Hi ,
Oxfam's new report on global billionaires has found a massive expansion in their wealth over 2024, with UK billionaire wealth growing by £35m a day. This certainly puts my lunchtime meal deal into perspective.
They warn that although progress on reducing global poverty has been at almost a standstill since 1990, the wealth of those at the very top is skyrocketing, with the globe on track for 5 trillionaires by the end of the decade. The World Bank, they note, points out that reducing inequality would allow us to end extreme poverty three times faster.
Adding more weight to the fear that growth for billionaires is coming at the expense of the rest of us, they find that the UK's billionaires derive more of their wealth through cronyism (37% of our billionaires), monopolies (15%), and inheritance (7%) than any other G7 country.
Their conclusion is that this wealth is not being made by billionaires: it's being taken.
The control this wealth gives billionaires over our societies has never been more visible. Polling out today from Patriotic Millionaires finds that two-thirds of all millionaires think that the super-rich are a threat to global stability, while 72% want higher taxes on the super rich and 70% think the super rich are eroding trust in democracy by exerting control over the media.
The good news is this is fixable. Mexico is a striking example: high inequality and decades of institutional corruption led to 91% of the population believing that corruption was very frequent in 2018 – but two successive governments have been wildly popular and boosted trust in government to nearly 50%, well above the UK's 35%. How? Mexico is one of very few countries where the income share of the top 1% is falling and has waged aggressive anti-poverty campaigns, lifting up to 8.9 million people out of poverty by 2023. If you take on the super rich, it can benefit everyone.
It seems, from the poll responses and from the general vibe, like a lot of us are feeling alone and hopeless right now. It is certainly difficult to feel optimistic. But we aren't alone; we have each other. Every poll and survey says the vast majority of the UK and the world wants an equal, green future. We can turn that into a global movement that wins, knowing that we have more in common with each other than with any billionaire trying to turn us against each other. |
