Pandemic Increased Wealth Inequality Even Further.
$731,000,000,000. That’s the amount of money by how much the wealth of 467 billionaires increased through the pandemic.
According to the guardian, “The top 0,0001% are using a global pandemic as an opportunity to make outrageous profits after receiving a de facto bailout by the federal reserve.” President Trump’s tax giveaway to the wealthy, makes billionaires now pay a lower effective tax rate than teachers, nurses or firefighters.
During the pandemic, billionaires have made an extraordinary wealth gain. Their purchasing and investment power in addition to government resources help them make enormous profits from and during economic catastrophes like Covid-19.
Jeff Bezos, who is currently the wealthiest person alive, made approximately $13,000,000,000 in one day, while his companies denied paid sick leave and a safe workplace to thousands of his workers. Another example is the Walton family which generated around $21,000,000,000 during the last weeks. The largest private employer in the U.S. still makes their employees work for starvation wages at Walmart.
The Business Insider even used a study from 2012 which shows, “that as much as $32 trillion was being held offshore by the world’s wealthiest people.”
Tax laws and loopholes keep billionaires at the top, while 92 million Americans are uninsured, tens of millions are facing evictions and according the too Business Insider, “more than 40 million Americans unemployed.
They also said that “in 2019, four out of ten Americans didn’t have enough cash in their bank to cover over a $400 unexpected expense.”
That shows how big the wealth inequality actually is and that study was even before the pandemic happened.
Congress needs to stand up for the Americans that are not in the top 0,0001% and change national priorities. A good start would be to use the enormous amount of money and wealth gain made through the pandemic by the billionaires. Using that money would guarantee healthcare for the duration of the pandemic.
According to Americans for tax fairness from the Guardian,” imposing a 60% tax on the wealth gains made by just 467 billionaires would raise over $440 billion.” With that money, healthcare could be extended to everyone in America, regardless of their coverage. It also means that no one would have to pay medical bills out of their pocket for the next 12 months.
Sources:
- https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/11/the-pandemic-is-helping-the-rich-get-even-richer-its-time-to-tax-their-obscene-wealth
- https://www.businessinsider.com/billionaires-net-worth-increases-coronavirus-pandemic-2020-7
- https://www.thenational.ae/business/how-covid-19-helped-create-new-billionaires-1.1034338
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2020/09/25/the-pandemic-plutocrats-how-covid-is-creating-new-fintech-billionares/#f706d12ad695