Dr. John Mohan Razu
[dropcap]A[/dropcap]re “the rich grow richer and the poor grow poorer” and “the gap between the rich and the poor is widening” over-hyped aphorisms? These two have been truer and real happening world over more conspicuously since 1990s. A study by Oxfam revealed that the world’s top 80 billionaires in 2014 had a collective earth of $1.9 trillion, which is close to India’s entire GDP in that year. Oxfam made headlines at Davos last year with the revelation that the 85 richest people on the planet have the same wealth as the poorest 50% (3.5 billion).The figure now is 80—an unbelievable change in the format from 388 people in 2010, and attesting to the growing wealth disparity in the wealth. The wealth of the richest 80 actually doubled in cash terms between 2009 and 2014. The study in detail shows that the super-rich people of the top 1% of the billionaires on the Forbes list have seen their wealth accumulate even faster over the past five years. In 2010, the richest 80 people in the world had a net wealth of $1.3 trillion. By 2014, the 80 people who top the Forbes rich list, whose data Oxfam used, had a collective wealth of $1.9 trillion; an increase of $600 billion in just four years, or 50% in nominal terms. It should not be construed that the very poor have the remaining 52% of global wealth. It is being owned i.e., 46% by the “less wealthy” the neo-bourgeoisie—the remaining richest 19% of the world’s population. How do they increase their wealth and riches by millions and billions every year? The Oxfam report in its analysis says that wealthy individuals have generated and sustained and their vast riches by investing, furthering and expanding their empires in important economic sectors including finance and pharmaceuticals/health care. Some of the global oligopolies and mega-corporations have increased their investments in R&D in the productions of arms and ammunition, pharmaceuticals and telecommunications. These oligopolistic corporations have horizontally and vertically control the global production particularly the essential life-saving drugs (pharmaceuticals) and food chains (agri-business). Inequality is widening at an appalling levels. For example, the bottom 80% shares just 5.5% and had an average wealth of $3,851 per adult—that is 1/700th of the average wealth of the 1% since 2009. The middle-class that benefited due to globalization has an average wealth of 2.7 million. The other side portrays 1 in 9 people do not have enough to eat says the report Oxfam. The reports portrays that more than 1 billion live on less than $1.25 a day. The following schema portrays vividly portrays the global disparity and inequality: 2 Source: “The Times of India”, d/m/y not available Above paragraphs glaringly portrays the contrasting picture of our world. Our world characterizes vis-à-vis a minuscule minority that enjoys the maximum and the vast majority hardly gets anything. The sources that have been cited (Oxfam) traces inequality is on the rise and accelerating. Is there any recipe to the widening disparity? Melinda and Bill Gates who have pledged to give away most of their earnings and willing to give away billions have a different perspective. According to them the lives of the majority who live in abject poverty and squalid condition would improve in the in the next 15 years than any other time in history. “The rich world will keep getting exciting new advances too, but the improvements in the lives of the poor will be far more fundamental—the basics of a healthy productive life” the billionaire couple predicted. 3
Elaborating further the Gates couple in a positive note asserted: “it’s great that more people in rich countries will be able to watch movies on super high-resolution screens. It’s even better that more parents in poor countries will know their children aren’t going to die”. According to the philanthropic couple said: “The poor will be living longer and in better health, with unprecedented opportunities to get an education, eat nutritious food, and benefit from mobile banking. These breakthroughs will be driven by innovation in technology—ranging from new vaccines and hardier crops to much cheaper smart phones and tablets.” Again all these involve patents, intellectual property rights, monopoly and taxes and so on. Are the big corporations prepared to follow ethical investments and practices? The Gates firmly believe that: 1) Children deaths will go down by half, and more diseases will be eradicated than ever before in the next 15 years; 2) Reducing the number of women who die in childbirth by two-thirds; 3) Wiping polio, guinea worm and possibly even malaria off the face of the earth; 3) Mobile banking will help the poor radically transform their lives and 4) Better software will revolutionize learning. They seem to have been fascinated by the development happening in India where the Gates Foundation has plowed millions in health intervention with the software that points to the development of rotavirus vaccine (that addresses diarrhea that kills millions of infants) by Indian companies. Praising India for the success over polio and thus showing a road map for other immunization efforts and all other primary healthcare initiatives Gates Foundation seem to have reposed their faith that philanthropic capitalism could respond effectively to all the problems that the people of India face. However, the Gates couple offered sobering perspective by citing Utter Pradesh and Bihar that have fallen far behind with huge populations. The facts they presented are alarming: “44% of infant deaths occurred in the first 30 days and the support data came from Viswajit Singh’s study showed that doing basic things—cleanliness, keeping the baby warm, and breastfeeding, cut infant mortality by50%. “ Melinda Gates said that the study: “Proved that it does not take all this great, expensive medical interventions to drastically cut down infant mortality.” In addition they said, “India has a far bigger malnutrition problem than over-nutrition problem.” More importantly Gates are concerned about, “In the meantime, India has got far more kids that are malnourished and whose brains are not developed, way more than any other country. That’s really the crisis.”
This is the world we live—one for the Rich and the other for the Poor. Fresh thinking is needed as we discuss equality and inequality. Wealth is generated at alarming levels. Wealth has increased by many times. The world has become rich, but for whom? Rich is getting richer and the poor remain the same or even become poorer. 4
Therefore, inequality is on the rise and at its peak. Income poverty, abject poverty, relative poverty and unemployment are the inter-linked problems that many face around the world. People work hard and work long hours but paid low wages. There are no regulations and legislations for the implementation of minimum-wages. However, in the recent BBC’s World Debate at Devos, the IMF chief made scintillating observations: 1) Excessive inequality retard growth; 2) Re-distribution policies are not counter-productive for growth. Basically she pointed that widening inequality is not good for growth especially it impair women and their development. So whenever we talk about inequality there is a co-relation between sustainable growth and high levels of disparity. Inequality disintegrates people in any given society. Economy whatever it may be should clearly focus on social good and public good. In Davos, the mainstream economists, finance ministers, academics and CEOs reiterated their faith in capitalism and its free-economic market order. They by and large have an unequivocal faith in market, market capital and marketization that epitomizes in the current order of globalization. The new scenario warrants new thinking and so calls for judicious and ethical investment on social capital. The main stream actors want the capitalists or producers of wealth should never be demonized as predators. Since capitalism is not opening up opportunities for all. Majority of people want to move up from the current economic ambit that enables the rich to become richer. But the extreme wealth that is being generated by the global capitalists usurped by them who do not exceed 1% of the global population which is not right and so loses its moral slant. Obviously excessive wealth takes away the public distribution and public good. Capitalism via unchecked and uncontrollable market forces enables a few maximizes profits and advances their quality of life. As a result creates poverty and unemployment for majority sections of people. How do these big corporations and business spend their money? The Oxfam chief in the debate openly stated that in the United States the big financial and technological institutions spend more than $400 million to influence the political and business policies decisions. For the 2012, US Presidential elections about 400 millions were spent; the EU elections too quite sizable money was spent and for the Parliamentary elections in 2014 in India thousands of crores of rupees were spent for the election campaigns and lobbying. From where did they get the money and who paid for it? Once again the big houses and monopolies spent huge amounts so in turn they get favors in the allocation of licenses and host of other benefits.
The Oxfam chief in the debate advocated global tax system so that the rich and the powerful pay their due. As of now they evade by millions and trillions and do not pay 5
their due. Public resources should benefit the whole population and should not only benefit the interests of powerful lobbyists and industrial houses. It is against the basic economic tenet that overrides the masses‘trust. The fundamental tenets of economics or economy ought to be generating full employment and disburse fair wages. Wealth generated should be distributed equitably. Does the current global economic order have a human face?
