," he said. “In
a world where even basic resources such as land and water are increasingly
scarce, we cannot afford to concentrate assets in the hands of a few and
leave the many to struggle over what’s left.”

In addition, Barbara Stocking, Oxfam's chief executive,
says<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWyuntSBdLfiPWyr5HmcUhcuemhuPAnjmCLOqjuWWMO-2Bola3WhJGNmh4ccj87xQaQfZPGZkPEbGnuwWO8Eg2VwMPhGSlcRayBID1sG1n7gkS-2B_V-2FUUiW5KvBPNV-2FItFYsbuIFOqr58NacNTIV3-2FGcH-2BSC8iIClkYlMERlKQz1iNmB7jV4iFyL5XlTs38ZLkozK3MfSMAiBEoElWDdJXaVAXTYdrh2Sowl7F9sy-2FuLJaGjqcQ7DIsZp6tHYabfvkXTi6x9videu6jU-2FtIg2Soo7lKI-3D>
the
world's extremity of wealth inequality is "economically inefficient,
politically corrosive, socially divisive and environmentally destructive".

Oxfam is calling for a 'new global deal' which would stabilize the world's
economic systems and bring equality back in way that would benefit all
humanity.

“From tax havens to weak employment laws, the richest benefit from a global
economic system which is rigged in their favour. It is time our leaders
reformed the system so that it works in the interests of the whole of
humanity rather than a global elite.”

The group estimates that closing tax havens – which hold as much as $32
trillion or a third of all global wealth – could yield an additional $189bn
in additional tax revenues. In addition to a tax haven crackdown, elements
of the "global new deal" Oxfam envisions would include:

   - a reversal of the trend towards more regressive forms of taxation;
   - a global minimum corporation tax rate;
   - measures to boost wages compared with returns available to capital;
   - increased investment in free public services and safety nets.

According<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKW40wpP5YbqonCkAJO7fHGAKkLOCSVtipvXpFi60mEiQXEyqs6Y4IX0vLf0xu28jhBE1GID6EPacACATXAJzVng4-3D_V-2FUUiW5KvBPNV-2FItFYsbuIFOqr58NacNTIV3-2FGcH-2BSC8iIClkYlMERlKQz1iNmB7jV4iFyL5XlTs38ZLkozK3FIdExEMQ7H7nsQqvbmT75CUbzBfclLwjN2FO5HjopQNTdFUROK6TPJ0-2B8ThYMOuDn6ZM2fumYImjxEjAqjkPDg-3D>
 to *Al-Jazeera*:

The group says that the world's richest one percent have seen their income
increase by 60 percent in the last 20 years, with the latest world
financial crisis only serving to hasten, rather than hinder, the process.

"We sometimes talk about the 'have-nots' and the 'haves' - well, we're
talking about the 'have-lots'. [...] We're anti-poverty agency. We focus on
poverty, we work with the poorest people around the world. You don't
normally hear us talking about wealth. But it's gotten so out of control
between rich and poor that one of the obstacles to solving extreme poverty
is now extreme wealth," Ben Phillips, a campaign director at Oxfam, told Al
Jazeera.
------------------------------

*From:* Z Net - The Spirit Of Resistance
Lives<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUzTFczw65YAHq4GpH-2FNw1Z5juZZPvNJxNZTHJ_V-2FUUiW5KvBPNV-2FItFYsbuIFOqr58NacNTIV3-2FGcH-2BSC8iIClkYlMERlKQz1iNmB7jV4iFyL5XlTs38ZLkozK3ONzdXz0XwYbZdcWKnDzF0X1KTTlJ-2ByFZUhe8TRYP6cP3LE06BY-2BRVb2ko-2Fkv3RfOBR5iaXvSzSmHnbJwRuWP2s-3D>
*URL:*
http://www.zcommunications.org/profits-of-worlds-100-wealthiest-could-end-poverty-four-times-over-report-by-jon-queally<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUzTFczw65YAHq4Gp3LSPTYgVcL3rQ9XT6EbkujSkT2f892fawWaO0cKP-2B855QCcWbD48cy7TprIUxnSwbJ-2FL1jXojJFkB4p1NvusR6YwHuKRkdZl0TXHcP6tUppD8nOqlcpHQHrYQMAQKn-2Bg-3D_V-2FUUiW5KvBPNV-2FItFYsbuIFOqr58NacNTIV3-2FGcH-2BSC8iIClkYlMERlKQz1iNmB7jV4iFyL5XlTs38ZLkozK3ArkQS2vIBD2tIuXLa55xAAKyN8Icij4gT5U-2BIOFbA0zXM6thZsdMbFsGWpbym82FvaxeOp-2FIDq2nrEf3k8lIm4-3D>
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