NewsFix
Would you like to react to this message? Create an account in a few clicks or log in to continue.

80 individuals are as wealthy as the poorest half of the world population

3 posters

Go down

80 individuals are as wealthy as the poorest half of the world population Empty 80 individuals are as wealthy as the poorest half of the world population

Post by Ben Reilly Mon Jan 19, 2015 10:44 pm

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/meet-the-80-people-who-are-as-rich-as-half-the-world/

Eighty people hold the same amount of wealth as the world’s 3.6 billion poorest people, according to an analysis just released from Oxfam. The report from the global anti-poverty organization finds that since 2009, the wealth of those 80 richest has doubled in nominal terms — while the wealth of the poorest 50 percent of the world’s population has fallen.

To see how much wealth the richest 1 percent and the poorest 50 percent hold, Oxfam used research from Credit Suisse, a Swiss financial services company, and Forbes’s annual billionaires list. Oxfam then looked at how many of the world’s richest people would need to pool their resources to have as much wealth as the poorest 50 percent — and as of March 2014, it was just 80 people.

Four years earlier, 388 billionaires together held as much wealth as the poorest 50 percent of the world.

Thirty-five of the 80 richest people in the world are U.S. citizens, with combined wealth of $941 billion in 2014. Together in second place are Germany and Russia, with seven mega-rich individuals apiece. The entire list is dominated by one gender, though — 70 of the 80 richest people are men. And 68 of the people on the list are 50 or older.
Ben Reilly
Ben Reilly
King of Texas. Gigantic Killer Robot. Robin Hood of Epping Forest. Fifty Shades of Cray.

Posts : 30682
Join date : 2013-01-19
Age : 49
Location : West Essex

http://www.newsfixboard.com

Back to top Go down

The author of this message was banned from the forum - See the message

80 individuals are as wealthy as the poorest half of the world population Empty Re: 80 individuals are as wealthy as the poorest half of the world population

Post by veya_victaous Tue Jan 20, 2015 10:26 pm

According to the OXFAM report that divide is widening. 1% hold 48% of global wealth, with a cheeky 5% of the global population holding the remaining 46%. What does that leave 94% of the world with? 5.5% of the world’s wealth.

Before you rage against the machine towards the nearest monocle-wearing gent, it’s worth pausing to consider where you’re placed.

There are about 70 million people in club 1%, which can be assessed as anyone who owns property worth $800,000, just under the median house price in Sydney.

Sobering fact ... almost in the 1% (or could be 'mortgaged for life' into the 1%... not sure if it counts Rolling Eyes )
veya_victaous
veya_victaous
The Mod Loki, Minister of Chaos & Candy, Emperor of the Southern Realms, Captain Kangaroo

Posts : 19114
Join date : 2013-01-23
Age : 41
Location : Australia

Back to top Go down

80 individuals are as wealthy as the poorest half of the world population Empty Re: 80 individuals are as wealthy as the poorest half of the world population

Post by veya_victaous Tue Jan 20, 2015 11:10 pm

We have reached a tipping point where mega donors completely dominate the landscape. The 100 largest donors in the 2014 cycle gave almost as much money to candidates as the 4.75 million people who gave $200 or less (and certainly that number goes from “almost” to “more” if we could include contributions that are not required by law to be disclosed).

Think about this for a minute. This is consequential. It means that candidates running for office are genuflecting before an audience of 100 wealthy individuals to fuel their campaigns. So, whose bidding do we think these candidates are going to do? Is it any wonder that the interests of large corporations and unions get to the front of the line?

Liberal Democrats like to blow their bugles about how all the big money in politics comes from rich Republicans. Actually, as Vogel points out, 52 of the 100 top donors are Democrats, and the No. 1 donor by far is Democrat Tom Steyer, who chipped in $74 million.

At least we’ve achieved some bipartisanship somewhere in our political ecosphere. Both parties are now equal opportunity offenders when it comes to gaming the system.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/01/05/the-hundred-rich-people-who-run-america.html
veya_victaous
veya_victaous
The Mod Loki, Minister of Chaos & Candy, Emperor of the Southern Realms, Captain Kangaroo

Posts : 19114
Join date : 2013-01-23
Age : 41
Location : Australia

Back to top Go down

The author of this message was banned from the forum - See the message

80 individuals are as wealthy as the poorest half of the world population Empty Re: 80 individuals are as wealthy as the poorest half of the world population

Post by Ben Reilly Wed Jan 28, 2015 7:58 pm

If we're going to have the game run by money, I'm at least glad there's some parity between the wealthy right and the wealthy left. That said, I'd have all elections from the state level upward funded with a hybrid of tax dollars and strictly regulated personal donations that couldn't top, say, $200.

There's a few ways we could do this without a noticeable change to how elections actually appear to the public -- one big way would be to put all debates on public television and radio, which we're already funding and which would seem a natural fit for political debates. Or, we could just confront the fact that the American people own their own airwaves and make anybody doing business on them eat the cost of carrying the debates.
Ben Reilly
Ben Reilly
King of Texas. Gigantic Killer Robot. Robin Hood of Epping Forest. Fifty Shades of Cray.

Posts : 30682
Join date : 2013-01-19
Age : 49
Location : West Essex

http://www.newsfixboard.com

Back to top Go down

80 individuals are as wealthy as the poorest half of the world population Empty Re: 80 individuals are as wealthy as the poorest half of the world population

Post by Sponsored content


Sponsored content


Back to top Go down

Back to top

- Similar topics

 
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum