inequality

Fair tax regimes are vital to finance well-functioning states and to enable governments to uphold citizens’ rights to basic services, such as healthcare and education.

The G20’s plan to tackle corporate tax dodging, devised by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), needs a radical shake up so that developing countries can capture their fair share of foreign business activity, according to a new report published today by Oxfam.

Oxfam’s Nicolas Mombrial said:

Oxfam's Nicolas Mombrial said: “The IMF and World Bank have admitted the dangers of skyrocketing inequality, but they’re not showing any concrete signs of dealing with the problem.

Following Oxfam’s January report revealing that just 85 people owned the same wealth as the bottom half the world’s population, Forbes has updated its “billionaires' list”, showing that extreme inequality has worsened– just 67 people at the top now own half the wealth.

Countries can start tackling inequality today by triggering an “economic stimulus” directly into the pockets of those who need it most – by investing more in public services like health and education.

Public services like health and education are one of the strongest weapons in the fight against inequality.

Oxfam warns that in spite of the advances made in the last decade, Latin America and the Caribbean remains the region of highest wealth inequality in the world. Its elites continue to accumulate extreme wealth and excessive power.

The IMF has released a discussion note, authorized for distribution by chief economist Olivier Blanchard, on the damaging effect of income inequality on economic growth and supporting redistributiv

The G20 must take necessary steps to reform the international taxation system to stop wealthy tax dodgers, beginning at its Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting this weekend (22-23 Feb) in Sydney.