Billionaire wealth across the globe surged by USD 2 trillion in 2024 to USD 15 trillion at a rate three times faster than the previous year, a study showed on Monday here as the richest of the world began to assemble for their annual jamboree in this ski resort town. In its flagship inequity report released every year on the first day of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, Oxfam International contrasted the huge jump in the billionaire wealth with the number of people living in poverty barely having changed since 1990. Wealth of billionaires in Asia increased by USD 299 billion in 2024, Oxfam said while predicting that there will be at least five trillionaires within a decade from now. The year 2024 saw 204 new billionaires getting minted -- an average of nearly four every week. Asia itself got 41 new billionaires in the year. In its report titled 'Takers, not Makers', Oxfam said the richest 1 per cent in the Global North extracted USD 30 million an hour from the Global South
The Gini coefficient measures the extent to which the distribution of income among individuals or households within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution
Consumption inequality in rural as well as urban areas declined during August 2023-July 2024 period as compared to a year ago, according to the latest Household Consumption Expenditure Survey released on Friday. The Gini coefficient declined to 0.237 from 0.266 for rural areas and to 0.284 from 0.314 for urban areas during the period under review, a statement by Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation on the survey said. The Gini coefficient statistically measures consumption inequality and wealth distribution within a society. The "consumption inequality, both in rural and urban areas has declined from the level of 2022-23," stated the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) based on the fieldwork undertaken during August 2023 to July 2024. The average MPCE (monthly per capital expenditure) in rural and urban India in 2023-24, without taking into account the social welfare schemes, has been estimated at Rs 4,122 and Rs 6,996 (at current prices), ...
Piketty advocated a wealth tax on Indian billionaires to finance social infrastructure
Western observers rarely pay more than lip service to the roughly 85 per cent of the world's population living in the Global South
The majority of housholds with an annual income of Rs 5 lakh and above are concentrated in the top 20 per cent, or about 150, districts in the country, a report by MapmyIndia-backed data analytics firm ClarityX said on Tuesday. The ClarityX District Potential Index 2024 Report based on MapmyIndia data repository and government data sources, found that luminosity across the county grew significantly from 17 to 30 per cent in last four years. "60 per cent of households with annual income above Rs 5 lakh are in the top 20 per cent (about 150) districts of India, and two-third of the total districts above All-India District median are in the western region -- which also has the highest share of fastest growing districts," the report said. The report has measured growth of districts based on a district potential index (DPI) score covering socio-economic indicators like income distribution, social impetus like healthcare, education facilities per capita, infrastructure availability, ...
As G20 finance ministers prepare to consider a wealth tax on the super-rich next month, a survey has revealed that 68 per cent of people in these countries, including 74 per cent in India, support the idea to address global hunger, inequality and climate crisis. The survey by the Earth4All initiative and Global Commons Alliance covered 22,000 citizens in the world's largest economies. The proposal for a levy on the super-rich has been under discussion since at least 2013 with international support on the issue growing over the years. Brazil, the current president of the G20, aims to build consensus on the taxation of wealth and is likely to push for a joint declaration at a meeting of G20 finance ministers in July. Gabriel Zucman, a French economist and a key influencer behind Brazil's G20 proposal for progressive international taxation to promote tax justice, will release a report on Tuesday, outlining how "a global minimum tax on the ultra-rich" could work and how much it could .
With the latest HCES showing a fall in Gini coefficient between FY12 and FY23, has India been able to reduce the income inequality?
Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today
Spatial inequality must be addressed
Blinkered ideology has made it irrelevant
World Inequality Lab says tax gains could raise health, education expenditure
As 72-year-old Nonki Kunene walks through the corridors of Thabisang Primary School in Soweto, South Africa, she recalls the joy she and many others felt 30 years ago when they voted for the first time. It was at this school on April 27, 1994 that Kunene joined millions of South Africans to brave long queues and take part in the country's first democratic elections after decades of white minority rule which denied Black people the right to vote. However, as the country gears up for celebrations Saturday to mark 30 years of freedom and democracy, much of the enthusiasm and optimism of that period has subsided as Africa's most developed economy faces a myriad of challenges. Like many things in South Africa, the school that Kunene remembers has changed, and what used to be a school hall has now been turned into several classrooms. I somehow wish we could go back to that day, because of how excited I was and the things that happened thereafter, said Kunene, referring to Nelson Mandela
What other broad macroeconomic implications can be inferred from the household consumption expenditure survey factsheet?
Many countries are bouncing back from the COVID-19 pandemic, but the poorest are not and a significant number are seeing conditions deteriorating, a report from the UN Development Progamme said on Wednesday. Achim Steiner, head of the agency, said that after two decades during which rich and poor countries were coming closer in terms of development, the finding is a very strong warning signal that nations are now drifting apart. The Human Development Index that the agency has produced since 1990 is projected to reach record highs in 2023 after steep declines during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021. But development in half of the world's poorest countries remains below 2019 pre-pandemic levels, the report said. It's a rich person's versus a poor person's world in which we are seeing development unfolding in very unequal, partially incomplete ways, Steiner said at a news conference. Why does this matter? Not only because it creates more vulnerability, it creates also more misery a
Google Doodle is also celebrating International Women's Day 2024 commemorating women's economic, cultural, social and political achievements
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday said education is the most impactful transformational mechanism to bring about equality and cut down inequality. Addressing a function in Gondia district of Maharashtra, he said young parliamentarians with vision, mission, and talent have a big role to play in building Vikasit Bharat of 2047. Dhankhar also suggested that "value addition" to farm produce will bring qualitative improvements in the lives of farmers. "Today, the world is seeing the change in India and the change is imminent when the leader is aware of the ground reality and has the ability to change them. Today, we have the able leadership at the Centre and in the state who are well capable of bringing the change," Dhankhar said. He said India is fast emerging as a strong nation. "In 1989 when I became MP for the first time, it was a difficult time for our country. The country had to send its gold reserve by air to France where it was kept as a mortgage in two banks so that ou
Indian elites consider it their divine right to have first claim over our Commons - and the Indian state, a petty landlord obsessed with revenue crumbs, actively collaborates
By 2050, India will be the most land-scarce major economy in the world, but any solution first needs to recognise the unequal deployment of land
Inequality can affect economic prospects