Nearly half of the world’s 50 most economically unequal countries are in Africa, a new report on global inequality led by the Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz found.
Commissioned by South Africa — ahead of the G20 summit it is hosting later this month — the report said that global wealth inequality should be recognized as an “emergency”: Since 2000, the world’s richest 1% have seen their wealth increase by an average of $1.3 million, while the poorest half of humanity saw their wealth rise by only $585.
“The world understands that we have a climate emergency; it’s time we recognize that we face an inequality emergency too,” said Stiglitz. The report recommends the creation of a new “International Panel on Inequality” to inform policymaking globally.
