Super-rich: 62 people own as much as half the
world

Report by UK charity Oxfam calls for a
crackdown on tax havens as the world's
wealthiest hide $7.6 trillion from taxes.


About $7.6 trillion is hidden in havens, depriving
governments of $190bn in tax revenue every
year.

The world's richest 62 people now own as much
wealth as half of the world's population,
according to a report by the charity Oxfam.

Super-rich individuals saw an increase of 44
percent since 2010, taking their cumulative
wealth to $1.76 trillion - equivalent to the total
owned by 3.5 billion of the world's poorest
people.

The UK-based charity on Monday also said tax
havens were helping corporations and
individuals to stash away about $7.6 trillion,
depriving governments of $190bn in tax revenue
every year.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Oxfam Australia's Chief
Executive Helen Szoke said there were no
appropriate mechanisms to check if wealth was
being shared appropriately.

"We believe there is a need for commitments
from global business leaders and political
leaders for major tax reform to get rid of the tax
havens," Szoke said.

"There's too much leakage of what should be
paid in taxation exacerbating this gap [between
rich and poor]."

Referring to economic growth in Western
countries, such as her native Australia, Szoke
said little wealth was reaching the impoverished.

"The startling figure in our domestic context in
Australia is that where there has been wealth
generation in the past decade, none of that has
actually trickled down to some of the Australians
who are poor."

Lack of action
Oxfam said wealth was being concentrated in
the hands of increasingly fewer people, while the
world's poorest continued to get poorer. In 2010,
388 people owned as much as the world's
poorest 50 percent.

Mark Goldring, Oxfam chief executive in the
United Kingdom, said the stated concern of
world leaders over escalating inequality was not
being matched with action.

"It is simply unacceptable that the poorest half
of the world population owns no more than a
small group of the global super-rich, so few you
could fit them all on a single coach.

"In a world where one-in-nine people go to bed
hungry every night, we cannot afford to carry on
giving the richest an ever-bigger slice of the
cake," Goldring said.

The organisation is calling on world leaders
meeting for the World Economic Forum in the
Swiss city of Davos later this month to crack
down on tax havens, ensure fair wages, and
invest in public services.

www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/01/super-rich-62-people-world-160118033855025.html

Cc: Lalasticlala, Seun.

Cc: Puskin, Dominique.

Lala, just stopped at a restaurant for lunch. On transit. Body appears fragmented haphazardly. If you could fix that I'd be glad.

Seun, what's your net worth?? You just dey dey rake in silently- are you sure you aren't among the 62??

62 people... Hmmm