AN ECONOMY FOR THE 99%: It’s time to build a human economy that benefits everyone, not just the privileged few
[ http://policy-practice.oxfam.org.uk/pub ... one-620170 ]
January 2017
It's time to build a human economy that benefits everyone, not just the privileged few
New estimates show that just eight men own the same wealth as the poorest half of the world. As growth benefits the richest, the rest of society – especially the poorest – suffers. The very design of our economies and the principles of our economics have taken us to this extreme, unsustainable and unjust point. Our economy must stop excessively rewarding those at the top and start working for all people. Accountable and visionary governments, businesses that work in the interests of workers and producers, a valued environment, women’s rights and a strong system of fair taxation, are central to this more human economy.
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“It is four years since the World Economic Forum identified rising economic inequality as a major threat to social stability,1 and three years since the World Bank twinned its goal for ending poverty with the need for shared prosperity.2 Since then, and despite world leaders signing up to a global goal to reduce inequality, the gap between the rich and the rest has widened. This cannot continue. As President Obama told the UN General Assembly in his departing speech in September 2016: “A world where 1% of humanity controls as much wealth as the bottom 99% will never be stable.”
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[ http://policy-practice.oxfam.org.uk/pub ... one-620170 ]