Fewer than 60,000 people – 0.001% of the world’s population – control three times as much wealth as the entire bottom half of humanity, according to a report that argues global inequality has reached such extremes that urgent action has become essential.
The authoritative World Inequality Report 2026, based on data compiled by 200 researchers, also found that the top 10% of income-earners earn more than the other 90% combined, while the poorest half captures less than 10% of total global earnings.
Wealth – the value of people’s assets – was even more concentrated than income, or earnings from work and investments, the report found, with the richest 10% of the world’s population owning 75% of wealth and the bottom half just 2%.
In almost every region, the top 1% was wealthier than the bottom 90% combined, the report found, with wealth inequality increasing rapidly around the world.
“The result is a world in which a tiny minority commands unprecedented financial power, while billions remain excluded from even basic economic stability,” the authors, led by Ricardo Gómez-Carrera of the Paris School of Economics, wrote.
People like you always have this kind of take because you’re benefiting from the system that allows such a gross gap in wealth. That’s why things won’t change. The very small group of ultra wealthy has a much larger army of “my experience isn’t so bad” types walking around thinking like you do.
A lecture I listened to over the spring (in health related field, no less!) noted that those who are reluctant to end corruption are usually benefitting in some way from the corruption.
See US politics.
Where the fuck did I say that? Fucking hell, the state of Lemmy at times…
I’m literally advocating for change here, BY FUCKING TELLING Y’ALL TO NOT BLAME THE FELLOW WORKER, but the actually wealthy.
The top 10% earners make approx. $120k a year. Which seems a lot, given there are people in India who make less than 1% of that in a year.
But that wealth disparage is NOTHING compared to the difference between said high earner (whose real income will be maybe 1/3 of what they make, after taxes, rent, etc.), and one of the 60k.
My point is still to blame the members of the 60k, not those who make $60k.
The class war got into people’s heads as ‘working - middle- upper’ but now it’s really ‘worker - owner’.
Do you need a paycheque, or do your assets alone feed you?
Put the litmus test away. PPP is a real thing and pretending it isn’t is not going to earn you any friends. A two bedroom condo in the US is easily 600,000 USD. The problem isn’t the people trying to get off the rental treadmill it’s the people making prices that high so we need high wages to live. In other words, the elite in the wealthiest countries are fucking everyone over, not just Panamanian farmers.
No it’s the billionaires and also the millionaires that own only a few houses or apartments because we’ve allowed basic necessities to become paths to financial security. Those non billionaires are benefiting from the same mechanisms the elite have installed, but get less flack because their level of wealth doesn’t seem as bad. Someone making $32k a year or less is getting screwed harder than someone making $132k by the system that makes the $1m+ a year club.
Nobody is disputing that.