573 new billionaires during Covid pandemic; one every 30 hrs: Oxfam

For every new billionaire created during the pandemic — one every 30 hours — nearly a million people could be pushed into extreme poverty in 2022 at nearly the same rate, reveals a new Oxfam report. At the rate of one every 30 hours, around 573 people became new billionaires during the Covid pandemic, it says. At the same time, 263 million more people crashed into extreme poverty, at a rate of a million people every 33 hours, the report reveals.

The report, “Profiting from Pain”, is published as the World Economic Forum (WEF) — the exclusive get-together of the global elite in Davos — 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.

Billionaires’ wealth has risen more in the first 24 months of Covid-19 than in 23 years combined, says the Oxfam report. The total wealth of the world’s billionaires is now equivalent to 13.9% of global GDP, a three-fold increase (up from 4.4%) in 2000.

“Billionaires are arriving in Davos 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,” said Gabriela Bucher, executive director of Oxfam International.

Today, 2,668 billionaires — 573 more than in 2020 — own $12.7 trillion, an increase of $3.78 trillion, it says. The world’s ten richest men own more wealth than the bottom 40% of humanity, 3.1 billion people. The richest 20 billionaires are worth more than the entire GDP of sub-Saharan Africa, finds the report. "A worker in the bottom 50% would have to work for 112 years to earn what a person in the top 1% gets in a single year."

Moreover, the Covid pandemic has created 40 new pharma billionaires. Pharmaceutical corporations like Moderna and Pfizer are making $1,000 profit every second just from their monopoly control of the Covid-19 vaccine, despite its development having been supported by billions of dollars in public investments. "They are charging governments up to 24 times more than the potential cost of generic production."

At the same time, 87% of people in low-income countries have still not been fully vaccinated, the report reveals.

Bucher said billionaires’ fortunes have not increased because they are now smarter or working harder. "Workers are working harder, for less pay and in worse conditions. The super-rich have rigged the system with impunity for decades and they are now reaping the benefits," says the Oxfam chief.

Oxfam’s new research says corporations in the energy, food and pharmaceutical sectors — where monopolies are especially common — are posting record-high profits, even as wages have barely budged and workers struggle with decades-high prices amid Covid-19. The fortunes of food and energy billionaires have risen by $453 billion in the last two years, equivalent to $1 billion every two days. "Five of the largest energy companies (BP, Shell, TotalEnergies, Exxon and Chevron) are together making $2,600 profit every second, and there are now 62 new food billionaires," it adds.

From Sri Lanka to Sudan, record-high global food prices are sparking social and political upheaval, the report reveals. Total 60% of low-income countries are on the brink of debt distress, reveals the report.

The Oxfam report calls for introducing one-off solidarity taxes on billionaires’ pandemic windfalls to fund support for people facing rising food and energy costs, and a fair and sustainable recovery from Covid-19. The crisis profiteering must be ended by introducing a "temporary excess profit tax of 90%", it says. Oxfam estimates such a tax on just 32 super-profitable multinational companies could have generated $104 billion in revenue in 2020. It also calls for introducing permanent wealth taxes to rein in extreme wealth and monopoly power, as well as the outsised carbon emissions of the super-rich.