The global economy is increasingly benefiting the super-rich and keeping billions of people in poverty, the aid group Oxfam said Monday ahead of this week's World Economic Forum in Switzerland, according to dpa. Of the increase in global wealth generated last year, 82 per cent flowed to the wealthiest 1 per cent of the world's population. The 3.7 billion people who make up the poorest half saw no increase in wealth, according to the Britain-based organization. Ordinary workers have seen their wages rise by an average 2 per cent per year since 2010, while the wealth of billionaires has grown by an average 13 per cent annually. Last year, the number of billionaires rose as never before, according to Swiss bank Credit Suisse and the US magazine Forbes, which track the world's super-rich. "The billionaire boom is not a sign of a thriving economy but a symptom of a failing economic system," said Oxfam executive director Winnie Byanyima. Oxfam acknowledged that the number of people who suffer from extreme poverty has been dropping since the 1990s, but it warned that inequality is preventing more people from escaping that plight. The politicians and business leaders gathering in Davos from Tuesday to Friday should crack down on tax avoidance, ensure decent minimum wages, and limit returns to shareholders and executives, Oxfam demanded.
