NPR

Tax The Ultrarich To Solve Poverty? Easier Said Than Done

Oxfam has issued its annual report on the gap between the wealthy and the poor — and offered a solution.

A new report from Oxfam says that just 1 percent of Amazon owner Jeff Bezos' fortune — estimated at $112 billion — would cover Ethiopia's entire annual health budget. That's health care for 105 million people.

So, Oxfam proposes, let's tax the rich to help the poor.

It's not a new idea. In fact, Oxfam has been making the recommendation for a few years now, pegged to its annual report that compares the wealth of those in the top 1 percent of humanity — $8.4 trillion in 2018 — to the combined assets of the poorest half of, where elites gather in Davos, Switzerland to discuss the world's most pressing problems.

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