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Richest eight percent own 50 percent of the world's wealth
by Joseph Earnest January 29, 2014
Newscast Media HOUSTON—According to a recent report released by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) the richest eight per cent of the world's population earns half of the world's total income, while the remaining 92 per cent of people are left with the other half.
Last week, Oxfam released a report estimating that the share of global wealth owned by the world's 85 wealthiest people is roughly that owned by the poorest 3.5 billion. That leaves a tiny fraction for the world’s poorest people. Indeed, the share of global wealth controlled by the world’s poorest thirty per cent fell from just 1.5 per cent in 1988 to one and a quarter (1.25) per cent in 2008.
Evidence suggests that where economic power is heavily concentrated
in the hands of a few, political power may also be entrenched in the
hands of elites with undue influence. This then creates structural
barriers to the promotion of greater equality; for example, through
regressive taxation or under-investment in public goods and
infrastructure such as education or public health systems and services.
High inequalities may also be associated with high crime rates and political unrest. The resulting risk-levels may then distort public spending towards security measures and away from those essential for human development progress.
The Report documents high rates of inequality in the non-income dimensions of well-being – such as health, nutrition, and education – despite improvements in national averages of progress in these areas. It calls for increasing public expenditure on basic services, with the aim of achieving universal provisioning, coupled with a particular emphasis on the groups currently experiencing the greatest disadvantages.
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