SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
"This huge gap between rich and poor is undermining economies, destabilizing societies, and holding back the fight against poverty," says Max Lawson of Oxfam. (Photo: Credit Suisse Research Institute)
With Action Slow to Come, Global Wealth Inequality Remains 'Shockingly High'
'Political concerns about inequality are not being translated into the action,' says Oxfam
Nov 23, 2016
Global wealth inequality continues to rise, according to a new study from Credit Suisse, with the richest 10 percent now owning a full 89 percent of all global assets.
The annual assessment (.pdf) from the Zurich-based financial services company finds that while the world was trending toward greater equality until 2008, the financial crisis halted that trajectory. The report reads:
Our calculations indicate that the top 1 percent of global wealth-holders started the millennium owning 49.6 percent of all household wealth. This share declined slowly and steadily until it reached 45.4 percent in 2009. The downward trend then reversed and the share rose each year, passing the 2000 level in 2014. We estimate that the top percentile now own 50.8 percent of global household assets.
Similar patterns emerge when looking at the top five and 10 percent of global wealth-holders. The numbers of millionaires and "ultra high net worth individuals" have also risen sharply. Meanwhile, the report estimates that 3.5 billion individuals--73 percent of all adults in the world--have wealth below $10,000 USD, and about 1 billion people--the bottom 20 percent of adults--own no more than $248 USD.
"In recent years, there has been a growing sense that the economic recovery is shallow, and has not reached all layers of society," researchers said in the study. "Evidence from our global wealth database supports this view."
Max Lawson, Oxfam's head of inequality policy, said the report signals that "political concerns about inequality are not being translated into the action needed to give hope and opportunities to the millions who have been left behind."
Decrying economic inequality that "remains at shockingly high levels," Lawson said: "This huge gap between rich and poor is undermining economies, destabilizing societies, and holding back the fight against poverty."
Notably, the U.K.'s vote to leave the European Union this summer--fueled in part by economic inequality in Britain--led to a $1.5 trillion loss in wealth for the country.
On January 20th, it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. Our Year-End campaign is our most important fundraiser of the year. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
Global wealth inequality continues to rise, according to a new study from Credit Suisse, with the richest 10 percent now owning a full 89 percent of all global assets.
The annual assessment (.pdf) from the Zurich-based financial services company finds that while the world was trending toward greater equality until 2008, the financial crisis halted that trajectory. The report reads:
Our calculations indicate that the top 1 percent of global wealth-holders started the millennium owning 49.6 percent of all household wealth. This share declined slowly and steadily until it reached 45.4 percent in 2009. The downward trend then reversed and the share rose each year, passing the 2000 level in 2014. We estimate that the top percentile now own 50.8 percent of global household assets.
Similar patterns emerge when looking at the top five and 10 percent of global wealth-holders. The numbers of millionaires and "ultra high net worth individuals" have also risen sharply. Meanwhile, the report estimates that 3.5 billion individuals--73 percent of all adults in the world--have wealth below $10,000 USD, and about 1 billion people--the bottom 20 percent of adults--own no more than $248 USD.
"In recent years, there has been a growing sense that the economic recovery is shallow, and has not reached all layers of society," researchers said in the study. "Evidence from our global wealth database supports this view."
Max Lawson, Oxfam's head of inequality policy, said the report signals that "political concerns about inequality are not being translated into the action needed to give hope and opportunities to the millions who have been left behind."
Decrying economic inequality that "remains at shockingly high levels," Lawson said: "This huge gap between rich and poor is undermining economies, destabilizing societies, and holding back the fight against poverty."
Notably, the U.K.'s vote to leave the European Union this summer--fueled in part by economic inequality in Britain--led to a $1.5 trillion loss in wealth for the country.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
Global wealth inequality continues to rise, according to a new study from Credit Suisse, with the richest 10 percent now owning a full 89 percent of all global assets.
The annual assessment (.pdf) from the Zurich-based financial services company finds that while the world was trending toward greater equality until 2008, the financial crisis halted that trajectory. The report reads:
Our calculations indicate that the top 1 percent of global wealth-holders started the millennium owning 49.6 percent of all household wealth. This share declined slowly and steadily until it reached 45.4 percent in 2009. The downward trend then reversed and the share rose each year, passing the 2000 level in 2014. We estimate that the top percentile now own 50.8 percent of global household assets.
Similar patterns emerge when looking at the top five and 10 percent of global wealth-holders. The numbers of millionaires and "ultra high net worth individuals" have also risen sharply. Meanwhile, the report estimates that 3.5 billion individuals--73 percent of all adults in the world--have wealth below $10,000 USD, and about 1 billion people--the bottom 20 percent of adults--own no more than $248 USD.
"In recent years, there has been a growing sense that the economic recovery is shallow, and has not reached all layers of society," researchers said in the study. "Evidence from our global wealth database supports this view."
Max Lawson, Oxfam's head of inequality policy, said the report signals that "political concerns about inequality are not being translated into the action needed to give hope and opportunities to the millions who have been left behind."
Decrying economic inequality that "remains at shockingly high levels," Lawson said: "This huge gap between rich and poor is undermining economies, destabilizing societies, and holding back the fight against poverty."
Notably, the U.K.'s vote to leave the European Union this summer--fueled in part by economic inequality in Britain--led to a $1.5 trillion loss in wealth for the country.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.