Less than 0.00004 percent of the world’s population accumulates more wealth, while fewer than 3,000 billionaires increasingly shape politics. The influence of these super-rich and their corporations exacerbates social inequality and “shatters democratic principles at their foundations.”
According to a new report by the non-governmental organization (NGO) Oxfam, published in time for the start of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, the show seems to be losing its significance – and the backrooms are becoming more important.
Accelerated accumulation
The Oxfam report states that the total wealth of the approximately 2,800 billionaires worldwide grew by about two more billion US dollars last year – and thus about three times faster than in 2023. On average, each of these billionaires became two million dollars richer every day in 2024. For the top ten in this group, it was even 100 million per day.
Worldwide, 204 individuals reportedly made the jump from multimillionaire to billionaire last year. In Germany, nine more joined the ranks, with the total wealth in this group increasing by almost 27 billion euros. With 130 billionaires, Germany ranks fourth on the list of countries with the most super-rich individuals, behind the USA, China, and India.
Concentration of wealth and power
The large fortunes are primarily based on the ownership of or participation in large corporations, mostly in the form of shares. Super-rich individuals, through their powerful financial means, often become politicians, finance political parties, politicians, and media, maintain lobbying networks, and thus have a strong influence on public opinion-forming.
Regardless of how exactly (or inaccurately) Oxfam calculated the numbers, a clear and well-known trend is evident: the more wealth, the faster it grows. Clearly, the more money a billionaire can pump into capital appreciation, the more value they can extract from the work of many. The accumulation is accelerating, and the competition from above is driving the middle class into bankruptcy – and thus, the concentration of wealth and power is increasing.
Debt and poverty for the masses
The merging of state and large capital in leading industrial nations is holding back weaker states. “Many countries are on the brink of bankruptcy, are paralyzed by debt, and do not have the financial means to reduce poverty and inequality” Oxfam states. So, countries with low and middle incomes are, on average, forced to spend 48 percent of their budget on debt repayment. “That is much more than they spend on education and health combined.”
This has led, according to the NGO, to the fact that four out of five states reduced their social expenditures last year, 90 percent dismantled labor rights, and reduced minimum wages. There, the material inequality and thus the extent of poverty will continue to increase, the authors of the report summarize.
While super-rich individuals are getting richer, the number of people living below the so-called expanded poverty line of the World Bank, at 6.85 US dollars per day, has remained unchanged for 35 years. 3.6 billion people, almost half the world’s population, are affected by this, with a disproportionate number of women and children being affected by chronic hunger.
Abandoning the WEF
Meanwhile, the WEF meeting seems to be losing its significance. Many preferred to attend the inauguration of US President Donald Trump. Of the G7 states, only German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) attended as the only head of state. Trump is set to deliver a video address. The leaders of the most powerful states in the global South, including China, India, and Brazil, are also absent this year. They are clearly setting their hopes on the loose economic and state alliance BRICS, in the hope of creating a counterbalance to Western imperialism.
The formal motto “Collaboration for the Intelligent Age” makes the use of artificial intelligence a central theme, which will likely be of particular interest to leading high-tech billionaires. The second top theme is debates on how to further boost economic growth – to the benefit of the wealthy, of course. It’s also about the organization of propaganda: How can one restore the “trust of the population in the political elite”? Growing social rifts are playing a rather subordinate role this year.
US oligarchy on the rise
Some “experts” such as a representative of the consulting firm Oliver Wyman, noted in the media that a power shift is occurring in favor of powerful US financiers. These are reportedly rejoicing over a “strong upswing” while European economic representatives are lamenting the opposite. As a result, the West is increasingly moving away from nearly limitless economic liberal free trade. The USA is clearly setting its sights on economic war, even against its so-called “partners.”
In line with this, Oxfam concluded in the prelude that the focus on environmental policy and “climate protection” has also decreased. Instead, a “new US oligarchy” is emerging, which Oxfam locates at the top, with “real estate mogul Trump” as its figurehead: “a billionaire as president, supported and bought by the richest man in the world, Elon Musk.” Oxfam criticized further: This faction, which also has Argentine President Javier Milei close by, is successfully presenting itself as “anti-elitist” – which it is not.
The right of the strong
One could see something positive in this as well: The degree of official hypocrisy, according to which it has always been serious about human rights or environmental protection in the Western imperialist playbook, is apparently shrinking. Possible thought process behind this: Where the right of the strong becomes the official program, please do not complain about its implementation. After all, one can still quietly brainstorm great swindles in the still room.