Economic inequality, the gap between the wealthy and the poor which consists of variances in the distribution of wealth, assets, and income is getting longer by the day.
This time, an observable difference was noted by economists in 2020 where middle- and lower-class individuals got poorer while the wealthy got richer.
"Billionaires' wealth has risen more since Covid-19 began than it has in the last 14 years," said Oxfam in 2022.
Three years later, the world is faced with a new and almost unfathomable reality, the emergence of trillionaires.
A trillion is 1,000,000,000,000, also known as 10 to the 12th power, or one million million. But when will this take place and who are these uber wealthy people that will make up the new 1% of the richest people in the world?
Five individuals are anticipated to accumulate at least $1 trillion in fortune in less than 10 years, reported Oxfam.
"Oxfam predicted the emergence of the first trillionaire within a decade. However, with billionaire wealth accelerating at a faster pace, this projection has expanded dramatically — at current rates the world is now on track to see at least five trillionaires within that timeframe," said the NGO.
The usual suspects are set to achieve the feat and include South African-born billionaire Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison and Bernard Arnault.
This is a cause for concern, not celebration, added the organisation.
"The capture of our global economy by a privileged few has reached heights once considered unimaginable. The failure to stop billionaires is now spawning soon-to-be trillionaires. Not only has the rate of billionaire wealth accumulation accelerated —by three times— but so too has their power," said Oxfam international executive director Amitabh Behar.
Behar added that the crown jewel of this oligarchy is the US' billionaire President-elect (Donald Trump), backed and purchased by the world's richest man, Musk.
"We present this report as a stark wake up-call that ordinary people the world over is being crushed by the enormous wealth of a tiny few."
Scientist have also pointed out that the planet is suffering from an over-extraction of resources and carbon emissions by the super wealthy.
Musk and Bezos alone allegedly emit the average person's lifetime carbon footprint in 90 minutes.
"The high carbon emissions of the world’s richest 1% are worsening hunger, poverty and excess deaths, a report has found. Owing to luxury yachts, private jets and investments in polluting industries, the consumption of the world’s wealthiest people is also making it increasingly difficult to limit global heating to 1.5C," reported The Guardian.
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