A new report released today says that 82% of the wealth created in 2017 went to the world’s richest 1%. The report, published by Oxfam International, an advocacy group dedicated to the eradication of world poverty, also estimated that the bottom 50% of the world’s population saw no increase in wealth. The trend, according to Oxfam, shows that the global economy is skewed in favor of wealth rather than work.
“The billionaire boom is not a sign of a thriving economy but a symptom of a failing economic system,” said Oxfam executive director, Winnie Byanyima. The people who “make our clothes, assemble our phones and grow our food” are being exploited to enrich corporations and the super wealthy, she added.
Oxfam said the focus of governmental economic policy should be more equitable distribution of wealth and the strengthening of worker’s rights. These could be achieved through initiatives like instituting higher livable wages, addressing gender wage inequality and strengthening labor unions. The group also said that a goal of tax policy should be to reduce extreme wealth.