1. Home
  2. Press Releases
  3. A Tale of Two Pandemics

Fight Inequality Alliance responds to publication of annual Forbes Rich List - Fight Inequality Alliance today reacted to the publication of the Forbes Rich List [1] calling for the introduction of wealth taxes around the world.

5 April 2022

Jenny Ricks, Global Convenor, Fight Inequality Alliance said: “The Forbes Rich List shows us that we are living in a tale of two pandemics where billionaire wealth is still booming, while most of humanity is going bust. While the super-rich can choose their latest yacht or space holiday, the inequality virus has laid bare a broken system that forces the rest of us to choose between healthcare and the environment, between heating and eating, between affordable housing and a living wage.
 
“Governments and powerful institutions are now making vital recovery plans, yet risk creating a two-tier recovery for rich and poor that only worsens inequality. People clearly want an economy that doesn’t only work for the super rich. We have a rare opportunity to rewrite the future rather than stick to the status quo.
That’s why we’re calling for a People’s Recovery Plan and wealth taxes on the super rich that could raise an eye watering $2.52 trillion globally.”
 
The latest billionaire wealth figures stand in stark contrast to loss of lives and jobs during the pandemic, which has pushed tens of millions more people into poverty and further supercharged inequalities around the world.

For further information: Jenny Ricks, Global Convenor, media@fightinequality.org   

 

Notes to editor

  1. https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2022/04/05/forbes-36th-annual-worlds-billionaires-list-facts-and-figures-2022/?sh=7cb56f7a7e30
  2. Fight Inequality Alliance is a growing global movement organising to counter the excessive concentration of power and wealth in the hands of a small elite. We are building a just, equal and sustainable world. We unite a wide range of social movements, grassroots and community-based organisations, civil society organisations, trade unions, artists and individual activists from across the world.
  3. Data released from Fight Inequality Alliance, the Institute for Policy Studies, Oxfam and Patriotic Millionaires in January 2022 shows that an annual wealth tax applied to the wealth of multi-millionaires and billionaires would raise a staggering $2.52 trillion if applied globally.
  4. More information on the People’s Recovery Plan can be found here.