by CLOVIS ROSSI
PHOTO/IGN
Two studies published in recent months show how inequality around the world is becoming even more obscene than before.
One such study is the UBS report on the rich that focuses on capital. The figures involved are predictably shocking, but one element in particular caught our attention: The wealth owned by the ultra-rich (those owning at least $30 million in assets, who represent just 0.004% of the world’s adult population) grew by an average 6.6% every year between 1992 and 2012.
These people saw their wealth rise at a similar rate as the booming Chinese economy, despite the fact that during part of this period of time, between 2008 and 2011, most of the world was mired in a deep financial crisis.
As for the workers, on the other hand, John Evans, a top official on trade at Paris-based OECD commented in a recent forum that “Governments and international institutions are not changing a business model drives profits up but still won’t provide a minimum living wage of $177 a month in Cambodia or $120 in Bangladesh.”
Sharan Burrow, the International Trade Union Confederation’s General Secretary went further and said that “the rule for working people is uncertainty: low income, insecure jobs with little or no social protection are the reality for too many families.”
None of this is new, of course. But it’s still shocking, especially when we take a closer look at the data for Brazil. Despite still being generally considered a poor country, Brazil ranks tenth for the number of millionaires, higher than rich countries such as Spain or Switzerland. .
Brazil v. USA
What’s even more obscene, that group grew faster than in any other country in the world between 2013 and 2014, except for China. In that period, the number of millionaires shot up by about 350%. For the sake of comparison, in the United States, where the concentration of rich and ultra-rich is still higher than anywhere else on Earth, that number grew by a mere 20%.
Again, we’re talking about a time when the economy is largely stagnating. But as we saw with the figures published by UBS, the global economic slowdown didn’t even scratch those at the top.
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