"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 report said.
In a statement published on the website of the organization, Oxfam International Executive Director Winnie Byanyima stressed that the wages of ordinary people stagnated, while corporations' heads increased their wealth by dodging taxes.
Oxfam has called on the world leaders "to play their part in building a human economy."
The report has come on the eve of the World Economic Forum, which annually takes place in the Swiss town of Davos around late January-early February and gathers world political and business leaders. The opening ceremony is set for January 17.
“Their claim that eight people own the same wealth as half the world is as spurious as their methodology – adding assets and subtracting wealth to make ‘net wealth’ – implies that some of the ‘poorest’ in the world are those with high debts. It is misleading at best to label the average university graduate who has accumulated 50,000 pounds [$60,340] of debt among the world’s poorest, without any consideration of their future earning potential," Littlewood said as quoted on the institute's website.
He added the report "demonises capitalism" that "have helped over 100 million people rise out of poverty in the last year alone" and suggested that the Oxfam should concentrate on the poor rather than the rich.
In a statement published on the website of the organization earlier on Monday, Oxfam International Executive Director Winnie Byanyima stressed that the wages of ordinary people stagnated, while corporations' heads increased their wealth by dodging taxes.
Never miss a story again — sign up to our Telegram channel and we'll keep you up to speed!
