The gap between the rich and the poor is widening. A new report reveals this. According to the report, with the epidemic, 573 new names have joined the billionaires club since 2020. By contrast, 263 million people are at risk of joining the extreme poor this year. When this is the case, calls for the renewal of the tax system for billionaires are increasing, and this is voiced by the White House at the highest level in America.
THE NUMBER OF BILLIONARDS IN THE WORLD IS INCREASING.
According to Oxfam’s report, a new name has joined the billionaire club every 30 hours during the Covid 19 outbreak.
Since 2020, 573 more names are on the list of billionaires. There are now 2668 billionaires in the world. In this process, their wealth is 42 percent; It increased by $3.78 trillion, totaling $12.7 trillion.
Now, the wealth of the world’s 10 richest people is more than the wealth of the poorest 3 billion people, who make up 40 percent of the world’s population.
Oxfam’s Max Lawson said: “The primary reason is that rich countries are pouring trillions of dollars into the economy in response to COVID-19. So this is the first. “This has boosted earnings and prices, and now with the recent price hikes, we’re seeing a significant increase in the wealth of food and energy billionaires.”
In contrast, 263 million people around the world are at risk of joining the category of the extreme poor this year.
The World Food Program states that 49 million people in 43 countries are at immediate risk of starvation.
David Beasley, Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme, said: “What we need now is an additional $68 billion. Are we asking too much against hunger, instability and mass migration?” says.
The data show that the gap between billionaires and the poor is widening.
Oxfam’s Max Lawson said: “A crisis of inequality, a crisis of climate-driven hunger around the world… Added to that is the rise in food prices and the problems of COVID-19. You collect them and it turns out more than the perfect storm.”
When this is the case, calls for ‘more taxes’ on the richest are also increasing. Oxfam is one of those who voiced this call.
Lawson said, “This is our money. This goes to the fortunes of the companies. Let’s undo it, introduce a series of taxes, such as special solidarity taxes, unexpected income taxes, wealth taxes… This is how we balance the world.”
Irit Tamir from Oxfam America states that Congress should take action and that the administration should step in and tax the richest people in America. According to Tamir, this way, investments can be made in public services and the working class.
The top name in the country, President Joe Biden, also wants this, he includes it in his statements and social media messages.
Biden tweeted, “There are now around 790 billionaires in America and they pay an average of 8 percent federal taxes. “No billionaire should pay less than a teacher, firefighter, electrician or police officer.”
The issue has also caused a verbal duel between Jeff Bezos, one of the richest in the world, and President Biden.
Bezos states that raising corporate taxes will not reduce inflation, but bailouts increase inflation. The White House notes that Bezos is trying to protect his wealth and weaken unions.
But there are some rich people who are in favor of taxes, like Phil White. At the economic forum in Davos, White even participated in a demonstration with activists to that effect.
Phil White said, “We are lobbying for more taxes on the rich and shifting the tax burden from the poor to the rich. We are calling for support for the different tax systems we put forward.”
Howard Gleckman of the Urban Brookings Center for Tax Policy says there are two ways to tax the rich, tax the profits or tax the rich. Gleckman says that in America we usually tax the profits.
But this may change in light of some of the suggestions offered. One of them is the taxation of capital income or the taxation of assets at their current values, even if they are not put up for sale.
Another approach is to get rid of the mechanism that prevents the rich from paying taxes on funds that have increased in value throughout their lives.
However, in this way, the administration’s tax revenue may spread over a long period of time.
Whatever method, management has to find a balance between raising money and the challenges of imposing change, Gleckman says.
For all this, the majority of Americans need not worry, whether they have 5 or 10 million dollars in their bank account. Gleckman emphasizes that these measures are for the ultra-rich. It is also a matter of curiosity how all these proposals will turn out when it is considered that Republicans in Congress are against tax regulation for the rich.
President Biden has not been able to implement his plans to increase the corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 28 percent due to opposition in the Senate.
This does not seem likely in the near future.
It seems that the Congress elections in November will determine the course of many debated issues in America, such as taxes and gun violence.
If Democrats don’t maintain a majority in the House and increase their numbers in the Senate, it’s likely that things like this won’t change significantly.
And the ‘we should do something’ discussions will be another spring…