Cost of living crisis: Millionaires at Davos say ‘tax us more’
A handful of millionaire attendees gathered in Davos are calling on world leaders to push tax up higher for wealthy people (like themselves) to tackle the cost of living crisis.
They joined left-wing activists for a march on the streets on Sunday to call for fairer tax systems around the world.
Political and business leaders are in the first in-person World Economic Forum (WEF) since the beginning of the pandemic.
But there is rising criticism of the way the wealthy have massively profited in the last two years.
UK millionaire Phil White said: “While the rest of the world is collapsing under the weight of an economic crisis, billionaires and world leaders meet in this private compound to discuss turning points in history.
“It’s outrageous that our political leaders listen to those who have the most, know the least about the economic impact of this crisis, and many of whom pay infamously little in taxes. The only credible outcome from this conference is to tax the richest and tax us now.”
He has said he is joining left-wing and anti-poverty campaigners calling for change at the annual meeting of influential business people and political leaders because the current economic system was failing.
Over the past decade, more and more wealthy people in the US and Europe have called on the governments to impose higher taxes – including wealth levies on the richest.
An open letter to all Davos delegates, signed by millionaire supporters in several countries, has been sent.
Marlene Engelhorn, another millionaire at the protest, said: “As someone who has enjoyed the benefits of wealth my whole life, I know how skewed our economy is and I cannot continue to sit back and wait for someone, somewhere, to do something.
“We have hit the end of the line when another quarter of a billion people will be pushed into extreme poverty this year.”
New billionaires every 30 hours
Oxfam claims that over the last two years a new billionaire had been created every 30 hours. At the other end of the income spectrum, Oxfam expects around one million people to fall into extreme poverty every 33 hours this year.
Oxfam’s international executive director Gabriela Bucher told the BBC: “Inequality between countries had been reducing over the last couple of decades.
“During the pandemic it had increased and with the rates we’re seeing now it looks like it’s going in extreme directions that are creating these catastrophic conditions and they reflect in people’s lives.”
Cost of living crisis – Energy and food price hikes and shortages
Energy prices began rising towards the end of last year but since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it has rocketed up. Food prices have also greatly risen.
Geopolitical tensions have made it harder to resolve tensions over trade and global growth has slowed.
The world’s richer countries collectively grew by just 0.1 per cent in the first three months of this year, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The US, Italy and Japan shrunk in the quarter, and France experienced zero growth. The UK’s economy grew by 0.8%.
Topics on the agenda at this year’s WEF include the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the pandemic recovery and climate change.
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