Published on Oxfam America’s Politics of Poverty blog.

The world is experiencing an immense problem with wealth inequality, and it’s not just a problem of economics, it’s a problem of power.

This blog was co-authored by Stephanie Fontana, a Research Intern at Oxfam America.

The world’s richest 1 percent now own more wealth than all of the bottom 99 percent combined. This finding comes from Credit Suisse’s Global Wealth Report for 2015, released last week. Last year, Credit Suisse found the richest 1 percent of adults owned 48 percent of global wealth. According to the new report, the top 1 percent now hold 50.4 percent of all the world’s household wealth.

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Published on Oxfam America’s Politics of Poverty blog.

A message to those attending the UN ‘s Third International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa this week.

As it turns out, extreme inequality is a great investment opportunity. A couple of Citigroup researchers figured this out nearly 10 years ago and laid out a strategy to help investors capitalize on this worrying trend. I wonder if we can use the same strategy to finance the end of poverty in developing countries? Continue reading →

1,645 Billionaires have more #wealth than the combined GDP of Italy, France, and Spain. #Inequality @oxfam #EvenItUp.

Published at The Broker Online

Food price hikes, natural disasters, environmental degradation, and financial crises share at least two things in common: They’re on the rise, and they unequally burden the poor. 

Food price hikes, natural disasters, environmental degradation, and financial crises share at least two things in common: They’re on the rise, and they unequally burden the poor.

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Published on Oxfam America’s Politics of Poverty blog

As inequality increases, more questions than answers?

Here are the facts:

Income inequality in the US continues to worsen. While earners at the very top claim greater shares of the country’s income distribution, shares among the rest are shrinking. Continue reading →

Published on Oxfam America’s Politics of Poverty blog

It’s time to move the discussion from absolute to relative gains.

Is it better to gain absolutely or relatively?

For example, free trade agreements promise all members economic benefits (absolute gains); although some members will benefit more than others (relative gains).

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Published on Oxfam America’s Politics of Poverty blog

Economic growth—the kind America enjoyed during its longest decades of prosperity —does not happen in countries with chronic income inequality.

As the President works to put the American economy back on track in his second term, I think the mandate of the election is clear, if Obama will listen.

Among developed countries, the United States has the highest levels of inequality. This is an unsettling trend that has worsened over the past three decades. As we know, chronic inequality is bad for growth and threatens macroeconomic stability. Societies with high income inequality also suffer from greater health and social ills (including crime, sickness, violence, shorter life spans, & stress) than more equal ones. Continue reading →

Published on Oxfam America’s Politics of Poverty blog

Last week, the World Bank released a new report assessing declining income inequality over the 2000s in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico. Each country experienced significant reductions in inequality over the last decade. This finding is not new, but the authors helpfully tease out some nuance behind the trend. Their findings suggest two factors drove the […] Continue reading →

Published on Oxfam America’s Politics of Poverty blog

Today’s New York Times picked up on an important research paper by two IMF economists. The Fund’s Andrew Berg and Jonathan Ostry argue chronic income inequality is detrimental to economic growth. In contrast, more equal countries are likely to experience durable and sustainable growth spells. This research couldn’t be more timely, as inequality across the […] Continue reading →