Survival of the richest

Global inequality has been on the rise across the global for the past several decades. This means that there is unequal distribution of resources, opportunities and power not just across countries but also within them. Underdeveloped countries are facing severe economic crises due to which extreme poverty has sky-rocketed in recent times. One would think that Covid-19 and global stagflation would have slowed down the increasing rate of inequality but an Oxfam report shows that billionaires had doubled their wealth over the last 10 years — with the wealthiest one per cent gaining 74 times more than the bottom 50%.

To make matters worse, investigative agencies claim that the world’s richest people hardly pay any taxes while a middle-class trader has to pay somewhere between 30-40% of their profits in tax. Further, rich countries and communities have greater access to dwindling resources, which is why the living standard of poor countries has decreased significantly. Despite the adverse effects of inequality, this billionaires lack responsibility and ownership of the community and the land they are a part of. This has given rise to unprecedented crises such as climate change and global warming. In order to combat rising equality at a global level, economic experts claim that wealth should progressively be redistributed through increase in tax rates for the wealthy. This raise in tax rates could generate a substantial $1.7 trillion a year, which is enough to uplift around 2 billion people struggle with poverty.

Creating policies that benefit the masses instead of aiding the rich will also help reduce the number of billionaires and hence help keep the flow of money continuous. The world is heading toward a serious economic recession and only prudent policy measures will help keep countries afloat.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 21^st, 2023.

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