{"id":213845,"date":"2022-05-30T12:00:34","date_gmt":"2022-05-30T11:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=213845"},"modified":"2025-01-10T15:06:41","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T15:06:41","slug":"pandemic-created-1-new-billionaire-every-30-hours-now-millions-could-face-extreme-poverty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2022\/05\/pandemic-created-1-new-billionaire-every-30-hours-now-millions-could-face-extreme-poverty\/","title":{"rendered":"Pandemic Created 1 New Billionaire Every 30 Hours, Now Millions Could Face \u2018Extreme\u2019 Poverty"},"content":{"rendered":"

For every new billionaire created during the pandemic \u2014 one every 30 hours \u2014 nearly a million people could be pushed into extreme poverty in 2022 at nearly the same rate, according to Oxfam.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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https:\/\/childrenshealthdefense.org\/defender\/pandemic-billionaires-inflation-poverty\/?<\/p><\/div>\n

25 May 2022 – <\/em>For every new billionaire created during the pandemic \u2014 one every 30 hours \u2014 nearly a million people could be pushed into extreme poverty in 2022 at nearly the same rate, reveals a new Oxfam brief May 23.<\/p>\n

\u201cProfiting from Pain<\/a>\u201d is published as the World Economic Forum<\/a> \u2014 the exclusive get-together of the global elite in Davos \u2014 takes place for the first time face-to-face since COVID-19, a period during which billionaires have enjoyed a huge boost to their fortunes.<\/p>\n

\u201cBillionaires are arriving in Davos<\/a> to celebrate an incredible surge in their fortunes. The pandemic and now the steep increases in food and energy prices have, simply put, been a bonanza for them. Meanwhile, decades of progress on extreme poverty are now in reverse and millions of people are facing impossible rises in the cost of simply staying alive,\u201d said Gabriela Bucher, Executive Director of Oxfam International.<\/p>\n

The brief shows that 573 people became new billionaires during the pandemic<\/a>, at the rate of one every 30 hours. We expect this year that 263 million more people will crash into extreme poverty, at a rate of a million people every 33 hours.<\/p>\n

Billionaires\u2019 wealth<\/a> has risen more in the first 24 months of COVID-19<\/a> than in 23 years combined. The total wealth of the world\u2019s billionaires is now equivalent to 13.9% of global GDP. This is a three-fold increase (up from 4.4%) in 2000.<\/p>\n

Bucher said:<\/p>\n

\u201cBillionaires\u2019 fortunes have not increased because they are now smarter or working harder. Workers are working harder, for less pay and in worse conditions.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe super-rich have rigged the system<\/a> with impunity for decades and they are now reaping the benefits.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThey have seized a shocking amount of the world\u2019s wealth as a result of privatization and monopolies, gutting regulation and workers\u2019 rights while stashing their cash in tax havens \u2014 all with the complicity of governments.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cMeanwhile, millions of others are skipping meals, turning off the heating, falling behind on bills and wondering what they can possibly do next to survive. Across East Africa<\/a>, one person is likely dying every minute from hunger.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThis grotesque inequality is breaking the bonds that hold us together as humanity. It is divisive, corrosive and dangerous. This is inequality that literally kills.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Oxfam\u2019s new research also reveals that corporations in the energy, food and pharmaceutical<\/a> sectors \u2014 where monopolies are especially common \u2014 are posting record-high profits, even as wages have barely budged and workers struggle with decades-high prices amid COVID-19.<\/p>\n

The fortunes of food<\/a> and energy billionaires have risen by $453 billion in the last two years, equivalent to $1 billion every two days.<\/p>\n

Five of the largest energy companies<\/a> (BP, Shell, TotalEnergies, Exxon and Chevron) are together making $2,600 profit every second, and there are now 62 new food billionaires.<\/p>\n

Together with just three other companies, the Cargill family controls 70% of the global agricultural market.<\/p>\n

Last year Cargill<\/a> made the biggest profit in its history ($5 billion in net income) and the company is expected to beat its record profit again in 2022. The Cargill family alone now has 12 billionaires, up from eight before the pandemic.<\/p>\n

From Sri Lanka to Sudan, record-high global food prices are sparking social and political upheaval. Sixty percent of low-income countries are on the brink of debt distress.<\/p>\n

While inflation is rising everywhere, price hikes are particularly devastating for low-wage workers whose health and livelihoods were already most vulnerable to COVID-19, particularly women, racialized and marginalized people.<\/p>\n

People in poorer countries spend more than twice as much of their income on food than those in rich countries.<\/p>\n