Richest 1% to own half of world’s wealth by 2016, says Oxfam

This is something I’ve written about for more than 10 years. The reason I started the Poor Man Survival series. A democracy cannot survive without a strong middle class.

In 2008, 53 percent of all Americans considered themselves to be “middle class”. But by 2014, only 44 percent of all Americans still considered themselves to be “middle class”

During his State of the Union speech on Tuesday evening, Barack Obama is going to promise to make life better for middle class families. Of course he has also promised to do this during all of his other State of the Union addresses, but apparently he still believes that there are people out there that are buying what he is selling…

Wealth accumulated by the richest one percent will exceed that of the other 99 percent in 2016, the Oxfam charity said Monday, ahead of the annual meeting of the world's most powerful at Davos, Switzerland.

"The scale of global inequality is quite simply staggering and despite the issues shooting up the global agenda, the gap between the richest and the rest is widening fast," Oxfam executive director Winnie Byanyima said.

The richest one percent's share of global wealth increased from 44 percent in 2009 to 48 percent in 2014, the British charity said in a report, adding that it will be more that 50 percent in 2016.

The average wealth per adult in this group is $2.7 million (2.3 million euros), Oxfam said.

Of the remaining 52 percent, almost all -- 46 percent -- is owned by the rest of the richest fifth of the world's population, leaving the other 80 percent to share just 5.5 percent with an average wealth of $3,851 (3,330 euros) per adult, the report says.

Byanyima, who is to co-chair at the Davos World Economic Forum taking place Wednesday through Friday, urged leaders to take on "vested interests that stand in the way of a fairer and more prosperous world."

Oxfam called upon states to tackle tax evasion, improve public services, tax capital rather than labor, and introduce living minimum wages, among other measures, in a bid to ensure a more equitable distribution of wealth.

The 45th World Economic Forum that runs from Wednesday to Saturday will draw a record number of participants this year with more than 300 heads of state and government attending.

Rising inequality will be competing with other global crises including terrorist threats in Europe, the worst post-Cold War stand-off between Russia and the West and renewed fears of financial turmoil.

More at:

http://news.yahoo.com/oxfam-says-richest-one-percent-own-more-rest-001746708.html

A few disturbing notes to be aware of…

>American families in the middle 20 percent of the income scale now earn less money than they did on the day when Barack Obama first entered the White House.

>American families in the middle 20 percent of the income scale have a lower net worth than they did on the day when Barack Obama first entered the White House.

>According to a Washington Post article published just a few days ago, more than 50 percent of the children in U.S. public schools now come from low income homes. This is the first time that this has happened in at least 50 years.

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