inequality

Runaway inequality has created a world where 62 people own as much wealth as the poorest half of the world’s population combined, according to an Oxfam report published today ahead of the annual gathering of the world’s financial and political elites in Davos.

Millions of poor and vulnerable people face hunger and poverty this year and next because of record global temperatures, droughts and erratic rains in 2014 and 2015, compounded by the development of possibly the most powerful El Niño on record.

In this briefing Oxfam presents new data analysis that demonstrates the extent of global carbon inequality by estimating and comparing the lifestyle consumption emissions of rich and poor citizens in different countries. 

Extreme wealth evokes images of both deserving entrepreneurs and fat cats. This paper explores whether the meritocracy argument stands up as a defence of extreme wealth. 

The G20 leaders’ summit has made welcome progress in tackling the refugee crisis while also taking tentative steps towards addressing the gap between rich and poor. However, the G20 has done little to build momentum toward an ambitious climate deal.

The April 2015 earthquake devastated Nepal, affecting more than eight million people. This briefing paper considers the successes and challenges of the response so far, and looks at what must be done to ensure that Nepal recovers in a way which makes it more resilient and more equitable.

At the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the IMF in Peru this week, moves to help combat inequality and climate change were announced, but G20 finance ministers failed to adequately address the skewed international tax system, said Oxfam today.

G20 finance ministers in Lima today endorsed international tax reforms for tackling tax dodging launched by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). While the measures are a tax milestone, they poorly represent the critical needs of developing countries, Oxfam warned today.

In a puzzling move, inequality was not on the agenda at the International Monetary Fund’s Press Briefing in the Peruvian capital today, while World Bank President Jim Kim said TPP could boost growth.

Oxfam is encouraged by World Bank President Dr. Jim Yong Kim’s rejection of trickle-down economics and his clear stance on the enormous challenge inequality poses across the world.