Sir, – A recent report from Oxfam showed that the 80 richest individuals on the planet have the same wealth as the poorest 50 per cent (3.5 billion people). In cash terms, their wealth has doubled in the last five years. They predict that by 2016 the wealth of the richest 1 per cent will overtake that of the rest of the world’s population combined. These revelations are both astonishing and galling. I believe that capitalism is the best system to lift people out of poverty but when the gap in wealth has widened to a degree where a handful of individuals control so much, and so many have to survive on so little, then something in the world has surely gone awry. Figures also show that over recent years the very rich have become increasingly adept at finding ways of paying less and less tax and when it comes to lobbying politicians, their positions of influence grant them unfettered access to these policymakers. It seems that the avarice of a few coupled with the obeisance of policymakers is at the core of the problem. The absurdity of avoiding tax in order to amass wealth that is so enormous that it could never possibly be of practical use to the beneficiaries seems to be lost on them. In its report, Oxfam made several recommendations that would help to narrow the wealth gap by means of social and tax reforms. It is up to the world’s politicians to take these suggestions on board, but is anyone listening? – Yours, etc,
JOHN BELLEW,
Dunleer,
Co Louth.