HERE COMES A stunner: A global study commissioned by the World Institute for Development Economic Research (WIDER) of the United Nations has found that “1 per cent of adults own as much 40 per cent of the planet’s wealth.” This 1 per cent of the wealthiest persons globally control $125 trillion, according to the study.

 

The study team, which obtained data from 38 countries, found that most of the wealthiest persons were in the United States. Guardian, citing the report said, 27 per cent of the wealth was concentrated in Japan, 6 per cent in the UK and 5 per cent in France. India, with per capita wealth of $1,100, figured at lower end of the list, which showed the poorest people living in Africa, North Korea and Asia.

 

The study, headed by United Nations University director Anthony Shorrocks, was conducted with the parameter to ascertain countrywise distribution of wealth and included “components of household wealth, including financial assets and debts, land, buildings and other tangible property.”

 

The study has already triggered a debate on inequitable distribution of wealth and what can be done to lessen poverty. Imbalance in affluence was always recognized, but what the study has revealed is the few, rather the very few, who hold the treasures. This when seen against the global backdrop of millions not having enough to lead a healthy and decent life, would surely be seen as a far-out anomaly. But what can be done about it? This 1 per cent has gained wealth through enterprise and legitimate means. And, it would be a travesty to think they would pump in their financial resources to ameliorate poverty.

 

The only solace India can take from the finding is the fact that the study relates to data obtained in 2000. Hopefully, as claimed, much has changed on the economic front in the country in the last six years and perhaps it would have shown a different outcome had contemporary data been taken into account. But it surely wouldn’t have been dramatically different from the 2000-obtained data.

 

Nothing will change with this revelation, but the noise generated over globalization in the recent years is likely to become more shrill since it has been the means by which money has flowed out to them — the fewest and the richest. Governments need to think how much more rich they would become and how much more poor their people will turn with the globalized world allowing them to suck in from every country.

 

The recent protest, for instance, against the Wal-Mart knock in India, if seen in this study’s light, may not appear that meaningless. This is how it has happened. One person starting one company, moving on to multiple intra-country outlets to finally branching out in all parts of the world. A huge aggregation in wealth is the result of this free access to people’s pocket, irrespective of boundaries. Had it worked both ways, the study would not have shown it to be so lopsided.

UN has come out with this study and now it is up to this global governing body to evolve and enforce a more equitable system of wealth distribution. But it would perhaps be expecting too much from the body that has not lived up to its charter on so many fronts. The rich countries can bend it, we have all seen, to suit their needs.