What should good societies do when a wealthy few reap enormous financial windfalls during a global pandemic?
While millions lost their lives, livelihoods, health and wealth, the world’s billionaires and super-rich prospered. According to research from Americans for TaxFairness and the Institute for Policy Studies, between 18 March 2020 and 19 February 2021, the combined wealth of US billionaires increased by $1.3trn, a 44.6% increase in the space of just 48 weeks.
The concentration of wealth is staggering. There are now 661 billionaires in the US, with a total wealth of $4.26trn as of 19 February 2021, up from $2.9trn on 18 March 2020, nearly a year earlier. For perspective, the combined wealth of the bottom half of all US households, 165 million people, is $2.4trn, according to the Federal Reserve.
