A report, “World Inequality Report 2022”, published this week by the ‘Laboratory of Global Inequalities’, a global network of researchers headquartered at the Paris School of Economics (PSE) shows that Dame Covid has gave wings to the categories of rich, very rich and ultra-rich. Indeed, the published draws up a bitter observation of the very unequal distribution of wealth.
It is thus calculated that the richest 10% got their hands, in 2020 – 2021, on 52% of world income, leaving only 8% to the poorest 50%. A person belonging to the richest 10% can count on average on 87,200 euros of annual income (approximately 1,070,400 of our dirhams), while another of the less rich half of humanity has only 2,800 euros per year. year (33,600 dhs). The holding of assets is even more garish, the richest 10% ‘own 76% of world heritage (550,900 euros per person on average), while the bottom 50% have almost no (2%, or 2,900 euros)’, is it still underlined. Worse, 0.01% of the wealthiest hit the jackpot, with 11% of world wealth, against 7% in 1995. The 500 largest fortunes have also seen their wealth increase by + 7% per year between 1995 and 2021. For the 50 richest in the world, we should rather speak of an avalanche of monopolized goods, with + 9% per year.
A clear finding which, while indicating the need for the idea of social and fiscal justice, reveals that the very rich have seen their fortunes grow thanks to essentially financial assets in recent years. In half a century, the one that was once worth three billion is worth nearly a hundred times as much today. World’s leading fortune Elon Musk is a prime example of this and certainly demonstrates the reality of an increasingly obvious gap in detailed inequalities. The ranking of the American magazine Forbes, which assesses what the richest have in real time, is clear. It shows that the top ten (all Americans except one, Frenchman Bernard Arnault) own more than $ 100 billion each.
In the lead, Elon Musk with $ 266 billion. The report also lists the most unequal regions. In the lead, the Middle East, followed by Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia. In these regions, 10% of the population receives more than 55% of the income. In the United States, it is 45%, in Europe 36%. With its social market economy, Europe appears to be the least unequal region of the world: ‘It has better withstood the rise in inequalities that began in the 1980s, even if it risks an American-style scenario if it is not careful’, says Lucas Chancel.
He notes that the race to the lowest tax bid has led to the impoverishment of States. Africa remains on average one of the most unequal areas on the planet. 10% of the population earn more than half of the income. Women are the main victims. The 228-page publication, coordinated by economist Lucas Chancel (co-director), with contributions from Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, describes the contrasting situations on the continent. In sub-Saharan Africa, the average income is 31% of that of the world and the richest 10% (top 10) capture more than half (56%) of the amount dedicated to this zone. In comparison, it is more than in the United States, 45% of the total and much higher than in Europe, 35%. The publication also highlights, unsurprisingly, the very high concentration of wealth.
In sub-Saharan countries, the richest 1% account for 38% of the total, and it is even stronger in the Middle East – North Africa zone, where this proportion reaches 44%. Of the African countries in its northern part of the continent except Libya in the absence of the processing of its file, Morocco does little better in this area with almost 50%, which is not the case of the Nigerian giant, the largest economy on the continent, where their share is 43%, barely more than in Mali (41%). In Algeria, the top 10 accumulate 37% of national income. When it comes to women, Africa is the worst off. We note from the study that in the Maghreb, the share of national income dedicated to women is between 12 and 20% and that in sub-Saharan countries it is 28%. The share going to Algerians, Moroccans and Tunisians is respectively only 12, 15 and 20%.
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