A one-time tax on the wealth gained by the 10 richest individuals in the world during the pandemic could be more than enough to pay for all global vaccines. A recent study, titled ‘Inequality Kills,’ highlighted how the world’s wealthiest men more than doubled their fortune from $700 billion to $1.5 trillion in the first two years of the pandemic. This precipitous rise in wealth was the equivalent of adding $1.3 billion a day to the collective wealth of the world’s ten richest people.

Share Market Live

NSE

Also read: Wealth of India's 10 richest enough to education of every child for 25 years, says study

Oxfam's suggestions

The study by Oxfam, a confederation of 21 independent charitable organisations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, stated that a one-time 99 percent tax on this increase of wealth of the 10 richest individuals during the pandemic could fund making “enough vaccines for the world.”

Additionally, this amount could “provide universal healthcare and social protection, fund climate adaptation and reduce gender-based violence in over 80 countries.”

Also read: Oxfam recommends 1% wealth tax as rich become richer and poor getting poorer amid pandemic

And after all is said and done, the individuals would still be $8 billion richer than they were before the pandemic.

A ‘terrific pandemic’

“Billionaires have had a terrific pandemic. Central banks pumped trillions of dollars into financial markets to save the economy, yet much of that has ended up lining the pockets of billionaires riding a stock market boom. Vaccines were meant to end this pandemic, yet rich governments allowed pharma billionaires and monopolies to cut off the supply to billions of people. The result is that every kind of inequality imaginable risks rising. The predictability of it is sickening. The consequences of it kill,” said International’s Executive Director Gabriela Bucher.

Also read: Key highlights of Oxfam's state of inequality report

The current tax system across the world has been criticised by many, including many who are benefitting from it. Warren Buffet has repeatedly asked for higher income tax rates while groups like the Patriotic Millionaire, a group of more than 100 billionaires and millionaires, have asked political leaders to make the ultra-rich pay their fair share of taxes ahead of the World Economic Forum's online Davos Agenda 2022 summit.

Indian divide

The situation is not regional either. India added 40 individuals to its billionaires list in 2021, at the same time when 84 percent of Indian households saw a decline in their income due to the pandemic, Oxfam added in its report.

Also read: Elon Musk to satire site: Wealth no deep mystery, taxes super simple

(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)