Inequality,world’s biggest threat, tops agenda at WEF today
AS the World Economic Forum (WEF) starts Wednesday in Davos, Switzerland, rising global inequality, which has been assessed as the latest and biggest threat to the world, will top the agenda.
The yearly event, with the theme “The Reshaping of the World: Consequences for Society, Politics and Business,” will bring together global influential figures in international trade, business, finance and politics, to deliberate on the issue, which experts said might sweep the world suddenly like Tsunami.
According to WEF, the global threat has called for urgency in adequate attention even as economies hit by the financial crisis start to recover.
But to development experts and participants at the forum, the income disparity and attendant social unrest are the issues most likely to have a big impact on the world economy this year and in the next decade, adding that there was an observed ‘lost’ generation of young people coming of age in the 2010s, who lack both jobs and, in some cases, adequate skills for work, fuelling pent-up frustration.
WEF Chief Economist, Jennifer Blanke, said:
“Disgruntlement can lead to the dissolution of the fabric of society, especially if young people feel they don’t have a future. This is something that affects everybody. This could easily boil over into social upheaval, as seen already in a wave of protests over inequality and corruption from Thailand to Brazil.
“So far, the massive fiscal and monetary stimulus that has helped stabilise and revive economies has had little impact on the poor, the unemployed and the younger generation.
“In the West, the young people are graduating from ‘expensive and outmoded’ schools and colleges with high debts and the wrong skills, while in developing countries around two-thirds of them are not reaching their economic potential.”
A new report unveiled ahead of the WEF meeting by Oxfam International said that “85 richest people on earth have the same amount of wealth as the bottom half of the population. Those wealthy individuals are a small part of the richest one per cent of the population, which combined owns about 46 per cent of global wealth.”
The Executive Director, Oxfam, Winnie Byanyima, said: “It is staggering that in the 21st Century, half of the world’s population own no more than a tiny elite whose numbers could all sit comfortably in a single train carriage.
“We cannot hope to win the fight against poverty without tackling inequality. Widening inequality is creating a vicious circle where wealth and power are increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few, leaving the rest of us to fight over crumbs from the top table.
“In developed and developing countries alike, we are increasingly living in a world where the lowest tax rates, the best health and education and the opportunity to influence are being given not just to the rich but also to their children.
“Without a concerted effort to tackle inequality, the cascade of privilege and of disadvantage will continue down the generations. We will soon live in a world where equality of opportunity is just a dream. In too many countries, economic growth already amounts to little more than a ‘winner takes all’ windfall for the richest.”
She noted that in India, the number of billionaires increased tenfold in the past decade because of a regressive tax structure, and Africa, where global corporations are exploiting natural resources, while local populations are left poorer.
However, Oxfam is calling on the group to support progressive taxation, and to challenge their governments to use tax revenue to provide universal health care, education and social protection for citizens.
“I’m a big supporter of capitalism but there are moments in time when capitalism can go into overdrive and it is important to have measures in place - whether regulatory, government or tax measures - that ensure we avoid excesses in terms of income and wealth distribution,” the Head of Risk at Swiss Re, David Cole
Source Guardian News Online
AS the World Economic Forum (WEF) starts Wednesday in Davos, Switzerland, rising global inequality, which has been assessed as the latest and biggest threat to the world, will top the agenda.
The yearly event, with the theme “The Reshaping of the World: Consequences for Society, Politics and Business,” will bring together global influential figures in international trade, business, finance and politics, to deliberate on the issue, which experts said might sweep the world suddenly like Tsunami.
According to WEF, the global threat has called for urgency in adequate attention even as economies hit by the financial crisis start to recover.
But to development experts and participants at the forum, the income disparity and attendant social unrest are the issues most likely to have a big impact on the world economy this year and in the next decade, adding that there was an observed ‘lost’ generation of young people coming of age in the 2010s, who lack both jobs and, in some cases, adequate skills for work, fuelling pent-up frustration.
WEF Chief Economist, Jennifer Blanke, said:
“Disgruntlement can lead to the dissolution of the fabric of society, especially if young people feel they don’t have a future. This is something that affects everybody. This could easily boil over into social upheaval, as seen already in a wave of protests over inequality and corruption from Thailand to Brazil.
“So far, the massive fiscal and monetary stimulus that has helped stabilise and revive economies has had little impact on the poor, the unemployed and the younger generation.
“In the West, the young people are graduating from ‘expensive and outmoded’ schools and colleges with high debts and the wrong skills, while in developing countries around two-thirds of them are not reaching their economic potential.”
A new report unveiled ahead of the WEF meeting by Oxfam International said that “85 richest people on earth have the same amount of wealth as the bottom half of the population. Those wealthy individuals are a small part of the richest one per cent of the population, which combined owns about 46 per cent of global wealth.”
The Executive Director, Oxfam, Winnie Byanyima, said: “It is staggering that in the 21st Century, half of the world’s population own no more than a tiny elite whose numbers could all sit comfortably in a single train carriage.
“We cannot hope to win the fight against poverty without tackling inequality. Widening inequality is creating a vicious circle where wealth and power are increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few, leaving the rest of us to fight over crumbs from the top table.
“In developed and developing countries alike, we are increasingly living in a world where the lowest tax rates, the best health and education and the opportunity to influence are being given not just to the rich but also to their children.
“Without a concerted effort to tackle inequality, the cascade of privilege and of disadvantage will continue down the generations. We will soon live in a world where equality of opportunity is just a dream. In too many countries, economic growth already amounts to little more than a ‘winner takes all’ windfall for the richest.”
She noted that in India, the number of billionaires increased tenfold in the past decade because of a regressive tax structure, and Africa, where global corporations are exploiting natural resources, while local populations are left poorer.
However, Oxfam is calling on the group to support progressive taxation, and to challenge their governments to use tax revenue to provide universal health care, education and social protection for citizens.
“I’m a big supporter of capitalism but there are moments in time when capitalism can go into overdrive and it is important to have measures in place - whether regulatory, government or tax measures - that ensure we avoid excesses in terms of income and wealth distribution,” the Head of Risk at Swiss Re, David Cole
Source Guardian News Online
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