Over the past decade, the world has moved into a new era of wealth accumulation and concentration, with technology finally cementing itself at the top of the wealth pyramid and thereby defining the new age that we all live in. The wealth from up here is so bright that the darkness of poverty is completely invisible. Recently, Forbes launched its annual list of billionaires. Strong at the top are the new rulers of the world’s wealthiest individuals including tech moguls Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. A combination of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, Larry Page, and Sergey Brin rounding out a technology-dominated list of the top ten wealthiest people in the world.
What makes this list this year so special is that even though the whole world was gripped by the Covid-19 pandemic, the cumulative net worth of the richest people in the world nearly doubled. The number of billionaires in 70 countries of the world grew to an unprecedented number, with the last year seeing nearly 500 new billionaires emerge. The list typifies the gulf between the haves and the have-nots. In a year when the uber-wealthy ‘profited’ off the pandemic, there were hundreds of thousands who ended up losing their jobs — including many from the very companies some of these people owned. Growth of commerce and industry — especially technology — is good for overall growth but it only feeds the capitalistic machine and draws resources away from the people. If these very people reinvested the growth in their incomes from last year in keeping people employed or funding Covid-19 research, the world would be in a better place.
Pakistan still does not feature on this list but with greater adoption of technology, one would assume that the day is not far off. But when it does, it is unlikely that taxes would be able to offer any balance just as it has failed in other countries. We have a chance to think ahead and prepare better for the day when a Pakistani is on the list of the wealthiest in the world.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 11th, 2021.
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