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Business leaders urged to play greater role in tackling extreme inequality
Experts attending a joint Oxfam-University of Oxford event on inequality called on business leaders meeting in Davos on Monday to play their part in tackling extreme inequality
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E
xperts attending a joint Oxfam-University of Oxford event on inequality called on business leaders meeting in Davos on Monday to play their part in tackling extreme inequality.
'It is time for the global leaders of modern capitalism, in addition to our politicians, to work to change the system to make it more inclusive, more equitable and more sustainable,' said EL Rothschild's chief executive officer and founder, Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, one of the event's speakers.
She referred to a research paper published on Monday by Oxfam that showed that inequality had reached shocking extremes and continued to grow.
The research shows that the richest 1 percent has seen their share of global wealth increase from 44 percent in 2009 to 48 percent in 2014 and at this rate will be more than 50 percent in 2016.
'Extreme inequality isn't just a moral wrong. We know that it hampers economic growth and it threatens the private sector's bottom line. All those gathering at Davos who want a stable and prosperous world should make tackling inequality a top priority," Rothschild said in a release on Monday.
Monday's research paper shines light on the way extreme wealth is passed down the generations and how elite groups mobilize their vast resources to ensure that global rules are favorable to their interests. More than a
third of the 1,645 billionaires listed by Forbes inherited some or all of their riches.
'Twenty percent of billionaires have interests in the financial and insurance sectors, a group which saw their cash wealth increase by 11 percent in the 12 months to March 2014. These sectors spent $550 million lobbying policymakers in Washington and Brussels during 2013. During the 2012 US election cycle alone, the financial sector provided $571million in campaign contributions,' says the report.
Billionaires in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors saw their collective net worth increase by 47 percent. They spent more than $500 million lobbying policymakers in Washington and Brussels in 2013.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says extreme inequality is not just bad news for those at the bottom but also damages economic growth. (ebf)(+++)
