So far, so good.
The richest people in the world are coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic unscathed, according to the NGO Oxfam which publishes its annual report on inequalities on Monday, on the occasion of the opening - online - of the World Economic Forum of Davos.
Better still, they would have even benefited from it.
Oxfam calls for a tax on wealth, in order to fight the persistent “inequality virus”.
The start of the coronavirus crisis may have disturbed them, but the world's largest fortunes are now experiencing an upturn.
"The richest 1,000 people in the world returned to their pre-pandemic wealth levels in just nine months when it could take the poorest people over ten years to recover from the economic impacts," Oxfam says .
Globally, billionaires have even seen their fortune increase by 3900 billion between March 18 and December 31, according to the NGO which relies in particular on data from Forbes and Credit Suisse.
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, 3rd world wealth behind the Americans Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk - have "earned nearly 175 billion euros" over the same period, "exceeding their level of wealth before the crisis ”.
This is the third strongest increase, after the United States and China.
"Freedom, inequalities, fraternity"
To counter this surge in inequalities, Oxfam is taking up the proposals of economists Thomas Piketty and Gabriel Zucman which consist in taxing the richest more.
"The corona crisis must mark a turning point in the taxation of the wealthiest people and companies," says Oxfam.
It offers us the opportunity to finally establish a fair tax system, to put an end to the race to the bottom and to initiate a race to the top.
"
According to the NGO, this increase in taxation “can take the form of an increase in wealth tax, taxes on financial transactions and measures to eradicate tax evasion.
Oxfam cites Argentina as an example, which in December passed a law instituting an extraordinary tax on large fortunes.
The recipe, which could bring in some $ 3 billion, aims to finance the fight against the effects of Covid-19.
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In France, where the wealth tax was abolished in 2018, the government ruled out increasing taxes by the end of the five-year term in 2022 to finance its costly plan to support the economy.
On the occasion of the release of this report, Oxfam France is launching a campaign this Monday that hijacks the republican currency.
Posters "freedom, inequalities, fraternity" will be brandished in front of places symbolizing the Republic in 10 cities of France including Paris, Lyon and Lille.
