Public Good or Private Wealth?
Organization(s): Oxfam
Author: Anam Parvez Butt, Anna Marriott, Didier Jacobs, Ellen Ehmke, Francesca Rhodes, Jaime Atienza, Julie Seghers, Man-Kwun Chan, Max Lawson, Rebecca Gowland
Year: 2019
Language: Arabic, English, Korean
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The number of billionaires has doubled since the financial crisis and their fortunes grow by $2.5bn a day, yet the super-rich and corporations are paying lower rates of tax than they have in decades. The human costs – children without teachers, clinics without medicines – are huge. Piecemeal private services punish poor people and privilege elites. Women suffer the most, and are left to fill the gaps in public services with many hours of unpaid care.
We need to transform our economies to deliver universal health, education and other public services. To make this possible, the richest people and corporations should pay their fair share of tax. This will drive a dramatic reduction in the gap between rich and poor and between women and men.