There are more billionaires than ever before. The world has 2,781 people with fortunes exceeding $1bn (£800m), an increase of 141 on 2023, according to Forbes’ annual ranking of the world’s richest people – with Taylor Swift among those making the list.
The billionaires are also collectively worth more than ever, with combined assets estimated at $14.2tn – a $2tn increase on 2023 and more than the GDP of every country except the US and China.
Cool. So a 100% tax on anyone playing – or listening to – Ms Swift’s music is now justified, right? Because equalidee?
It always used to amuse me that even if I won the lottery in Euromillions I could don a Lefty persona and complain that I didn’t have as much money as Bill Gates and therefore everyone worth more than £181,000,000 should be taxed at 102% of it…
One of the G’s regular tricks is to take a group they dislike (people, businesses, companies, …), give a fairly meaningless combined statistic for the entire group and rant about how iniquitous that is. So here’s one for their medical correspondent:
A typical class of 30 schoolchildren often has a combined resting heart rate of 2000 or more. Yet the government is doing nothing to deal with this scourge of tachycardia in our classrooms!
Indeed, Arthur. And what is the government doing about the scourge of bradycardia in the nation’s cemeteries?
Since a $ is worth considerably less than a year ago (5%-15% depending on what you wish to spend it on), many of these new billionaires may be poorer than last year when they just missed the cut.
Good luck to Taylor Swift (although I’ve never knowingly listened to her music).
She’s another great example of the Zuckerberg/Walmart analogy Tim has often used…how providing small services that zillions of people value can make a person gob-smackingly rich.
I’ve got about 700 million Bolivars here. Does that count?
Terry Pratchett poured his heart into his work, and in return millions of people of their own free will voluntarily poured millions of pounds into his bank account, so much so that he reported having to change banks after it filled up. Why is that evil?
I’m getting to be inclinded that SirPT died at the right time.
Daisy Pearson, of the campaign group Global Justice Now, said: “It is utterly unconscionable that at a time where masses of the world’s population are living in dire poverty, a few individuals are allowed to amass staggering wealth. This is only possible through exploitation, and their monopolisation of wealth and resources further allows them to amass huge power and influence over decisions that affect our everyday lives. Enough is enough – we should be regulating these barons out of existence.”
Luke Hildyard, the executive director for the High Pay Centre thinktank, said: “The billionaire list is essentially an annual calculation of how much of the wealth created by the global economy is captured by a tiny caste of oligarchs rather than being used to benefit humanity as a whole. It should be the most urgent mission of the coming decades to spread this wealth more evenly, proportionately and efficiently.”
Lol!!