This summary details a recent report by Oxfam International concerning global wealth inequality, its implications, and proposed solutions, along with expert commentary on the feasibility of such measures. --- ### **News Summary: Global Wealth Inequality and Calls for Taxation** * **News Title:** World’s richest 1% increased wealth by $33.9 trillion since 2015, Oxfam says * **News Type:** Economy News / Report Summary * **Report Provider/Author:** Oxfam International (analysis); Kelsey Ables (news author) * **Date/Time Period Covered:** Analysis covers "the past decade" (implying up to 2025); Billionaires' gains specifically "since 2015." News published June 26, 2025. --- #### **Key Findings and Statistics from Oxfam's Analysis** Oxfam International, a global anti-poverty group, has released a new analysis highlighting the dramatic increase in wealth among the world's richest individuals and the resulting concentration of power. * **Wealth Accumulation by the Richest 1%:** Over the past decade, the world’s richest 1 percent have increased their wealth by at least **$33.9 trillion**. * Oxfam states this amount is "more than enough to eliminate annual poverty **22 times over**," calculated at the World Bank’s highest poverty line of $8.30 per day. * **Billionaires' Gains:** Approximately **3,000 people** worldwide, identified as billionaires (the overwhelming majority being men), have collectively gained **$6.5 trillion** since 2015. * **Impact on Political Power:** The report, titled "From Private Profit to Public Power: Financing Development, Not Oligarchy," asserts that this immense concentration of wealth has "translated to political power, in a movement towards oligarchy that sees ultra-wealthy individuals able to shape political and economic decision-making in ways that increase their wealth." * **Future Projections:** Oxfam previously stated in early 2024 that the world could see its first trillionaire within a decade if current inequality trends persist. #### **Recommendations and Proposed Solutions** In response to these findings, Oxfam and other proponents advocate for significant policy changes: * **Government Action:** Oxfam calls for governments to: * Invest in state-led development. * Tax the ultrarich. * **Rejection of "Wall Street Consensus":** The report urges a rejection of the "Wall Street Consensus," which promotes greater private sector involvement in public services like education and healthcare. * **"Public Sector-First" Approach:** Instead, Oxfam proposes a "public sector-first" approach, starting with taxing the wealthiest, who they claim "have transformed themselves from taxpaying stakeholders to creditors and shareholders, insulated from democratic demands." * **Billionaire Tax Proposal:** Oxfam points to a proposal by economist Gabriel Zucman introduced at the 2024 Group of 20 (G20) summit in Brazil. This proposal calls for a minimum **2 percent tax** on the assets of the world’s 3,000 billionaires, with an estimated annual revenue of **$200 billion to $250 billion**. #### **Expert Perspectives and Challenges to Wealth Taxation** The idea of taxing the wealthy has long been debated, with experts offering varied perspectives: * **Arguments for Taxation:** * Chris Evans, a professor of taxation at the University of New South Wales, described "gross inequality in wealth" as "a disaster for social cohesion." He suggested, "There is certainly an argument for using some of the excess money at the top end to help some of the people at the bottom," which could lead to a "much fairer and more efficient society." * **Challenges and Skepticism:** * Eric Zolt, a professor of law and taxation expert at the University of California at Los Angeles, noted that "despite the apparent appeal of using wealth taxes to reduce inequality, over the last 20 years the trend is against the increased use of wealth taxes." * Zolt highlighted that "The revenue yields are remarkably low for all types of wealth taxes." * He also expressed doubt about the feasibility of a global wealth tax, particularly in the U.S., where "a remarkably large number of the 3,000 billionaires are resident," making support difficult. * Zolt concluded that the key question is "whether individual countries or a coalition of countries can tax wealth effectively," stating that "For almost all countries, the chances of success are low." #### **Context and Public Sentiment** The report's release coincides with rising public frustration over extreme wealth, exemplified by recent demonstrations. For instance, protests in Venice ahead of Jeff Bezos’s wedding included signs like: "If you can rent Venice for your wedding you can pay more tax." Political figures like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and former president Joe Biden have also voiced concerns about an emerging oligarchy in the United States.
World’s richest 1% increased wealth by $33.9 trillion since 2015, Oxfam says
Read original at News Source →Over the past decade, the world’s richest 1 percent have increased their wealth by at least $33.9 trillion, according to a new analysis from the global anti-poverty group Oxfam International.That amount is “more than enough to eliminate annual poverty 22 times over” when calculating at the World Bank’s highest poverty line of $8.
30 per day, the group said in a news release, which also called for governments to invest in state-led development and to tax the ultrarich, among other requests.Billionaires alone — about 3,000 people worldwide, the overwhelming majority of whom are men — have gained $6.5 trillion since 2015, according to the report, which was released ahead of an international conference in Spain on development financing.
“This immense concentration of wealth has translated to political power, in a movement towards oligarchy that sees ultra-wealthy individuals able to shape political and economic decision-making in ways that increase their wealth,” Oxfam said in its briefing paper, titled “From Private Profit to Public Power: Financing Development, Not Oligarchy.
”Concern about wealth inequality has risen in recent years. Oxfam said in early 2024 that the world could have its first trillionaire within a decade if current inequality trends continued. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) has suggested that in a fair society billionaires should not exist, and he and other leaders including former president Joe Biden have warned of an oligarchy taking shape in the United States.
Those frustrations coalesced this week in Venice ahead of the star-studded wedding of Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez, which has sparked a variety of demonstrations pushing back against what protesters see as a manifestation of the era of the One Percent. One protest sign unfurled on St.
Mark’s Square on Monday read: “If you can rent Venice for your wedding you can pay more tax.”The proposals in the Oxfam report dovetail with such calls. Discussing how private investment has affected development, it urges a rejection of what some scholars call the “Wall Street Consensus,” which pushes for greater involvement of the private sector in public services, such as education and health care.
Instead, the report calls for a “public sector-first” approach, starting by taxing the very wealthiest, who, the report says, “have transformed themselves from taxpaying stakeholders to creditors and shareholders, insulated from democratic demands.”In the report, Oxfam points to a proposal introduced by economist Gabriel Zucman at the Group of 20 summit in Brazil in 2024, which called for a minimum 2 percent tax on the assets of the world’s 3,000 billionaires with an annual revenue estimate of $200 billion to $250 billion.
The idea of taxing the fortunes of the wealthy has been debated for years. In an interview last year, Chris Evans, a professor of taxation at the University of New South Wales, described “gross inequality in wealth” as “a disaster for social cohesion.”“There is certainly an argument for using some of the excess money at the top end to help some of the people at the bottom,” he said, “and we might just find that we’ll have a much fairer and more efficient society.
”Eric Zolt, a professor of law at the University of California at Los Angeles and an expert on taxation, said in an email that “despite the apparent appeal of using wealth taxes to reduce inequality, over the last 20 years the trend is against the increased use of wealth taxes.”“The revenue yields are remarkably low for all types of wealth taxes,” he added, noting that any sort of global wealth tax would struggle to find support in the U.
S., where “a remarkably large number of the 3,000 billionaires are resident.”“For me, the key question is not whether countries should tax wealth to reduce social and economic disparities, but whether individual countries or a coalition of countries can tax wealth effectively,” he said. “… For almost all countries, the chances of success are low.
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