Page 5 - Azerbaijan State University of Economics

Muhammad Yunus: Can wealth concentration be stopped?

Paris inspires me to believe that this kind of citizen's movement can make the
world ready to overcome another impending disaster which has been looming on the
horizon. This has been a hot subject in politics for ages. Many powerful movements,
many ambitious initiatives have been taken over centuries to address this problem.
Much blood has been shed over this issue. But it not only does not go away, it gets
more threatening than ever. This is the problem of ever-exploding gap in private
wealth. It keeps on growing locally, nationally, and globally. As the economy grows
concentration of private wealth gets worse. Faster the rate of growth, faster is the
rate of concentration of wealth. This disaster is dangerous because it destroys peace
and harmony; it threatens human rights and democracy. It pushes the world towards
social explosions each worse than the previous ones. It triggers armed conflicts
among nations.

Oxfam Updates on Wealth Concentration
Oxfam has been giving us horrifying updates on wealth concentration each
year. This year they tell us that 62 richest people own more wealth than owned by
bottom half of world population. In 2015 they reported that the 80 richest people,
and in 2014, according to them 85 richest people owned more wealth than owned by
the bottom half of world population. In 2010, six years back, it was 388 richest
people who had the pleasure of owning similar wealth. They also told us that wealth
of 80 richest people doubled in five years, between 2009 and 2014.
Oxfam has a terrifying projection for 2016. During the current year, they
projected; the richest 1% of the world will own more wealth than owned by the
bottom 99% of the world's population. That means total wealth of 99% of the
population of the world will barely be equal to the wealth of the top 1% of the
world. And it will get worse as year
This information is so unbelievable that it takes time to absorb. We feel like
asking many more questions. How many of world's richest people will own more
wealth than owned by the bottom half of the world population, say, in 2025? It is
obvious that if the number can drop from 388 persons to 62 persons in six years we
are just one small step away from one lucky person owning more wealth than owned
by bottom half of the world population!
US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders kept reminding in his campaign
speeches that in the USA, the top one-tenth of one percent owns almost as much
wealth as the bottom 90 percent.
What about Bangladesh? Is it 62 or more, or less, of the richest owning more
wealth than owned by the bottom half of the country's population? Does it interest
anyone to find the number? How long will it take to reach a point where only one
person will own more wealth than owned by bottom half of the people of

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