In 2019, the worsening economic situation and the hardships of living caused a series of large-scale anti-government protests around the world. In Chile, demonstrations that broke out in the capital, Santiago, have spread to various cities, and to dateMore than 20 people died.Lebanon. Civilian demonstrations in Lebanon spread to the point that Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced his resignation.developmentThe first time in 1960, the United States was the first country in the world to hold a mass protest. Other large-scale demonstrations with similar backgrounds around the world include Iraq, Iran, Ecuador, Colombia, Haiti, Indonesia, andMany occurrencesYou will see that I did.
These demonstrations are said to have been triggered by austerity policies, such as price hikes of daily necessities and tax increases, based on citizens' accumulated dissatisfaction in a country with an unstable economy. However, while there are many people who are unable to endure such harsh economic conditions, there are also millionaires whose names are known around the world, if one shifts one's perspective a little. This article explores the disparity between these people and what has caused it.
Anti-government protests in Chile (Photo: Carlos Figueroa / Wikimedia[)CC BY-SA 4.0])
Table of Contents
Overview of Disparities
First, what disparities exist in the world we live in today? Oxfam International releases a report on inequality every January.2019 Editionsays that the total assets of about 3.8 billion people, the bottom half of the world's population in terms of assets, equals the total assets of only 26 of the richest people at the top of the list. And in 2018, the assets of those 3.8 billion people decreased by 111 TP3T, while billionaires with more than US$1 billion in assets continued to increase their wealth at a rate of US$2.5 billion daily. Furthermore, according to the annual report of the Swiss financial firm Credit Suisse, 451 TP3T of the world's wealth is held by those with only 11 TP3TExclusive.This is called.
The disparity is also domestic: ever since the 1980s, in many countries, the percentage of domestic income going to the economically affluent 1% peopleThe number continues to grow.The disparities are severe. Even in high-income countries that appear affluent, there is a monopoly of wealth by the top class, and the disparities are severe. For example, in the United Kingdom, the richest 10% of the country's wealth44%and the household income of the top 11 TP3T families in the U.S. is higher than that of the other 991 TP3T families.Approx. 25 timesHe said that this is the case. These disparities appear to have persisted for many years. When comparing nations in the top quintile of wealth to those in the bottom quintile, the ratio of the incomes of the people living in each went from 30:1 in 1960 to 74:1 in 1997,More than doubleIt was expanding.
In response to the poverty created by the above disparities, the 2000 United Nations Summit established eight "Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)The first of these goals was the "Eradication of Extreme Poverty and Hunger. The first goal was to "eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. The accompanying goal of "halving the percentage of the population living on less than $1.25 a day" was based on a number of different counting systems.question (e.g. on a test)was, however, achieved by 2015, which was the deadline for achievement. However, it was only achieved because of the rapid economic growth of China and India, two nations with huge populations, and many other low-income countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where the goal wasFailed to achieve.The poorest countries' economies are also developing gradually, but at a slower pace. To be sure, the poorest countries' economies are gradually developing, but at a slower pace. The pace of economic development in high-income countries is much faster than that of the poorest countries, and the gap between the two is widening.
Loading...
The MDGs were followed by the 17 "Sustainable Development Goals" set at the 2015 UN Sustainable Development Summit.Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)The first of the "Let's End Extreme Poverty" goals is to "End Extreme Poverty Everywhere. The SDGs pledged to "leave no one behind on the planet," but unless significant changes are made, Africa will be left behind in 2030. However, unless major changes are made, by 2030 Africa will not be able to meet the SDGs.More than 400 million peopleare expected to be left behind in extreme poverty.
Loading...
Background of Disparity
What, then, has widened the economic gap in recent years? One domestic factor that can be cited is the problem of past colonial rule. Most low-income countries have a history of colonial rule. For the convenience of the sovereign countries of the time, a system was created in which manpower was concentrated on a single natural resource or agricultural product, and a monoculture economy that relied heavily on exports was born. Even after independence, there was no economic room for major improvements in this system, and to some extent, it remains in place to this day. The monoculture economy can easily be hit hard by falling prices or poor harvests on the international market, and the domestic economic situation is not stable. This is at the same timeDelayed industrializationAs a result, these countries still export mainly raw materials for industrial products and are unable to engage in value-added trade such as importing and processing raw materials and then exporting them. Also,Political corruption and embezzlementand other domestic political issues.
What about the international context? From several perspectives, we can see the composition of the "haves" exploiting the "have-nots. First, let us look at the case of international trade. Foreign companies doing business in low-income countries use tax havens to avoid tariffs and corporate income taxes by dazzling the flow of funds when importing and exporting.illegal capital outflowIt is a matter of Indeed, much of the world's tradehalfis done through tax havens. In addition, when companies and farms in low-income countries become sellers, companies in developed countries, who are buyers, use power relationships to set prices, and raw materials and products are bought at unfairly low pricesunfair tradeis also rampant. This creates a monopoly of profits by foreign companies. In this way, global wealth flows from low-income countries to high-income countries, maintaining and reinforcing inequality.
Women working in a quarry (Photo: Nick Fox/Shutterstock)
In addition, climate change, which is causing alarm around the world, may also be a contributing factor. Droughts, rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and other problems that threaten people's lives are caused by climate change, which is attributed to greenhouse gases emitted by industrialized countries. However, economic power is the key to how these problems can be addressed. The poor, despite being less responsible for climate change, are clearly less able than the wealthy to take action, such as buying food at higher prices, installing air conditioning in their homes, or building breakwaters, and are thus pushed into even more impoverished situations. This is,climate apartheidcalled "the new disparity problem in modern society. This will result in a decrease in the number of people who, by 2030About 120 million people live in povertyThe forecast is that this will be the case.
Certainly, capital inflows in the form of official development assistance (ODA) and direct investment (FDI) do exist. However, outflows are by far the largest. For example, NGOs from around the world, including Global Justice in the United States and Health Poverty Action in the United Kingdom, jointly released the 2017dataAccording to the report, capital inflows into the African continent during the year 2015 were approximately $162 billion, while capital outflows due to illicit capital outflows, foreign corporate profits, and climate change damage and responses amounted to approximately $200 billion. Although African countries received economic support from international organizations and high-income countries, their balance of payments was, surprisingly, in large deficit. Thus, it seems that the international context is complex and contributes to the disparity.
after this
A number of ways have already been proposed to reduce global disparities. First, the problems caused by tax havens have often been the subject of debate at international conferences, and at the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD3) in 2015, institutional reform at the level of international organizations was also on the agenda. However, this was due to strong opposition from high-income countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan,It didn't happen.Another way is through taxation policy. At the domestic level, increasing income tax rates can help redistribute wealth domestically and reduce inequality. At the international level, taxation of foreign exchange transactions would curb profits from speculative trading, and the tax revenue would be used to support low-income countries.Tobin tax (on cross-border currency trading)Other ideas include a "ticket solidarity tax" imposed on international flights, which has been introduced in France and several other countries. However, none of these ideas seems to be easy, as each has its own problems: the income tax hike is opposed by the top economic class, which has a political voice in the country; the Tobin tax is opposed by high-income countries, and so on. As for the issue of low-income countries not being able to add value when trading internationally,Promoting industrializationIt is conceivable that they may do so. However, it is hard to imagine that if they are so far behind, they will ever be able to compete with the already-growing production giants. Another major challenge is the need to balance industrialization and climate change measures.
There are also initiatives by citizens and businesses. For example.fair tradehas gradually become better known in recent years. As the aforementioned unfair trade is rampant, there are many producers who are disadvantaged in the global trade structure. This initiative aims to promote fairer and more equitable trade for these producers by guaranteeing minimum prices, promoting long-term trade, and offering incentives to producers. However, this is only an exchange at a fair price. While this may be much better than unfair trade, it cannot be said to significantly improve the situation. In addition, the minimum price guaranteed by the existing Fairtrade certification system and the amount of incentives for producers are too low to be a sufficient source of income.status quoThere are also
Cargo ship (Photo: Lukasz Z/Shutterstock)
Economic disparity and inequality are quite serious and deep-rooted problems that have been created and maintained by the world's political and economic structures. As we can see from the current situation, rather than improving, the disparities continue to widen. However, there are those who have begun to propose ideas and initiatives to address these unacceptable problems. The Oxfam International report, which has revealed startling data about the disparity between the economically rich and those who are not, is released every January; the 2019 edition found that the assets of the bottom half of 3.8 billion people equal the assets of only 26 people at the top. So far, this top tier has come to have more assets than 3.8 billion people with fewer people, but what about the 2020 edition? Will the gap be even wider and will the number of people in the top tier be smaller?
Writer: Suzu Asai
Graphics: Yow Shuning, Saki Takeuchi
I was struck by the phrase "the haves exploit the have-nots." You should check out Oxfam's report in January.
Monoculture, which has been cited as one of the factors contributing to the widening gap, seems to be difficult to break out of now that it has taken root. I feel that it is necessary for consumers to be aware of not only the seriousness of the current situation but also the history of being forced to become so by "developed countries" and "consumer countries.
I have often heard the word "disparity" and thought I understood that it is a global issue.
However, I was surprised because I did not realize that the problem was bigger than I had expected and that so-called developed countries were also involved.
I was struck by the divergence between the graphs on GDP for high-income and low-income countries.
I was shocked to learn that although the number of people living in poverty has been decreasing globally, there is still a lot of illicit money movement in Africa, which has not improved at all and will continue to do so in the future. I felt the need to address poverty in a substantive way, without being bound by the target number or percentage of people living in poverty.
It was quite shocking to see that "Africa is helping the world."
The only flower in the world