On the eve of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Oxfam presents the report Working for The Few. The analysis, released on January 20, 2014, highlights the unacceptable price of severe inequalities between the rich and poor.
The action of economic elites on the political ruling classes has led to a world in which 85 super-rich people own what is held by half the world’s population, Oxfam reports. A distortion fueled by the power of the wealthier classes to steer politics exclusively to their own advantage.
The scenario illustrated by Oxfam is also familiar to the World Economic Forum, which qualifies income inequality as the second greatest threat to social stability and security on a global scale over the next 12 to 18 months. An awareness that Oxfam calls on World Economic Forum participants-political and institutional decision makers-to translate into a “solemn commitment” to a reversal of course. An imperative change, as Olivier De Schutter, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food for six years, also pointed out in his final report to the UN assembly.
