We need a global new deal to reverse decades of increasing inequality by Oxfam, OHCHR, Uncef, Save the Children & agencies 1:12am 20th Jan, 2013   Leaders meeting in Davos must take concrete action to reverse rapidly rising global inequality.    As we enter yet another year of global uncertainty, government and business leaders are heading to the World Economic Forum in Davos as its own Global Risk report identifies growing inequality for the second year as one of the biggest challenges the world is facing. The Occupy protests that took place in cities from London to Lagos demonstrated the strength of public outrage at the increasing wealth and power of the richest elites, whilst the poorest 99% find themselves struggling following a crisis not of their making.    Rather than reversing the process of rising inequality, the financial crisis has accelerated it. While public spending is being cut, the luxury goods market has registered double-digit growth every year since the crisis hit.    The annual income of richest 100 people is enough to end global poverty four times over .    “We can no longer pretend that the creation of wealth for a few will inevitably benefit the many – too often the reverse is true.” says Jeremy Hobbs, Executive Director, Oxfam International.    The explosion in extreme wealth and income of global elite interests is exacerbating inequality and hindering the world’s ability to tackle poverty.    The $240 billion net income in 2012 of the richest 100 billionaires would be enough to make extreme poverty history four times over.    The richest one per cent has increased its income by 60 per cent in the last 20 years with the financial crisis accelerating rather than slowing the process.    Oxfam warned that extreme wealth and income is not only unethical it is also economically inefficient, politically corrosive, socially divisive and environmentally destructive.    “We can no longer pretend that the creation of wealth for a few will inevitably benefit the many – too often the reverse is true.    “Concentration of resources in the hands of the top one per cent depresses economic activity and makes life harder for everyone else – particularly those at the bottom of the economic ladder.    “In a world where even basic resources such as land and water are increasingly scarce, we cannot afford to concentrate assets in the hands of a few and leave the many to struggle over what’s left.”    Members of the richest one per cent are estimated to use as much as 10,000 times more carbon than the average US citizen.    Oxfam said world leaders could learn from countries such as Brazil which has grown rapidly while reducing inequality – as well as the historical success such as the United States in the 1930s when President Roosevelt’s New Deal helped bring down inequality and tackle vested interests. Roosevelt famously warned that the “political equality we once had won was meaningless in the face of economic inequality.”    Hobbs said: “We need a global new deal to reverse decades of increasing inequality. As a first step world leaders should formally commit themselves to reducing inequality.    “From tax havens to weak employment laws, the richest benefit from a global economic system which is rigged in their favour. It is time our leaders reformed the system so that it works in the interests of the whole of humanity rather than a global elite.”    Closing tax havens – which hold as much as $32 trillion or a third of all global wealth – could yield an additional $189bn in additional tax revenues. In addition to a tax haven crackdown, elements of a global new deal could include:    •a reversal of the trend towards more regressive forms of taxation;    •a global minimum corporation tax rate;    •measures to boost wages compared with returns available to capital;    •increased investment in free public services and safety nets.    The consolidation of wealth and capital in so few hands is economically inefficient because it depresses demand, a point made by Henry Ford. It is socially divisive. If you are born poor in a very unequal society, you are much more likely to end your life in poverty. As Mahatma Gandhi said: "The Earth provides enough to satisfy every man"s need, but not every man"s greed."    The tax system should be progressive and limit rather than exacerbate inequality. US businessman Warren Buffet underlined the unfairness of a tax system that allows him – on an income of $46m (£28m) – to pay only 17.7% in tax. His secretary, still on an above-average income of $60,000, is taxed at 30%.    Even when they are asked to pay tax, the extremely wealthy can use tax havens and financial secrecy to put their money where it cannot be taxed. It"s estimated that a quarter of all global wealth – as much as $32tn– is held offshore, and is untaxed.    The world over people are angry about inequality and unfairness that sees an ever-larger slice of the cake for the rich, while the poor are asked to survive an age of austerity.    Governments can no longer afford to stand idly by while inequality increases – it is high time to act to put the interests of the vast majority first, not just select few.    The vast fortunes made by the world"s richest 100 billionaires is driving up inequality and hindering the world"s ability to tackle poverty.    The accumulation of wealth and income on an unprecedented scale, is too often at the expense of secure jobs and decent wages.    The $240bn net income amassed in 2012 by the richest 100 billionaires would be enough to make extreme poverty history four times over.    In the report, The Cost of Inequality: How Wealth and Income Extremes Hurt Us All, Oxfam calls on world leaders to act curb income extremes and commit to reducing inequality to at least 1990 levels.    The report highlights that the richest 1% had increased their incomes by 60% in the past 20 years, with the financial crisis accelerating rather than slowing the process.    Barbara Stocking, Oxfam"s chief executive, said extreme wealth was "economically inefficient, politically corrosive, socially divisive and environmentally destructive".    She pointed to studies that show countries have suffered low levels of investment and growth as workers are forced to survive on a smaller share of total incomes.    She said: "We can no longer pretend that the creation of wealth for a few will inevitably benefit the many – too often the reverse is true."    The report said the issue affected all parts of the world. "In the UK inequality is rapidly returning to levels not seen since the time of Charles Dickens. In China the top 10% now take home nearly 60% of the income. Chinese inequality levels are now similar to those in South Africa, which is now the most unequal country on Earth and significantly more unequal than at the end of apartheid."    In the US, the share of national income going to the top 1% has doubled since 1980 from 10 to 20%. For the top 0.01% the share of national income is above levels last seen in the 1920s.    Stocking said: "We need a global new deal to reverse decades of increasing inequality."    She said closing tax havens, which the Tax Justice Network says hold as much as $31 trillion, or as much as a third of all global wealth, could yield an additional $189bn (£118bn) in additional tax revenues.    “We can no longer pretend that the creation of wealth for a few will inevitably benefit the many – too often the reverse is true".    “In a world where even basic resources such as land and water are increasingly scarce, we cannot afford to concentrate assets in the hands of a few and leave the many to struggle over what’s left.”    Barbara Stocking, says the world"s extremity of wealth inequality is "economically inefficient, politically corrosive, socially divisive and environmentally destructive".    Oxfam is calling for a "new global deal" which would stabilize the world"s economic systems and bring equality back in way that would benefit all humanity.    “From tax havens to weak employment laws, the richest benefit from a global economic system which is rigged in their favour. It is time our leaders reformed the system so that it works in the interests of the whole of humanity rather than a global elite.”    http://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressrelease/2013-01-19/annual-income-richest-100-people-enough-end-global-poverty-four-times    * Below is a brief listing of links to reports and agencies that explore the pressing issues of Inequality, it is by no means definitive or complete; note some of the pdf reports are large files:    http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/news-and-comment/news/2012-10/gap-between-rich-and-poorest-widest-nineties    Tax Justice Network: http://www.taxjustice.net/cms/front_content.php?idcatart=2&lang=1    http://www.thersa.org/events/video/vision-videos/ending-poverty    http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/resources/online-library/ending-poverty-our-generation    http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/node/2781    http://www.ilo.org/ipec/lang--en/index.htm    http://www.beyond2015.org/content/relevant-research http://www.beyond2015.org/blogs-media http://www.beyond2015.org/video-audio    http://www.worldwewant2015.org/ http://www.whiteband.org/ http://enoughfoodif.org/home    http://www.actionaid.org/what-we-do/food-rights/world-food-day    http://www.chronicpoverty.org/page/about-chronic-poverty http://www.ichrp.org/    http://www.unicef-irc.org/media-centre/video/all-video/    http://www.transparency.org/news/features http://www.business-humanrights.org/    http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Business/Pages/BusinessIndex.aspx    http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Business/Pages/Tools.aspx    http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=28828&flag=news    http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Poverty/Pages/SRExtremePovertyIndex.aspx    http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Development/IEDebt/Pages/IEDebtIndex.aspx    http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Food/Pages/FoodIndex.aspx    http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/WaterAndSanitation/SRWater/Pages/SRWaterIndex.aspx    http://www.blueplanetproject.net/    http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Housing/Pages/HousingIndex.aspx    http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Pages/ListofIssues.aspx    http://www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk/ http://www.rtfn-watch.org/ http://www.globalwitness.org/    http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Food/20121009_GFSP_en.pdf    http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=12644&LangID=E    http://www.issa.int/Observatory/In-Focus/In-Focus-International-strategies-to-extend-social-security-coverage http://www.socialprotectionfloor-gateway.org/ http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/social-security/lang--en/index.htm    http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/press-and-media-centre/news/WCMS_166292/lang--en/index.htm    http://www.ilo.org/global/lang--en/index.htm#a4    http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/hlpe/hlpe_documents/HLPE_Reports/HLPE-Report-4-Social_protection_for_food_security-June_2012.pdf    Committee on World Food Security: http://www.fao.org/cfs/en/    High Level Panel of Experts on food security: http://www.fao.org/cfs/cfs-hlpe/en/    http://www.foodsecurityportal.org/news    GRAIN: http://www.grain.org/ Oakland Institute: http://www.oaklandinstitute.org/    http://www.unep.org/newscentre/Default.aspx?DocumentID=2683&ArticleID=9145&l=en    http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=43481&Cr=food+security&Cr1=#.UKLdCGdafL0    http://reliefweb.int/report/world/joint-statement-fao-ifad-and-wfp-international-food-prices    http://www.fao.org/getinvolved/worldfoodday/en/    http://www.earth-policy.org/press_room/C68/fpep_presentation_    http://2012.coop/en/media/news/statement-world-food-day-%E2%80%93-16-october-2012    http://www.interacademies.net/News/PressReleases/19185.aspx http://www.icsu.org/future-earth    http://www.earth.columbia.edu/videos    http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/06/12/amnesty-international-and-human-rights-watch-joint-statement-rio-20-un-conference-su    http://www.un.org/gsp/news-and-media    http://www.cesr.org/article.php?id=1303    http://www.ipc-undp.org/pub/IPCPolicyResearchBrief3.pdf    http://www.propublica.org/article/can-you-fight-poverty-with-a-five-star-hotel    http://www.oecd.org/document/40/0,3746,en_21571361_44315115_49166760_1_1_1_1,00.htmltel    http://www.oecd.org/dac/dcr2012.htm    http://rio20.net/en/ http://www.escr-net.org/    http://www.opendemocracy.net/marc-edelman/one-third-of-humanity-peasant-rights-in-united-nations    http://www.actionaid.org/news/quarter-worlds-population-brink-triple-crisis-warns-actionaid    http://www.afhdr.org/en/    http://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/20120905-ib-extreme-weather-extreme-prices-en.pdf    http://www.oxfam.org/en/grow/pressroom/pressrelease/2012-10-02/land-sold-last-decade-could-grow-enough-food-feed-billion-people http://www.oxfam.org/grow http://oxf.am/oZK    http://www.fao.org/docrep/014/i2096e/i2096e.pdf    http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/154876/icode/    http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/poverty-reduction/trade_content/towards-a-human-rights-based-approach-to-food-security--a-self-a/    http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96521/FOOD-Land-grabbing-linked-with-hunger    http://www.irinnews.org/In-depth/77872/72/A-global-food-crisis    http://www.irinnews.org/Film/4131/Hungry-for-Help    http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96529/HEALTH-Urban-poor-missing-out-on-vital-nutrients    http://www.trust.org/alertnet/multimedia/in-focus/hungry-world/ http://ccafs.cgiar.org/news/    http://halfinten.org/talkpoverty http://www.spotlightonpoverty.org/ http://www.escr-net.org/resources    http://www.bostonreview.net/BR37.2/ndf_inequality.php    http://www.nybooks.com/articles/23519 http://www.naca.net/    http://privatizationofrisk.ssrc.org/ http://www.serfindex.org/    http://www.wfto.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=195&Itemid=314    http://www.eapn.eu/ http://www.solidar.org/ http://www.cesr.org/ http://dare-network.blogspot.com/ http://www.world-psi.org/ http://www.world-psi.org/en/issue/privatisation    http://survey2012.ituc-csi.org    http://www.christianaid.org.uk/images/constrained-world.pdf    http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/statement.imfwb.0412.pdf    http://www.pewglobal.org/2012/07/12/pervasive-gloom-about-the-world-economy/    http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=42866&Cr=economic+growth&Cr1=#.UFEXtK55eMo    http://www.iied.org/rio20-key-recommendations-iied-conference    http://www.ethicaltrade.org/ http://wiego.org/ http://www.laborrights.org/    http://www.un-ngls.org/spip.php?page=mdg2010    http://www.wider.unu.edu/research/projects-by-theme/development-and-finance/en_GB/Elites-and-Economic-Dev-Conf/    http://unu.edu/articles/development-governance/redefining-poverty-in-china-and-india    http://infochangeindia.org/Poverty/ http://www.ipsnews.net/2011/04/food-price-hike-worsens-poverty-in-asia/    http://www.whypoverty.net/ http://www.undp.org/poverty/ http://social.un.org/index/    http://www.isdp.eu/images/stories/isdp-main-pdf/2012_rylander-rudengren-poverty-paradox.pdf    http://www.socialwatch.org/node/15326 http://www.amnesty.org/en/demand-dignity    http://www.urbansurvivors.org/en/#/home    http://www.worldwewant2015.org/node/287100    http://www.sdinet.org/ http://www.homeless-international.org/    http://www.streetchildren.org.uk/    http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Children/Study/Pages/childrenonthestreet.aspx    http://www.crin.org/resources/    http://www.iied.org/statistics-middle-tells-you-nothing-about-extremes    http://www.antislavery.org/english/slavery_today/default.aspx    http://www.unwomen.org http://www.un.org/womenwatch/ungen/    http://www.trust.org/trustlaw/news/special-coverage/trust-women-conference/    http://womennewsnetwork.net/ http://www.ipsnews.net/genderwire/ http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/ http://www.nobelwomensinitiative.org/ http://blogs.oxfam.org/en/food-and-gender    http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/women/stories.htm    http://www.therules.org/en http://www.stwr.org/    http://www.minorityrights.org/ http://www.survivalinternational.org/ http://www.culturalsurvival.org/    http://social.un.org/index/IndigenousPeoples/NewsandMedia.aspx    http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/    http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home    http://www.internationaldisabilityalliance.org/en    http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=33    http://www.widernet.org/egranary/gdrl    http://www.who.int/disabilities/en/    http://drpi.research.yorku.ca/ http://www.dpi.org/    http://www.ipc-undp.org/PageNewSiteb.do?id=48&active=3    http://robinhoodtax.org.uk/    http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=12150&LangID=E    http://www.africaprogresspanel.org/en/pressroom/speeches-and-statements/statement-financial-transactions-tax/    http://www.ibanet.org/Article/Detail.aspx?ArticleUid=7C696226-F707-4BC3-A61C-780C0412139A    http://www.gfintegrity.org/    http://www.actionaid.org.uk/103042/discover_the_interactive_ftse_100_tax_haven_map.html    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/money-power-wall-street/ http://video.pbs.org/video/2327953844    http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/i/income/income_inequality/index.html    Mary Robinson Foundation: www.mrfcj.org/ (external link)    * With the wide use of openly displayed url addresses by social media, the older style visible addresses above are for simple research purposes.
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