Are we living in a world that perpetuates growing inequality at an unprecedented level? We definitely are, says the World Economic Forum (WEF). A chronic rich-poor divide is yawning wider, posing the biggest single risk to the world in 2014, even as economies in many countries start to recover, the WEF has warned.
Here are some hard-to-digest facts and figures. Nearly half of the world’s population - more than 3bn - live on less than $2.50 a day, while more than 1.3bn live in extreme poverty (less than $1.25 a day).
More than 2.1bn children are living in poverty, with 22,000 of them dying each day for lack of food, according to the Unicef. On the other hand, an estimated one-third of global food production goes wasted - around 1.3bn tonnes every year - says the Food and Agriculture Organisation.
Oxfam has yet another perspective. The richest 85 people across the globe share a combined wealth of £1tn, as much as the poorest 3.5bn combined. The wealth of the 1% richest people in the world amounts to $110tn, or 65 times as much as the poorest half of the world. That has led to a situation in which 1% of families own 46% of global wealth, almost $115tn, the international aid charity said.
Here comes the International Labour Organisation’s warning of a jobless global recovery. Global unemployment climbed by 5mn people in 2013 to 202mn despite green shoots in the world economy, the ILO said on Monday.
By 2018, about 215mn people worldwide are expected to be unemployed, the ILO said.
“There is a clear linkage between these unacceptable levels of unemployment in the world and growing inequality,” Guy Ryder, the ILO’s director general, said.
The WEF’s annual assessment of global dangers said income disparity and the resultant social unrest are the issues most likely to have a big impact on the world economy in the next decade.
“Disgruntlement can lead to the dissolution of the fabric of society, especially if young people feel they don’t have a future,” said Jennifer Blanke, the WEF’s chief economist.
Policymakers need to look no farther than the Arab Spring countries to know what that would mean for the Middle East. When people are starving, societies tend to unravel, no matter whether they are ruled by an elected government, or an autocrat.
Post-Arab Spring, Gulf countries, which already provide generous cradle-to-grave welfare assistance to the citizens, have lunched massive spending programmes to ensure development reaches the poorer sections of the society.
Every country needs to show a demonstrated commitment to reducing inequality. Qatar does, in conspicuous terms. The QR3.23bn Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding Company initial public offer, which closed for subscription yesterday, is just part of a 10-year IPO plan worth QR50bn to share the fruits of the country’s breathtaking economic expansion among its citizens. Qatar also plans to set up a $12bn investment firm, backed by blue-chip assets from its sovereign wealth fund, and list it on the Qatar Exchange.
Sure, a mathematically-perfect equality in any society by any measure is too utopian a dream to turn into realty. But reducing inequality is not just the prerogative of institutions like the World Bank or economists or the policymakers to brood over. It is also a shared commitment and goal for every responsible member of society.
Shouldn’t charity begin at home?