The 1% Will Own Half the World’s Wealth by 2016

The 1% will own more than half of the world’s wealth by 2016. According to a report by Oxfam, an international organization aiming to end poverty, the richest 80 individuals in the world today collectively have the same amount of wealth as the remaining 99% of the global population (about 3.5 billion people). What is even crazier is that this group of uber rich will get even more rich in the coming two years while the rest of the world loses money.

The Oxfam report reiterates what we already covered in a previous blog. That,

“Global wealth is increasingly being concentrated in the hands of a small wealthy elite. These wealthy individuals have generated and sustained their vast riches through their interests and activities in a few important economic sectors…Companies from these sectors spend millions of dollars every year on lobbying to create a policy environment that protects and enhances their interests further.”

Read the full study to find out which industries spent the most on lobbying and see how billionaires who shared these interests profited. You can also catch Jesse in the video below as he talks about the sickness of the 1%.