Oxfam around the world?

According to Oxfam, the world's 85 richest people own nearly half of all global wealth. How does income inequality harm societies?

• Answer:

  Note : I work with . I would like to open by quoting US Supreme Court Justice http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Brandeis  in the aftermath of the Great Depression [1], ‘We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of the few, but we cannot have both.’ i.e. the politics of inequality and redistribution. That, roughly, is the main problem of inequality. When power is concentrated in the hands of very few people, their natural tendency is to ensure that the systems and laws keep their power intact and in fact cause it to grow. Since their power cannot grow in a vacuum, it comes at the expense of the vast majority of the poor who get repressed and cannot get a voice in matters that affect them. That is also the problem with the lobbying system in the USA for instance; the powerful can buy voice and influence and this comes at the expense of the powerless. Income inequality feeds on itself and deepens with each generation. It causes inequitable control over resources and that leads to class based strife. Remember the French revolution? It leads to insecurity : More wars and revolutions have been waged for resources than in the name of patriotism or religion. It is not coincidental that the last 30 years have seen increased strife, they have also seen increase inequality. It leads to denial of human rights and dignity to those forced to live in poverty. The detailed report referred to in the question can be found here : http://www.oxfam.org/en/policy/working-for-the-few-economic-inequality Here (video) is Oxfam CEO Winnie Byanyima talking about inequality and its impact. http://edition.cnn.com/video/?%2Fvideo%2Fbusiness%2F2014%2F01%2F20%2Fdavos-income-inequality-oxfam-international-winnie-byanima-intv.cnn&video_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FXMAjE4HpOl Slightly older & long (over an hour) but watch a panel discussion where Joseph Stiglitz, of Columbia University, and Martin Feldstein, of Harvard University, discuss inequality and its consequences at The Economist's Buttonwood Gathering on October 24th 2012. The session was moderated by The Economist's Matthew Bishop.   [1] Quote drawn from Oxfam blog on the report  : http://oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/working-for-the-few-top-new-report-on-the-links-between-politics-and-inequality/