According to Sam Pizzigati from the Institute for Policy Studies, the millionaires at Davos can do a lot more than talk about global inequality. If the global business elites gathering in Switzerland really want to do something big, they should simply stop dodging their taxes.
In a recent study released by Oxfam International, as of 2010, 388 of the richest billionaires on earth owned as much wealth as the poorest half of the world's population.
By last year, the top 62 billionaires matched the wealth of half the planet. Yes, you heard that right - sixty-two individuals own as much as 3.6 billion people.
Together, our global top one percent has more net worth than the rest of the world combined. And, all those billionaires are hiding a heck of a lot of cash in offshore tax havens.
According to Oxfam's researchers, the wealthy elite have $7.6 trillion dollars stashed offshore, and the rich and powerful people meeting in Davos have the power to do something about that.
As Sam wrote in his article, "Those corporate CEOs sashaying around Davos, in other words, could with some simple executive orders put a huge dent on a global system of tax avoidance."
Oxfam says that depriving countries that much needed tax revenue, "denies poor countries the resources they need to tackle poverty, put children in school, and prevent their citizens dying from easily curable diseases." But, Sam says, "Don't hold your breath."
He knows that the people meeting in Davos who have the power to change the system are the same people who rigged the system to begin with. The only way to fight inequality is to force them to pay their fare share.
-Thom
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