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The trend of phenomenal growth of wealth of the superrich shows no sign of relenting. Under the existing archaic, exploitative and free-market economic system, anything different can hardly be expected. In its report "Takers Not Makers", the Oxfam International presents a bleak picture of the world where its rich Global North preaches democracy, social justice, human rights and the rule of law but practices in most cases the opposite. In 2024, the number of billionaires worldwide was 2,769, up from the previous year's 2,565. This means 204 ultra-rich joined the bandwagon of billionaires in the past one year at the rate of four a week.
Contrast this with the number of poor people in the world, which has hardly changed since 1990 as the World Bank's data show. What an atrocious economic order the privileged and top affluent people in every society have established! Under its arrangement, billionaire wealth grew by $2.0 trillion in 2024 alone. Together they could garner roughly $5.7 billion a day to line their coffers throughout the year. The $2.0 trillion addition of annual wealth to their $13 trillion makes the total $15 trillion and this growth is three times faster than that of the previous year. Again, the total wealth increase is the second highest after the $5.8 trillion increase in the pandemic year 2021.
Is this an indication that the more the miseries the general public suffer the greater the opportunity for the rich and the superrich to line their coffers? The "Takers Not Makers" was published significantly on the day heads of states and governments, chiefs of all major international organisations, representatives from 1,000 most important global companies, civil society and academic institutions from around the world gathered at Davos, Switzerland to join the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024. This year perhaps it was even more significant because of the beginning on the same day of the second stint as president of the United States for Donald Trump who enjoys the support from the world's richest man Elon Musk. A plethora of executive orders on the first day sent a shockwave all across the world because of the potential adverse impacts they will have on the world orders---financial, commercial, industrial, social and international equations.
In this context, Joe Biden's warning of the rise of oligarchy in the US should be taken seriously. In his final Oval Office speech before leaving the White House, he warned, "Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that really threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedom, and a fair shot for everyone to go ahead". Whether there were such opportunities for everyone to shape their destiny may be debatable but few countries left so many avenues as did America for the majority to go up the social ladder.
At this point, the difference between the systems of wealth creation in Europe and America could not be starker. As the Oxfam report reveals, 'billionaire wealth is largely unearned'. That 60 per cent of the wealth billionaires now accumulate has its origin in 'inheritance, monopoly power and crony connections'. Of the total wealth they possess, 36 per cent is inherited. According to the Forbes, every billionaire under 30 has inherited his or her wealth and the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) finds that more than 1,000 of today's billionaires will leave in excess of $5.2 trillion for their inheritors over the next two to three decades. The scenario will be in favour of polarising societies further and further as the Oxfam now revises its prediction that instead of just one trillionaire, there are likely to be five trillionaires in the next decade.
The process of exploitation, notwithstanding the disappearance of colonialism in its blatant physical form, of poor countries in the Global South continues unabated with European colonialists shaping new dynamics of wealth extraction from their former colonies. Meanwhile the US has followed suit too. This new colonialism is subtle and in the guise of industrialisation and investment has been responsible for channelling $30 million an hour from the Global South to the Global North. No wonder, the latter controls 69 per cent of the global wealth, 77 per cent of the billionaire wealth, and boasts 68 per cent of world's billionaires although only 21 per cent of the planet's population lives there.
The skewed financial system put in place courtesy of the Bretton Woods institutions has compelled the low- and middle-income countries like Bangladesh to spend on an average nearly half of their national budgets on debt repayments. The share of the repayments is larger than their combined investment in education and healthcare. There is hardly any need to explain the adverse impacts it has on the loan-recipient nations in terms of their infrastructural development let alone physical and mental development.
Again, to perpetuate their exploitation, the exploiters in the West have created a subservient class in the low- and middle-income countries. This class follows its masters to exploit the poor in amassing money. Because such people's income is mostly illegal, they siphon money off to the banks in countries often considered tax havens. This money could be used for developing quality health care, educational institutions and creation of employment in their own countries. Thus the poor stay poor not only in the Global South but also in countries that have extracted unlimited resources from their colonies. According to Shelter England, which works for homeless people, one in 160 people in England were homeless at the end of 2024 up from one in 182 in 2023.
Such glaring disparities in living conditions are indicative of a diseased economic arrangement and therefore a shame for the humanity and civilisation.