Richest 55 Jordanians made 4.5 times more wealth than 50% of population

OXFAM report points to growing inequality locally and globally

Amman
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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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