Can billionaires save the world?

The concentration of wealth in the hands of the few continues to grow alongside glaring levels of inequality. Consider, for instance, Oxfam’s estimation that 82 per cent of the money generated in 2017 went to the richest one per cent of the global population. The wealthiest people in the world are not content with merely making more money, they now also want increasingly visible profiles as global leaders spearheading efforts to make the world a better place.



While the idea of being a billionaire-philanthropists may seem like an oxymoron to some, it is a descriptor which has gained increasing credibility in recent years. Yet, there is also growing criticism of these elite billionaire-philanthropists. Even a former McKinsey consultant, and The New York Times journalist, Anand Giridharadas, has recently dismissed the idea of elite philanthropy. He likened the philanthropy of billionaires to the papal indulgences of the Middle Ages, which sought a convenient path to redemption without committing to making any meaningful changes. In his book, Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World Giridharadas describes philanthro-capitalism as an effort to maintain and preserve an underlying system of production and distribution, which is inherently inequitable.

These ideas are not new. Andre Gunder Frank, the American-German economic historian, had also famously called development and underdevelopment two sides of the same coin. Frank blamed exploitative forces such as colonialism which enabled mass accumulation on the one hand, while compounding deprivation on the other hand.

Critics of elite philanthropy thus remain skeptical of the seemingly magnanimous acts whereby business dynasties and corporate leaders aim to shield themselves from scrutiny over low tax rates, inadequate workers’ pay and unjustifiable monopolies. The list of unethical work practices used by prominent corporations and wealthy business families around the world is long. Recent examples include how a dynastic pharmaceutical empire has been accused of making billions from the US opioid crisis. Transnational food and beverage companies have been criticised for aggressively marketing formula and undermining breastfeeding practices and child and mother health across many developing countries. The big business of bottling water is also problematic for exacerbating water scarcity around their production facilities. Facing increasing regulation in the West, tobacco companies continue aggressively pushing their carcinogenic products across Asia, Africa and South America.

In fact, the role of multinational corporations in exacerbating the ‘resource curse’ of inequality, violence and authoritarianism in countries with an abundance of natural resources has an even longer and more perturbing history.



The consolidation of vast amounts of wealth by the ultra-rich and the creation of vast business empires is not only based on efficiency or the quality of their products but due to active political backing. The lobbying of politicians by big business is glaringly evident today. In the case of the US, the nexus between big business and politicians includes the Koch brothers longstanding support of Republicans. Even the Tehreek-e-Insaf which managed to form a new government in Pakistan this past year, is not without its big business backers.

Ideas like corporate or elite philanthropy or social responsibility may sound nice but often they serve as a deflection, where nominal positive activities are used to justify and continue engaging in extractive business practices, which continue to exploit human beings and the environment with ruthless abandon.

Governments and international development agencies need to stop falling over themselves to encourage the wealthy and their corporations to do good and make the world a better place. Instead there is a need to regulate and compel the global business elite to do less harm, and to rein in the amount of profit those owning and leading big businesses can accumulate.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 1^st, 2019.

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