They warn against social division and the “purchase of power”: 370 millionaires and billionaires signed an open letter at the World Economic Forum in Davos. They demand more taxes for the super-rich.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, 370 millionaires and billionaires around the world called for higher taxes for the super-rich. Extreme wealth can buy political influence and is therefore a “threat to democracy,” says the open letter to the heads of state and government gathered in Davos published by the NGO Oxfam. Current policies have led to the “worst inequality in a hundred years.”
The signatories also include the Austrian activist and millionaire heiress Marlene Engelhorn and the US film producer Abigail Disney. “The super-rich are buying more and more wealth and more power while the rest of the world lives in economic fear,” explained Engelhorn. The political and legal systems are “for sale”, and the democracies are therefore “on shaky ground”.
Threat to global stability
Disney is a member of the Patriotic Millionaires, an association of wealthy Americans who demand a fair tax system. A survey commissioned by this organization among around 2,900 millionaires from the G20 countries showed that 63 percent of respondents believe that the role of the super-rich in US President Donald Trump's second term in office represents a threat to global stability .
75 percent of those surveyed are of the opinion that the super-rich “buy political influence” and 72 percent take the view that “the super-rich disproportionately influence public opinion through media control.”
The environmental organization Greenpeace is also calling for greater taxation of the super-rich. Activists put stickers reading “Time to Tax the Super-Rich” on private jets at the Samedan airfield south of Davos, Greenpeace said.
Rapidly growing assets
At the start of the World Economic Forum, Oxfam published a report showing that the wealth of the super-rich is growing at an ever-increasing rate. A billionaire's wealth increased by an average of $2 million per day last year. The richest ten billionaires even became richer by an average of $100 million per day. Even if they lost 99 percent of their wealth overnight, they would remain billionaires, Oxfam said.
According to the information, there are now 2,769 billionaires worldwide – 204 new ones were added last year alone. At the same time, the number of people living below the World Bank's expanded poverty line is stagnating and the number of hungry people is increasing.
