inequality

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Americans Are Shrinking, and It Started With Millennials

Once the tallest in the world, American men have shrunk to 47th, women 58th

(Newser) - Back in the 1800s, records showed that Americans were the tallest in the world. But something happened in the 1980s stateside—men and women's average height was shrinking when compared with other countries. Meghna Chakrabarti spoke with researchers on WBUR's On Point to dig into why, and they...

Anti-Poverty Group: We're Entering a 'Decade of Division'

Oxfam says we could see the world's first trillionaire within 10 years

(Newser) - The world could have its first trillionaire within a decade, anti-poverty organization Oxfam International said Monday in its annual assessment of global inequalities timed to the gathering of political and business elites at the Swiss ski resort of Davos. Oxfam, which for years has been trying to highlight the growing...

Oxfam Says It's Time for 'Billionaire-Busting' Taxes

Since 2020, two-thirds of all new wealth created has gone to 1%, group says

(Newser) - Oxfam has once again released startling figures on inequality to mark the opening of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Over the last two years, two-thirds of all new wealth created has gone to the richest 1% of the world's population, up from an average of around 50%...

It's the Next Pandemic That Worries Bill Gates

Equality has taken a hit in every way, foundation report shows

(Newser) - Bill Gates would have thought more would have been done by now to make sure the next pandemic doesn't catch us by surprise. "The attention to pandemic preparedness is lower than I would have expected," Gates told the Wall Street Journal . The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation...

6 Nations Have Legal Equality Among Sexes. US Isn't Even Close

'A typical economy only gives women three-quarters the rights of men'

(Newser) - Women in Europe have it best, legally-speaking. Belgium, Denmark, France, Latvia, Luxembourg, and Sweden are the only countries that offer legal equality for men and women, according to a report by the World Bank. It looked at 35 indicators related to jobs, marriage, personal safety, property ownership, travel, inheritance, and...

World's 5 Most Unequal Countries on Same Continent

Effects of South Africa's apartheid still felt

(Newser) - Inequality was embedded in South African culture through its apartheid system. Nearly a quarter century after its end, the country still has a long way to go. "Inequality is high, persistent, and has increased since 1994" in South Africa, which is the most unequal country in the world when...

Oxfam: 42 People Now Have as Much as World's Poorest 3.7B

82% of wealth generated in 2017 went to 1%

(Newser) - Last year was another bumper year for the very richest people in the world and another step backward for billions of others, according to Oxfam's annual report on inequality ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos. The report estimates that the lowest-income 50% of the world, or around...

Richest 1% Now Control Record 50.1% of Global Wealth

According to a new report

(Newser) - Good news: Global wealth rose by 6.4% in 2017 in the fastest yearly increase since 2012, the Financial Times reports. Bad news: The distribution of that new wealth was as uneven as ever. According to Credit Suisse's 2017 Global Wealth Report , the richest 1% now account for a...

White Parents Fight Dress Code They Say Targets Black Girls

'When our daughters walk with us, they have our white privilege'

(Newser) - When twins Mya and Deanna Cook got permission to get braided hair extensions last spring, their white parents Aaron and Colleen Cook say it was in part to let their adopted daughters celebrate their black heritage. But it didn't take long for the 16-year-old students at Mystic Valley Regional...

8 Men Are as Rich as World's Poorest 3.6B

Oxfam calls for crackdown on tax-dodging

(Newser) - A group of people that could fit into a minivan is richer than enough of the world's population to fill nearly 50 million school buses, according to Oxfam's latest shocking report on world inequality. Eight extremely wealthy men, six of them American, have as much wealth as the...

Wonder Woman Just Got Fired by UN—Maybe for Her Looks

People didn't think how she dressed, looked made her appropriate female empowerment rep

(Newser) - A United Nations spokesman has confirmed to Reuters that Wonder Woman's reign as an honorary ambassador for gender equality will be ending Friday, even though originally she was meant to punch a card for the UN through 2017. The "scantily clad, curvaceous comic book superhero," as the...

62 People Have as Much as the Poorest 3.6B Combined

Wealth concentrated at 'tippy top of the pyramid,' Oxfam says

(Newser) - The richest .000000001% has had a great few years and now owns as much wealth as the poorest 50% of the world's population combined, according to the latest report from Oxfam. The British charity says just 62 billionaires are now as rich as the poorest 3.6 billion people...

Don't Get Mad at This Rich, White Teen Killer
Don't Get Mad at This
Rich, White Teen Killer
OPINION
Dec 13, 2013 1:25 PM CST

Don't Get Mad at This Rich, White Teen Killer

The problem isn't that Ethan Couch got off, it's that poor kids don't, Elie Mystal writes

(Newser) - You were probably outraged when you heard about Ethan Couch, the 16-year-old drunk driver who killed four people but avoided jail thanks to his " affluenza "—the (apparently accurate) belief that his family's wealth ensured that his actions had no consequences. "Anybody who thinks that this...

Top 1% Took Record Share of US Income Last Year

Perhaps because they were cashing in stock ahead of new tax rules

(Newser) - The pay gap between the richest 1% and the rest of America widened to a record last year. The top 1% of earners collected 19.3% of household income in 2012, their largest share in Internal Revenue Service figures going back a century, according to an analysis of IRS figures...

Celeb Worship a Sign American Dream Is Dying

George Packer thinks our celebrity culture is exacerbating inequality

(Newser) - Watching the Great Gatsby might give you a shock of recognition, because it hails from a time like our own: One that's lousy with inequality, observes George Packer in the New York Times . Celebrities, he argues, function as "new household gods" for a population losing faith, and they...

Recovering Queen Skips Another Service

But will sign resolution that could indicate gay-rights support

(Newser) - Still on the mend after a brief hospitalization, Queen Elizabeth won't make it to a celebration of the British Commonwealth today, CNN reports. Still, her health issues are "nothing to fret about," says a Buckingham Palace insider, and in another ceremony tonight, she'll sign a historic...

World's Richest Hiding $21 Trillion From Taxman

Top 0.001% alone account for $10 trillion

(Newser) - While Democrats and Republicans argue about who should get tax cuts in America —those making $250,000 a year or $1 million annually—the really, really megarich are hiding some real money around the world in tax havens and sheltered offshore accounts reports the Guardian . In fact, at least...

Romney's Bain Pal: Rich Should Get Richer
 Romney's Bain Pal: 
 Rich Should Get Richer 
NYT MAG COVER STORY
May 2, 2012 12:53 PM CDT

Romney's Bain Pal: Rich Should Get Richer

New book 'may be the most hated of the year' New York Times predicts

(Newser) - If you're angry about the growing divide between America's rich and poor, former Bain Capital executive Edward Conard has a message for you: Get over it. Conard is a member of the 0.1%, a top Mitt Romney donor, and the author of Unintended Consequences, a book arguing...

Congress Is Increasingly Richer Than You

Figures show widening wealth gap, and with it polarization

(Newser) - Before he ran for Congress in 1974, Gary Myers was a steel mill worker. His campaign set him back $33,000. Today, Myers’ seat is occupied by Mike Kelly, a wealthy car dealer who married into the Phillips oil fortune. His campaign cost $1.2 million. That contrast is emblematic...

Finally, the Obama We Elected
 Finally, the Obama We Elected 
Robert Reich
Dec 7, 2011 1:50 PM CST

Finally, the Obama We Elected

Last night's speech was incredibly important, Robert Reich writes

(Newser) - The speech President Obama gave last night in Osawatomie, Kansas, was the "most important economic speech of his presidency," writes former labor secretary Robert Reich. "Here, finally, is the Barack Obama many of us thought we had elected in 2008," one who actually fights Big Money...

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