The 10 richest people in the world added enough money to their fortunes last year to buy COVID-19 vaccines for every person on the planet, says a new report.
The British anti-poverty organization Oxfam has included the startling report in a comprehensive report to illustrate how the pandemic has widened the gap between rich and poor.
“Deceived economies are directing wealth to a wealthy elite escaping the luxury pandemic, while those at the forefront of the pandemic – shop assistants, health workers and market vendors – are struggling to pay their bills and put in food. on the table “, said the executive director of Oxfam International, Gabriela Bucher, in a communiqué.
The richest 10 billionaires saw their collective wealth grow by $ 540 billion from March 18 – when the coronavirus caused a historic collapse in global stock markets – to December 31, according to Oxfam’s analysis of Forbes wealth data.
This is more than enough to cover the estimated cost of $ 141.2 billion for the production, distribution and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to the entire global population, the nonprofit said in its report on Monday.
Billionaires could also use their added wealth to prevent anyone from falling into poverty as a result of the pandemic – which Oxfam says would cost about $ 88 billion a year – and end up in earnings, according to report.
Billionaires such as Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, Tesla boss Elon Musk and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg saw their fortunes explode last year, while the stock market saw a record recovery from its pandemic collapse.
Their earnings provided a stark contrast to the massive job losses and economic contractions that have resulted from the virus and its control efforts. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development expects the global economy to shrink by 4.2% last year due to the pandemic.
Oxfam has called on world leaders to address these inequities by raising corporate taxes, closing tax havens and expanding social assistance programs.
The group launched the recommendations on the first day of the annual conference in Davos of the World Economic Forum, which takes place practically this year.
“Extreme inequality is not inevitable, but a political choice,” Bucher said.