Hi John,
This week some of the richest people the world has ever known are meeting in Davos with government and business leaders for the World Economic Forum. At a time when most people’s lives have got harder, billionaires have been accumulating more and more wealth, at the expense of consumers, small businesses, workers and our environment.
It's obscene. But these gross levels of wealth are just a symptom of a deeply broken system. At root, most of these people have made their wealth from corporations so big and dominant that they can justifiably be called monopolies.
Today, we’ve launched a report, Taken, not earned, with Balanced Economy Project, SOMO and LobbyControl, which shows just how extreme this monopoly power is. It’s a power which effectively allows these corporations to set their own prices.
The report, covered in The Times today, finds that the biggest monopolies are making massive mark-ups, averaging 50% above the cost of production, which is double the average for smaller companies. That means they’re making a huge amount of profit. It’s rather like we’re paying a private tax to billionaires.
Our director Nick Dearden has made a video explainer of how billionaire wealth is being taken, not earned. Can you watch and share it now?
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