Briefs

Profiting from Pain

The urgency of taxing the rich amid a surge in billionaire wealth and a global cost-of-living crisis

Dangerous Delay 2: The Cost of Inaction

One person is likely dying of hunger every 48 seconds in drought-ravaged Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, according to estimates by Oxfam and Save the Children in a report published today, “Dangerous Delay 2: The Cost of Inaction,” highlighting the world’s repeated failure to stave off preventable disasters.

Tax the rich. Build a better world.

Not long ago, the ultra-wealthy paid much more in taxes. Today, the top .01% and giant corporations have rigged the rules so drastically that some billionaires end up paying zero percent. Nothing. Instead, working families are bearing more than their fair share of the tax burden—at a time when record inflation is steadily eating away at wages. It’s way past time to flip the script. What’s stopping us?

First Crisis Then Catastrophe

Unless G20 leaders, the IMF and the World Bank act immediately, crises of inflation, inequality and COVID-19 could push over a quarter of a billion more people into extreme poverty in 2022.

Ukraine crisis: How and why it could cause hunger crises globally to worsen

Pandemic of Greed

The human and economic cost of the COVID-19 pandemic has been staggering, in terms of lives lost, human suffering, and economic damage. As we enter the third year of the pandemic, we still find ourselves on a rollercoaster of lockdowns, variants, and broken promises. Inequality has actively prolonged the pandemic, devastating lives and livelihoods. Women have shouldered an especially heavy burden.

While effective vaccines provide hope, their rollout has tipped, from a natural desire to protect citizens, into nationalism, greed, and self-interest. Large numbers of people in low-income countries face the virus unprotected and millions of people would still be alive today if they had had access to a vaccine. Big pharmaceutical corporations have been given free rein to prioritize profits ahead of vaccine equality. As we mark two years since the official pandemic was declared, we still have a chance to gain the upper hand on the virus, but only if everyone, everywhere has access to vaccines and treatments.