In sharp contrast, the world's poorest 4.77 billion comprising 60 per cent of the planet's population has to incur loss of their wealth by 0.2 per cent in real terms. About 800 million workers in 52 countries experienced a decline in their average real wages. In the past two years these workers lost a combined amount of $1.5 trillion. If analysed against the $1.8 trillion net profit garnered by 148 world's biggest conglomerates in the year to June 2023, it is a 52 per cent jump over the average net profits in 2018-21.
This is, however, not all about the wealth acquisition by the billionaires in the world. They were $3.3 trillion richer than they were in 2020. What is unacceptable is that their wealth has grown three times faster than the rate of inflation in the post-Covid time, reckons the Oxfam. Clearly, the economic crunch was in effect to their advantage. It explains the brazenness of wealth accumulation when the poor and low-income people the world over are struggling to survive. Outrageous profits were made at the cost of the teeming billions who were yet to recover from the recessionary impacts of the pandemic.
The message is clear: even a pandemic of an unprecedented order is no obstacle on way to churning out profits left and right by the rich and superrich. They enjoy the opportunity of making money at a time the common people discover themselves in the worst possible financial crisis. This exactly is what the Bangla term matsayan means---the big fish swallows the smaller ones. If this is how the modern and advanced civilisation is to operate, it exposes its nauseating sickness. Humanity has been put in the dock for the mindless and rapacious greed for money and profit. But unsurprisingly, the people behind such aberrations cannot even feel the senselessness of their acts, in fact a downright crime against humanity.
The governments across the world have also been generous in doling out support packages for businesses to recover from the Covid-time shock. Called stimulus package in Bangladesh, such financial support hardly reached the most deserving because of various complications involving sanctioning of loans at the grassroots level. Some big loanees, moreover, have defaulted on repayment or laundered the money abroad.
If the world at large pursues financial systems, more or less similar, that only help the rich become richer and leave the poor to survive on the trickled down benefits, there is an overriding need for a review of it and a suggestion for correction of the injustice prevailing in human society. The rich and superrich have far greater capacity to absorb shock of an economic crunch than the ordinary mortals, particularly those wallowing at the bottom of the social rungs.
During the pandemic and post-pandemic times, businesses witnessed a slump but to what extent? True, some categories of business of single strains had to suffer and are still suffering but the conglomerates with businesses spread across a whole range of commodities, enjoyed mostly a heyday. This is why they could stuff their coffers with profits three times more than the inflation rate. In fact, they are the cause and effect of market volatility from which they reap irrational profits.
This was proved in case of a few essentials in Bangladesh. But this unholy business alliance prevailing in a most pronounced manner since the pandemic has made the country's economy quite vulnerable. The government generously granted stimulus packages but the businesses here could not care less in returning the favour. When energy prices and inflation of food and essential commodities eased off globally, Bangladesh has continued to experience a high inflation on account of energy and commodities with food inflation topping the rest.
The government has been compelled by the suffering of the low-income segment of the people to make arrangement for sale of a few basic essentials at subsidised rates. But this cannot treat the inherent ill of the economy. In fact, like the rest of the world, Bangladesh also needs to garner revenues from proper wealth tax and a higher rate of tax on income of the rich and superrich. The Oxfam rightly suggests a cap on salaries and other benefits for bosses of superrich companies. The Patriotic Millionaires UK, a nonpartisan group of millionaires, as a refreshing campaign, is campaigning for levying higher wealth tax. According to the Oxfam report, "a levy on British millionaires and billionaires could bring in 22 billion British pounds for the exchequer" each year if the rate is between 1.0-2.0 per cent on wealth above 10 million pounds.
The US exchequer will garner a far greater amount and even its counterpart in Bangladesh will collect a very savouring amount of revenue for any government. So there is a way if there is a will to take care of the existing inequalities in society. The issue here for the governments is to go for the corrective revenue collection measure.
nilratanhalder2000@yahoo.com