The ten richest people in the world added enough money to their lot last year to buy COVID-19 vaccines for every person on the planet, according to a new report.
The British anti-poverty organization Oxfam included the astonishing finding in a comprehensive report to illustrate how the pandemic widened the gap between rich and poor.
‘Covered economies lead wealth to a wealthy elite that drives the pandemic into luxury, while those at the forefront of the pandemic – shop assistants, health workers and market vendors – struggle to pay the bills and put food on the table. “” Oxfam International CEO Gabriela Bucher said in a statement.
According to Oxfam’s analysis of Forbes’ wealth data, the top ten billionaires increased by $ 540 billion from March 18 – by the time the coronavirus caused a historic collapse in the world’s stock markets – to $ 540 billion by December 31st.
That’s more than enough to cover the estimated $ 141.2 billion cost of manufacturing, distributing and delivering COVID-19 vaccines to the entire world population, the nonprofit said in its report Monday.
The billionaires can also use their added wealth to prevent someone from falling into poverty as a result of the pandemic – which according to Oxfam would cost about $ 88 billion a year – and according to the report would still make a profit.
Billionaires such as Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO, Elon Musk, Tesla boss, and Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, saw their fortunes explode last year when the stock market made a record rebound due to the pandemic-induced crash.
Their gains provided a stark contrast to the enormous job losses and economic contraction due to the virus and efforts to control it. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development expects the world economy to have shrunk by 4.2 per cent last year thanks to the pandemic.
Oxfam has called on world leaders to address these inequalities by raising corporate taxes, closing tax havens and expanding social welfare programs.
The group announced the recommendations on the first day of the World Economic Forum’s annual Davos conference, which is being held virtually this year.
“Extreme inequality is not inevitable, but a policy choice,” Bucher said.