Summary
Oxfam’s 2024 inequality report revealed a record $2 trillion increase in billionaire wealth, reaching $15 trillion, while global poverty rates remain stagnant.
The top 1% own 45% of all wealth, and 44% of people live on less than $6.85 daily.
Oxfam predicts five trillionaires within a decade, citing inheritance and cronyism as key wealth drivers. Elon Musk may become the first trillionaire by 2027.
Oxfam calls for tax reform, monopoly regulation, and income redistribution to address inequality.
Critics warn unchecked wealth concentration threatens democracy and economic fairness.
Billionaire wealth surges to ‘unimaginable’ levels in 2024 as Oxfam predicts emergence of five trillionaires within a decade
It’s less impressive when you realize that much, if not most, of that wealth isn’t “real.” The vast majority of that wealth is in corporate stock, and the value of the stock is based on a lot of speculation. How much of that trillions of dollars in corporate stock will ever be converted to cash? Who knows, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up being only a small portion, and well less than a trillion dollars.
I get your point, but it is impressive (or depressive, let’s call it}.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s imaginary numbers in stock or imaginary numbers in a bank account. Just as stock values change, so do liquid asset values, with inflation and macroeconomic effects.
Either way, the numbers represent the proportional value of current human society that has been captured by an individual. Billionaires have captured and withdrawn thousands, ten thousands, hundreds of thousands of lives’ worth of value just for themselves. Whether that value is held in stocks or cash is immaterial.
Well part of what they’re saying is that a dollar is only a dollar if it’s liquid.
And if, for example, Musk were to cash out all his stock positions, many of them would be worth vastly less by the time the transaction was done. Not only that, but without those positions, many other wealthy individuals would see their positions suffer and their wealth evaporate.
It is still an obscene amount of monopoly bucks though.
Yes, even if the numbers are at least partly fictitious (or even mostly), it is still true that a very large percentage of real wealth is owned and controlled by a relatively small number of people. The way we understand and measure value needs to change, because it is very skewed and not based in reality (our current system is apparently operating on the premise that we can create a seemingly infinite amount of value, but that’s not physically possible on a planet with finite resources), but the wealth that has “real” value is very unequally distributed and that needs to change, as well.
Whether their wealth is real or not apparently doesn’t prevent them from buying themselves politicians, ruining the environment and keeping everybody’s wages stagnant.
I didn’t say all of their wealth is fake. Much of their wealth is very “real.”
I guess what I meant is the reverse: I have nothing against people getting rich - even grotesquely rich - but not at the expense of everyone else, and not if you do it by buying yourself legislators that do your bidding instead of that of the voting public.
The billionaire class of today is rich because the billionaires evade taxes and manipulate elections in their favor. They became billionaires by making everyone else’s life more difficult. That’s why I want to see their heads roll, not because they’re rich.
I have nothing against people getting rich - even grotesquely rich
Well, I have a problem with it, but that’s beside the point.
My intent wasn’t to take a moral position on wealth accumulation itself, or the accumulation of “real” wealth versus speculative wealth, only to point out that much of the incredible wealth of the people at the very top isn’t what I would consider to be fully “real.” That’s all.
Bullets don’t care about your net worth
Drones are extremely cheap.
BE Luigi.
See Luigi
Resources to be extracted for the public good.
When money is used in society as security for basic rights like a home, food and clean water, healthcare, political representation in government, then people hoarding wealth at the detriment of others are responsible and shouldn’t be surprised when those same people they oppress become violent.
This is why they are shoveling so much money into loyal robots.
Public trillionaires
Trillionaires almost certainly already exist. There are many people and families who do not publicly report their net worth. Putin is a good example.
Compounding interests. I don’t think that most people realise how powerful the effect of it is. Anyone can take advantage of it but there’s no getting around the fact that the more money you have the easier it gets to make even more which then makes it even easier and this just keeps accelerating.
The effect is kinda broken though.
The old idea is that investment enables the unwealthy to use capital to be productive, and the wealthy to take on their risk. This is… fine. It still happens, and that’s great.
But past a certain point, there’s basically no risk for the wealthy, as illustrated how boards make boneheaded, abusive decisions every day yet still compound their wealth, often handing “the bag” of their failure out to the public and getting away with millions and a new gig. Startups hope to get bought out by megacorps instead of actually being sustainably productive, and the megacorps don’t care because they’re still stupendously rich when their boneheaded buyout fails, and it squelches competition.
Near trillionaires should not get the benefits of compounding interest. Their incentives are horrendously misaligned and broken, and it’s basically cheating the system.
What’s more, no one should be opposed to this. Socialist, free market libertarian, far right/MAGA, any flavor of communist, neoliberal, whatever, logically all of humanity should agree mega billionaires are bad for everyone and should be taxed to shit. The only exceptions are crypto bros, con artists, fraudulent day traders, (why would lose the systems that enable their pump and dump schemes), and… billionaires.
No man is an island, just the GDP of most
They have lots of islands
Mentally unwell hoarders
They should get therapy rite?
I can’t remember where I heard this but apparently there are therapists for very rich people.
The therapist was on a podcast I think and discussing what they talk about.
Basically all rich people fear not having enough money. No matter how rich they get, they fear and obsess over not having enough money.
I thought it was interesting. These are people richer than God and they always want more.
If this is true, why then do they need to buy super ultra giant mega-yachts, private jets, mansions, islands, etc?
If you are worried about running out of money, you should be living a very meager and humble life. Is that what their therapist tells them, as part of their therapy?
I think they are more worried about running out of asshole.
Taking someone out on your yacht to finish a business deal is extremely common.
Like a Hollywood supervillains. Sounds like a cry for
Luigihelp to me
They take that as “hoard more money yes yes”
The fact that we even have billionaires (and they should not be a thing. The notion of a trillionaire is even more fucking atrocious) is probably why donvict and elon are assuming power right now.
Without the broligarchs and their thumb heavily on media, both “legacy” and not, do you think there would be so very many stupid people willing to vote for the convicted felon?
Let’s go Bezos!! We finna hit that big 1 trill real soon
A generation terrified of Big Brother let the Landsraad and CHOAM set up shop in the back
I mean, there is a way to cure billionaires and prevent trillionaires. Several cures, actually, some of which are likely more palatable than others.
No shit, fuckin obviously. This is how money works. The point is not the number it is the proportion (though obv they’re related)
Say it with me: Billionaires should not exist.
Decamillionaires should not exist as long as there is still poverty anywhere in the world.
