The fortunes of the world’s 10 richest men have grown so much during the pandemic that even a one-time tax of 99% on their earnings would be able to pay for the production of all the Covid-19 vaccines the world needs, according to Oxfam.
“Billionaires have had a tremendous pandemic. Central banks pumped billions of dollars into financial markets to save the economy, but much of that ended up lining the pockets of billionaires in the midst of a stock market boom.said Oxfam International Executive Director Gabriela Bucher.
in a press release announcing the .
Highlighting the great wealth disparity that has emerged during the pandemic, Oxfam, which publishes its new report “Inequality kills” noted that the fortunes of the ten richest men in the world more than doubled to $1.5 trillion from $700 billion between March 2020 and November 2021. This is at a rate of $15,000 per second or $1.3 billion a day, according to the charity.
Oxfam used the Forbes billionaires list, topped by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault, to calculate the numbers.
In contrast, the incomes of 99% of people have fallen during the pandemic, Oxfam said, citing World Bank data.
“Vaccines were supposed to end this pandemic, but wealthy governments have allowed billionaires and pharmaceutical monopolies to cut off supply to billions of people. The result is that every conceivable form of inequality is likely to increase,” Bucher said.
According to Oxfam’s calculations, an exceptional tax of 99% on the wealth gains of the 10 richest men would be able to pay for the manufacture of the world’s Covid-19 vaccines. There would also be enough to fund other public works projects, including universal health and social protection.
“All of this, while leaving these men $8 billion better off than before the pandemic”, noted Oxfam, which advocates that the government “ recover » earnings made by billionaires.
“Never has it been more important to begin to right the violent wrongs of this obscene inequality by reclaiming the power and extreme wealth of the elites, including through taxation – pumping that money back into the real economy. and saving lives”, Pleaded Bucher.
.