AMMAN — An
OXFAM report stated that the richest 1 percent of Jordanians in 2020–2021 made
six times more wealth than the bottom 50 percent combined. At the same time,
the richest 55 Jordanians (those worth $50 million and above) have accumulated
4.5 times more wealth the half of the population combined ($14 billion compared
to $ 3.1 billion).
اضافة اعلان
A wealth tax of 2 percent on millionaires, 3 percent on
those with wealth above $50 million, and 5 percent on Jordanian billionaires
would raise $640 million annually. “This would be enough to increase health
spending by 42 percent or is equivalent to two-thirds of planned average annual
budget cuts ($1 billion) for the five years up to 2027,” said Nivedita Monga,
Oxfam’s Country Director in Jordan.
The richest 1 percent of Jordanians in 2020–2021 made six times more wealth than the bottom 50 percent combined.
“Oxfam is calling for a systemic and wide-ranging
increase in taxation of the super-rich to claw back crisis gains driven by
public money and profiteering. Decades of tax cuts for the richest and
corporations have fueled inequality, with the poorest people in many countries
paying higher tax rates than billionaires,” said Monga.
‘Survival of the richest'A new OXFAM study revealed that globally the richest 1
percent grabbed nearly two-thirds of all new wealth — worth $42 trillion —
created since 2020, almost twice as much money as the bottom 99 percent of the
world’s population.
A billionaire gained roughly $1.7 million for every $1 of new global wealth earned by a person in the bottom 90 percent.
During the past decade, the richest 1 percent had
captured around half of all new wealth.
“Survival of
the Richest” is a global report
highlighting inequality was published on the opening day of the
World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. As elites gather in the Swiss ski resort, extreme
wealth and extreme poverty have increased simultaneously for the first time in
25 years.
Around the world, billionaires have seen extraordinary
increases in their wealth. Since 2020, $26 trillion (63 percent) of all new
wealth was captured by the richest 1 percent, while $16 trillion (37 percent)
went to the rest of the world put together.
A billionaire gained roughly $1.7 million for every $1 of
new global wealth earned by a person in the bottom 90 percent.
Billionaire fortunes have increased by $2.7 billion a
day. This comes on top of a decade of historic gains. And the number and wealth
of billionaires have doubled over the last 10 years.
At the same time, at least 1.7 billion workers now live
in countries where inflation is outpacing wages, and over 820 million people —
roughly one in 10 people on Earth — are going hungry.
Rise in global inequality
The World Bank says we are likely seeing the biggest
increase in global inequality and poverty since WW2. Entire countries are
facing
bankruptcy, with the poorest countries now spending four times more
repaying debts to rich creditors than on healthcare. Three-quarters of the
world’s governments are planning austerity-driven public sector spending cuts —
including on
healthcare and education — by $7.8 trillion over the next five
years.
At least 1.7 billion workers now live in countries where inflation is outpacing wages, and over 820 million people — roughly one in 10 people on Earth — are going hungry.
According to a new analysis by the Fight Inequality
Alliance, Institute for Policy Studies, Oxfam, and the Patriotic Millionaires,
an annual wealth tax of up to 5 percent on the world’s multi-millionaires and
billionaires could raise $1.7 trillion a year, enough to lift 2 billion people
out of poverty, fully fund the shortfalls on existing humanitarian appeals, and
deliver a 10-year plan to end hunger. It could also support poorer countries
being ravaged by
climate change and provide universal healthcare and social
protection for everyone in low- and lower-middle-income countries.
Oxfam is calling on governments to first; introduce
one-off solidarity wealth taxes and windfall taxes to end crisis profiteering.
Permanently increase taxes on the richest 1 percent. Second, Governments must
especially raise taxes on capital gains, which are subject to lower tax rates
than other forms of income. And finally, tax the wealth of the richest 1
percent at rates high enough to significantly reduce the numbers and wealth of
the richest people and redistribute these resources. This includes implementing
inheritance, property, and land taxes, as well as net wealth taxes.
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