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	Morbid Inequality: Now just six men have as much wealth as half the World Population by Paul Buchheit, Chuck Collins Institute for Policy Studies, agencies USA   Feb. 2017   Yes, inequality is getting worse every year. In early 2016 Oxfam reported that just 62 individuals had the same wealth as the bottom half of humanity. About a year later Oxfam reported that just 8 men had the same wealth as the world''s bottom half. Based on the same methodology and data sources used by Oxfam, that number is now down to 6.   How to account for the dramatic increase in the most flagrant and perverse of extreme inequalities? Two well-documented reasons: (1) The poorest half (and more) of the world has continued to lose wealth; and (2) The very richest individuals -- especially the top thousand or so -- continue to add billions of dollars to their massive fortunes.   Inequality deniers and apologists say the Oxfam methodology is flawed, but they''re missing the big picture. Whether it''s 6 individuals or 62 or 1,000 doesn''t really matter. The data from the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Databook (GWD) and the Forbes Billionaire List provide the best available tools to make it clear that inequality is extreme and pathological and getting worse every year.   How It''s Gone from 62 to Six in One Year   As of 02/17/17, the world''s 6 richest individuals (all men) had $412 billion. Tables 2-4 and 3-4 of the 2016 GWD reveal that the poorest five deciles of the world population own just .16% of the $256 trillion in global wealth, or $410 billion. That latter figure is based on mid-2016 data, but since then the status of the bottom 50% has not improved, and has in fact likely worsened, as both global debt and global inequality have increased.   Just a year ago, on 03/01/16, the world''s 6 richest men had $343 billion. They''re the same men today, although slightly rearranged as they play "king of the hill": Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos, Amancio Ortega, Mark Zuckerberg, Carlos Slim Helu (with Larry Ellison jockeying for position). The wealth of these six men increased by $69 billion in just one year.   Just a year ago, according to the 2015 GWD, the poorest five deciles of the world population owned much more than today, close to $1.5 trillion. What happened? It''s very clear: the world''s richest 10% (mostly the richest 1%) gained nearly $4 trillion while every other segment of the global population lost wealth.   That''s worth a second look. The world''s total wealth is about $256 trillion, and in JUST ONE YEAR the richest 10% drained nearly $4 trillion away from the rest of civilization.   It''s Not Just the Bottom Half: A 500-Seat Auditorium could hold as much Wealth as 70% of the World''s Population   According to the Forbes Billionaire List, the world''s richest 500 individuals have $4.73 trillion in wealth. Tables 2-4 and 3-4 of the GWD reveal that the poorest seven deciles of the world population own just 1.86% of the $256 trillion in global wealth, or $4.76 trillion. That''s over two-thirds of all the people on earth. That means 5,000,000,000 people -- Five Billion people -- have, on average, and after debt is figured in, about a thousand dollars each in home and property and savings.   In the US, the Forbes 400 Own as Much as 3/5 of the American People.   The bottom 60% of Americans, according to Table 6-5 in the GWD, own 3 percent of the nation''s $85 trillion in total wealth, or $2.55 trillion. The Forbes 400 owned $2.4 trillion in October 2016, and that''s been steadily increasing.   So as apologists like the National Review refer to "a growing upper-middle class" of people earning over $100,000 a year, they''re inadvertently offering an explanation for the demise of the middle class: Some are moving up, way up; many others are dropping to the lower-middle-class or below. The once sizable and stable middle of America is splitting into two.   The Deniers Are Lurking   The Boston Globe''s Jeff Jacoby calls the Oxfam analysis "irrelevant." Reuters contributor Felix Salmon calls it a "silly stat." Jacoby''s column includes some stunning assertions. He says, "Just as capitalism made it possible for Gates, Zuckerberg, and the others to reach the highest rung on the economic ladder, it is making it possible for billions of men and women to climb up from the lowest rung. Oxfam’s billionaires are richer than they used to be. So is almost everyone else." And he quotes writer Johan Norberg: "Poverty as we know it is disappearing from our planet."   While we keep hearing about the world "climbing out of poverty," much of the alleged improvement is due to rapid economic growth in China and creative math on the part of the UN. And yes, many Americans have negative wealth because of debt. A human being doesn''t have to live in a third-world slum to be impoverished.   Yet as inequality ravages the American and world economies, denial grows right along with it. The Cato''s Institute Michael Tanner suggests that "even if inequality were growing as fast as critics claim, it would not necessarily be a problem." George Will, of course, agrees. But like the other deniers, they all protest too much as they try to explain away reality. http://inequality.org/   * New data from Credit Suisse reveals that 42 people now own the same wealth as the poorest half of humanity. Access the Oxfam report: http://bit.ly/2Dstxer http://bit.ly/2G2DPU6   Reversing Inequality: Unleashing the Transformative Potential of an Equitable Economy, by Chuck Collins - Director of the Program on Inequality at the Institute for Policy Studies.   The US economy’s deep systemic inequalities of income, wealth, power, and opportunity are part of global inequality trends, but US-style capitalism and public policy make inequalities more acute. Their observable and felt harm to our civic and economic life is corroborated by research from many disciplines. Yet, by the same token, moving toward a more egalitarian society would realign most aspects of economic and social life for the better. So how can we bring these changes about?   For starters, we must know what we are up against. These inequalities do not spring mainly from technological change and globalization, though both compound and complicate the rift. Instead, imbalances of power and agency embedded in our political and economic system are the main drivers and accelerators of inequality.   Reducing inequality requires a “next systems” analysis and playbook. Here, we briefly examine our current inequality predicament and show how these inequalities undermine our democracy, economic stability, social cohesion, and other cherished values. We then explore the systemic causes, perpetuators, and superchargers of inequalities and, finally, evaluate policy interventions and pressure points for leveling them.   The path through this thicket is only partly uncharted. The United States can learn from other advanced industrial countries with significantly less inequality, adapting policies and practices to US needs and circumstances. We can also learn from our own history—from understanding that our rigged rules have been racially biased—to how we dramatically reduced inequality between 1940 and 1975.   That said, part of the path is uncharted. Grappling with climate change and other breached ecological boundaries—whether ocean acidification, fresh water contamination, or methane dumping—intensifies the challenges of reducing extreme inequality. And many of the New Deal and post-World War II policies that reduced inequality for earlier generations won’t work now given today’s levels of population, resource consumption, and ecological risk.   Together, the extent and widely felt effects of inequality challenge us to put a fine-tuned combination of historical insights, policy innovations, best practices, and fresh thinking to the test. Just as urgently, we also need a vision of a more equal and opportunity-rich society.   * Access the full essay: http://bit.ly/2vJOLnL http://www.carnegiecouncil.org/studio/multimedia/20180108-inequality-united-states-chuck-collins http://www.carnegiecouncil.org/studio/multimedia/20171221-extreme-poverty-united-states-philip-alston http://www.childrensdefense.org/library/state-of-americas-children/ http://bit.ly/1k2Dv8Y http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2017/08/02/book-review-white-trash-the-400-year-untold-history-of-class-in-america-by-nancy-isenberg/ http://ab.co/2GTi6hY   * More research on Inequality:   http://www.fightinequality.org/statement/ http://bit.ly/2Bkwk7o http://wir2018.wid.world/executive-summary.html http://data.unicef.org/resources/narrowing-the-gaps/ http://uni.cf/2h5c03F http://bit.ly/2vGVT1v http://data.unicef.org/resources/state-food-security-nutrition-world/   http://publications.wfp.org/2017/mapping-hunger/index.html http://interactive.unocha.org/publication/globalhumanitarianoverview http://bit.ly/2EWwULJ http://bit.ly/2rqQKMi http://www.globalnutritionreport.org/the-report/ http://www.wfp.org/news/news-release/new-wfp-report-examines-how-climate-change-drives-hunger http://www.wfp.org/videos/archive   http://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases/2017-10-10/imfs-key-article-iv-advice-inequality-detached-its-rhetoric http://bit.ly/2xYXAqH http://www.ituc-csi.org/trade-unions-call-on-ifis-to-19218 http://bit.ly/2gDEKCf http://www.hrw.org/topic/business/world-bank-imf http://www.hrw.org/news/2017/11/14/corporate-self-regulation-global-crisis http://bit.ly/2xYXAqH http://bit.ly/2fsdeUV http://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases/2017-11-08/five-steps-governments-can-take-stop-another-paradise-papers http://www.icij.org/investigations/paradise-papers/ http://www.icij.org/tags/paradise-papers/ http://www.icij.org/investigations/ http://www.icij.org/blog/   * OHCHR: States must act against “abusive” tax conduct of corporations - UN human rights experts: http://bit.ly/2E7aVSo http://bit.ly/2h5RYnX http://bit.ly/2yOWG4U http://bit.ly/2BbvKc6 http://bit.ly/2uDq5eN http://bit.ly/2x0IRyB   * International Bar Association: States’ duty to tackle tax evasion and mobilise resources for human rights: http://bit.ly/2j3AGsT   * Transparency International: Time to clean up Offshore Financial Tax Havens: http://bit.ly/2zfXn6R http://bit.ly/2xQGdvc http://bit.ly/2hB1faX   * Global Financial Integrity: Tax Abuses and Corruption by Companies and the Global Elite: http://bit.ly/2yxxFv7   * ILO, UN Women, Unicef - Options to expand social investments in 187 countries: http://bit.ly/2fgU07C http://bit.ly/2xhH4oh   http://www.taxjustice.net/2017/11/05/press-release-tjn-responds-paradisepapers/ http://www.taxjustice.net/2017/11/13/paradisepapers-un-human-rights-experts-react-states-must-act-abusive-tax-conduct/ http://www.icrict.org/time-for-the-un-to-act-to-end-tax-abuse-and-financial-secrecy/ http://www.ictd.ac/datasets/action-aid-tax-treaties-datasets http://www.cesr.org/human-rights-taxation http://www.cesr.org/tax-abuse-and-human-rights-closing-gap-between-whats-legal-and-whats-just http://www.socialwatch.org/node/17695 http://www.cesr.org/human-rights-economic-policy http://www.cesr.org/human-rights-sustainable-development   http://www.business-humanrights.org/en/binding-treaty http://bit.ly/2fF5crq http://www.escr-net.org/corporateaccountability/hrbusinesstreaty http://www.citizen.org/our-work/globalization-and-trade/investor-state-system http://bit.ly/2rxiij1 http://bit.ly/2BkzJ6a http://bit.ly/2DxCEOf http://bit.ly/2F3UTYr http://bit.ly/2sGiRTu http://bit.ly/1XuNl4S http://www.iied.org/rethinking-investment-treaties-laws-contracts http://canadians.org/blog/water-commons-or-commodity http://www.msfaccess.org/ http://www.msf.org/en/topics/access-campaign http://sites.sph.harvard.edu/hhrjournal/category/blog/ http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/global-education-fund-replenishment-broken-promises-by-jeffrey-d-sachs-2018-01 http://www.campaignforeducation.org/en/ http://www.globalpartnership.org/ http://www.fao.org/cfs/home/products/onlinegsf/en/ http://bit.ly/2mHYcwW http://bit.ly/2mK86OA http://bit.ly/2ERuJbz http://bit.ly/TKJNzO http://business-humanrights.org/en/news Visit the related web page
	Latin America’s Environmental Defenders find themselves in the Crosshairs by Ana Paula Hernández The Fund for Global Human Rights   February 2017   On January 15, Isidro Baldenegro, a prominent environmental leader and a 2005 recipient of the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize, was shot and killed in his home state of Chihuahua, Mexico. Baldenegro was a farmer and a community leader of Mexico’s indigenous Tarahumara people, defending forests from devastating logging in a region characterized by violence, corruption, and drug trafficking.   This deadly start to 2017 echoed a brutal murder almost one year earlier, on March 2, 2016, when environmental human rights defender Berta Cáceres was slain in her home in La Esperanza, Honduras. As the founder and coordinator of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras, Cáceres had led a decade-long fight against the building of the Agua Zarca Dam along the Gualcarque River, a project that threatened the livelihoods of hundreds of indigenous Lenca families. She received the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2015.   Cáceres’s murder was a wake-up call to other environmental human rights defenders across the Americas: if this could happen to such a well-known activist, then it could happen to anyone.   Environmental defenders, whose work often includes land and resource rights, the rights of indigenous communities, and both state and nonstate threats to healthy environments, are among the human rights defenders most at risk.   In his recent report, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders warns that the “shocking rate” of killings is “only the tip of the iceberg” of a disturbing trend of “increasing violence, intimidation, harassment, and demonization” of environmental human rights defenders.   Another report by Global Witness states that Latin America is the most dangerous region, and Honduras the most dangerous country, for environmental defenders. Of the 185 killed worldwide in 2015, 122 were in Latin America, while in Honduras 12 were killed in 2014 alone.   Latin American environmental defenders are under such intense threat because their activism challenges powerful economic and political interests.   The seven arrests made to date in Cáceres’s murder exposed ties between Desarrollos Energéticos, the company constructing the Agua Zarca Dam, and the Honduran military. Desarrollos Energéticos’s manager of social and environmental affairs allegedly planned Cáceres’s murder with the support of a Honduran Army special forces veteran and a retired Honduran Armed Forces military intelligence specialist.   The arrests and allegations exemplify the Honduran oligarchy’s extraordinary consolidation of power, a mere 10 families own the majority of the country’s land and businesses and include members of the political class. The military and the police, working in concert with private security forces, regularly protect private interests and silence their critics.   In Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras, environmental human rights defenders also face threats from organized crime. An InSight Crime article reveals the increasing control organized crime networks have over mining interests in Mexico, with gangs extorting payments from local and multinational mine operators, and in some cases taking full control over mining operations, using them both as a revenue source and as a money laundering mechanism.   A report from the El Salvador-based organization PRISMA exposes the role of organized crime [report in Spanish] in deforestation activities in Mesoamerica, describing how criminal groups are intensifying existing deforestation patterns by clearing forests for illegal runways and illicit rural trade routes, as well as laundering money through deforestation-related activities such as illegal logging, cattle ranching, and palm oil production. The communities that own these lands and resources are now directly threatened by organized crime networks.   As environmental human rights defenders operate in such complex contexts, strategies to ensure their safety must evolve. This involves understanding, analyzing, and documenting rights abuses and threats in ways that take into account this complexity.   Organizations, communities, and environmental defenders need a better understanding of criminal networks, corporations, and economic and political elites—and the relationships between them.   Other key aspects include gathering evidence on how states allow nonstate actors to operate with impunity, and increasing corporate transparency and accountability. Targeting the economic interests of corporations—for example, by presenting complaints to development banks that can suspend loans or conduct audits—may deter them, and the state and nonstate actors that benefit from their economic gains, from committing further abuses and attacks.   Where security threats are tied to the defense of land and resource rights, security protocols need to be collective and include community strategies. Concrete experiences in Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Mexico show that securing legal titles on land, supporting the recognition of community rights to natural resources, promoting community management plans of forests and resources, and strengthening monitoring systems that allow communities to better control and secure their territories are all effective measures in responding to threats to land and resource rights from organized crime.   As funders, we must move away from security and protection models that do not take into account the complexity of the contexts we now face.   This involves flexible funding that organizations, movements, and communities can use as they see necessary to ensure effective protection of and security for environmental human rights defenders. Never before has there been so much information on and attention to the threats they face. The challenge now is to translate this into concrete strategies to effectively ensure their safety.   http://www.fordfoundation.org/ideas/equals-change-blog/posts/one-year-after-her-death-berta-caceress-voice-lives-on/ Visit the related web page
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