Billionaires are making a killing during the cost of living crisis – we can’t afford to accept this
Daisy Pearson Campaigns and activism officer at Global Justice Now
OPINION
The past year has been dubbed “amazing” for the rich – while we have an ongoing cost of living crisis that’s been squeezing households across the country and the world. For the first time in a quarter of a century, global poverty and extreme wealth have been rising simultaneously – this is not mere coincidence, but interrelated.
The reality is, the very factors that have made most people poorer are the same that have made the rich richer. Fossil fuel corporations make billions as bills rise; as food prices go up, new food billionaires have been created. Global events, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the Covid-19 pandemic, certainly contributed to initial price rises. However, a recent Oxfam report shows that, “Not only are companies passing increased input costs on to consumers, but they are also capitalising on the crisis, using it as a smokescreen to charge even higher prices.”
In basic terms, this means higher prices for ordinary people – which are then translated into massive profits for shareholders. Food and energy giants paid $257 billion to their shareholders in 2022 – that’s 84% of their windfall profits flowing directly to shareholders. When you understand the role of ‘greedflation’ in driving the cost of living crisis, it’s no surprise we’ve seen 141 new billionaires created in 2023 – the greatest number ever. Essentially, the rich are getting richer – at the collective expense of ordinary people across the world.
And this isn’t the case of small businesses doing what it takes to survive. The largest companies – like Amazon, Google and Apple – mark up their prices the most. The top 20, many of which are owned or controlled by the top 20 billionaires, mark up their prices by an average of 50%, double the average for smaller companies, and this has been rising steeply in recent years. We can’t afford to accept this injustice. And we don’t have to. But what can be done? It’s clear in the short term that we need a wealth tax, with money to be re
