Oxfam study highlights massive global wealth divide
The combined riches of 62 of the world's most well-heeled individuals in 2015 equaled the wealth of 3.5 billion people — the bottom half of humanity — a new report about extreme global wealth inequality released Sunday showed, according to usatoday.com.
The findings, published by the poverty-fighting organization Oxfam, highlight the growing divide between those at either end of the income spectrum. Since 2010, the wealth of the richest 62 people increased 44% to $1.76 trillion, the report found. Over the same period, the wealth of the world's poorest half fell over a trillion dollars or 41%.
"Our economic system is heavily skewed in their (the wealthiest) favor, and arguably increasingly so," Oxfam said. "Far from trickling down, income and wealth are instead being sucked upwards at an alarming rate."
Oxfam added: "Rising inequality is a problem for all of us. The OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) notes that increasing income inequality poses a risk for social cohesion and threatens to slow down the current economic recovery."