这位8位富豪的身家相当于全球一半人口的财富总和

本周，就在决策者和许多超级富豪赴达沃斯参加世界经济论坛之际，乐施会在报告中指出，贫富差距达到了前所未有的程度；中国和印度的新数据还表明，世界上较贫穷的那一半人拥有的财富低于此前估计的水平。

该组织认为贫富差距“大得惊人”。它指出，如果此前能像今年这样拿到新数据，那就可以看到，2016年时九名富翁的身家就相当于世界上较贫穷的那一半人口的总财富，而不是当时估算的62位。

乐施会的最新计算结果表明，与之相比，2010年43位富豪才和那一半较贫困人口拥有同样多的财富。

近年来，贫富差距越发受到重视，国际货币基金组织总裁和教皇等人都曾就贫富差距的负面效应发出过警告，对精英的不满则助推了平民政治的崛起。

上周，世界经济论坛自行发布的全球风险报告再次凸显了对这个问题的顾虑。

乐施会政策负责人马克斯·劳森表示：“我们看到许多人都感到焦虑。就今年来说，特朗普赢得大选和英国脱欧在这方面显然起了推波助澜的作用。但和往常一样，工商界没有什么具体的替代措施。”

“资本主义的其他一些运行方式给多数人带来的益处可能要多得多。”

增压式资本主义

乐施会在报告中呼吁打击避税行为并摆脱富人收入过高的“增压式”股东资本主义。

虽然许多普通劳动者都面临收入止步不前的困境，但2009年以来，超级富翁的财富平均每年都有11%的增长。

以全球首富、达沃斯常客比尔·盖茨为例，2006年宣布离开微软的计划至今，盖茨的财富增加了50%，或者说250亿美元，他捐献大部分财富的努力并未改变这种局面。

虽然盖茨亲身示范了如何将大笔财富转而用于帮助贫困人口，但乐施会认为，这种“大举行善”的做法并未解决根本问题。

劳森说：“亿万富翁决定把钱捐出去是件好事。但贫富差距才是重点，而且制度上不应该出现亿万富翁的税率全面低于其秘书或保洁的情况。”

乐施会的计算结果基于瑞士信贷和《福布斯》的数据。该组织报告中所说的八位富翁是：比尔·盖茨、时尚零售企业Inditex创始人阿曼西奥•奥尔特加、投资老手沃伦·巴菲特、墨西哥的卡洛斯·斯利姆、亚马逊老板杰夫·贝佐斯、Facebook的马克·扎克伯格、甲骨文的拉里•埃里森和纽约市前市长迈克尔·布隆伯格。（财富中文网）

译者：Charlie

As decision makers and many of the super-rich gather for this week's World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, the charity's report suggests the wealth gap is wider than ever, with new data for China and India indicating that the poorest half of the world owns less than previously estimated.

Oxfam, which described the gap as "obscene," said if the new data had been available before, it would have shown that in 2016 nine people owned the same as the 3.6 billion who make up the poorest half of humanity, rather than 62 estimated at the time.

In 2010, by comparison, it took the combined assets of the 43 richest people to equal the wealth of the poorest 50%, according to the latest calculations.

Inequality has moved up the agenda in recent years, with the head of the International Monetary Fund and the Pope among those warning of its corrosive effects, while resentment of elites has helped fuel an upsurge in populist politics.

Concern about the issue was highlighted again in the WEF's own global risks report last week.

"We see a lot of hand-wringing - and clearly Trump's victory and Brexit gives that new impetus this year - but there is a lack of concrete alternatives to business as usual," said Max Lawson, Oxfam's head of policy.

"There are different ways of running capitalism that could be much, much more beneficial to the majority of people."

SUPER-CHARGED CAPITALISM

Oxfam called in its report for a crackdown on tax dodging and a shift away from "super-charged" shareholder capitalism that pays out disproportionately to the rich.

While many workers struggle with stagnating incomes, the wealth of the super-rich has increased by an average of 11% a year since 2009.

Bill Gates, the world's richest man who is a regular at Davos, has seen his fortune rise by 50% or $25 billion since announcing plans to leave Microsoft (msft) in 2006, despite his efforts to give much of it away.

While Gates exemplifies how outsized wealth can be recycled to help the poor, Oxfam believes such "big philanthropy" does not address the fundamental problem.

"If billionaires choose to give their money away then that is a good thing. But inequality matters and you cannot have a system where billionaires are systematically paying lower rates of tax than their secretary or cleaner," Lawson said.

Oxfam bases its calculations on data from Swiss bank Credit Suisse and Forbes. The eight individuals named in the report are Gates, Inditex founder Amancio Ortega, veteran investor Warren Buffett, Mexico's Carlos Slim, Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Oracle's Larry Ellison and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg.