Oxfam made headlines when it released this report in October 2014. According to the anti-poverty confederation, the world's eighty richest individuals now own more of the planet's wealth than the billions of people who make up the world's poorest half. In addition, the wealthiest one percent of the world's population now control about 48 percent of international wealth. And, if the Oxfam predictions are correct, inequality will only continue growing. While some of the figures have been challenged, nearly everyone agrees that, as Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of Oxfam International said in a press release attached to the report, "The scale of global inequality is simply staggering." The 142-page report, replete with photographs and stories from those living in poverty, as well as endorsements from former secretary general of the UN and a Nobel Prize-winning economist, is viewable online and downloadable as a free PDF.
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