{"id":15675,"date":"2018-05-18T10:22:34","date_gmt":"2018-05-18T10:22:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ceo-na.com\/?p=15675"},"modified":"2018-05-21T22:50:52","modified_gmt":"2018-05-21T22:50:52","slug":"billionaire-boom-symptom-failing-economic-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/servidor-mxigen1.com\/ceona-antiguo\/business\/management-leadership\/billionaire-boom-symptom-failing-economic-system\/","title":{"rendered":"The billionaire boom: symptom of a failing economic system"},"content":{"rendered":"

42 individuals own as much wealth as the world’s poorest 3.7 billion people.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

2017 was not a bad year for billionaires.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Tham, 23, cleans the small room in which she lives in an industrial district of Hai Duong, Vietnam. (Photo: Sam Tarling\/Oxfam International)<\/p><\/div>\n

As 2018 came along, last year closed down on a total of\u00a02,043 billionaires<\/a>\u00a0across the world, according to Forbes,\u00a0and nine out of every ten are men<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Global economy pushed the creation of one billionaire every two days<\/a>, growing their net worth\u00a024 percent to $5.38 trillion<\/a> in 2017.<\/p>\n

Today, according to Oxfam International<\/a>, just 42 people own as much wealth as the world’s poorest 3.7 billion people\u00a0who make up the poorest half of the world\u2019s population.<\/p>\n

The “Reward Work, Not Wealth” report<\/a> from Oxfam stated\u00a082% of all wealth created in 2017 went to the top 1%, while the bottom 50% saw no increase at all.<\/p>\n

When billionaires boom, economy stumbles<\/strong><\/p>\n

As last year saw the biggest increase in billionaires in recorded history,\u00a0\u00a0Winnie Byanyima, director of Oxfam International, referred to the billionaire boom as\u00a0“symptom of a failing economic system”.<\/p>\n

On January 19th, he said through a statement<\/a>:\u00a0“The people who make our clothes, assemble our phones and grow our food are being exploited to ensure a steady supply of cheap goods, and swell the profits of corporations and billionaire investors.”<\/p>\n

This\u00a0exacerbating inequality has come at the cost of weakening workers\u2019 rights and a building up on a corporate push to maximize shareholder returns.<\/p>\n

The report continues to explain it takes just four days<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>for a CEO from one of the top five global fashion brands to earn what a Bangladeshi garment worker will earn in her lifetime.<\/p>\n

In the US, it takes slightly over one working day for a CEO to earn what an ordinary worker makes in a year.<\/p>\n

Clash of opinions\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

On the other side,\u00a0Mark Littlewood, director general at the UK-based Institute of Economic Affairs, stated<\/a>\u00a0“Demonising capitalism may be fashionable in the affluent Western world but it ignores the millions of people who have risen out of poverty as a result of free markets.”<\/p>\n

“Increasing minimum wage rates would also likely result in jobs being cut, harming those Oxfam intend to help”, he added.<\/p>\n

According to Credit Suisse Global Wealth datebook<\/a>, a wealth gap on tax evasion,\u00a0corporations\u2019 increasing influence on policy, erosion of workers\u2019 rights and cost cutting may be to blame for the enormous pay gap.<\/p>\n