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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/21/millionaires-billionaires-taxes-super-rich-mark-ruffalo-wef-davos>
"Nearly 400 millionaires and billionaires from 24 countries are calling on
global leaders to increase taxes on the super-rich, amid growing concern that
the wealthiest in society are buying political influence.
An open letter, released to coincide with the World Economic Forum in Davos,
calls on global leaders attending this week’s conference to close the widening
gap between the super-rich and everyone else.
The letter, signed by luminaries including the actor and film-maker Mark
Ruffalo, the musician Brian Eno and the film producer and philanthropist
Abigail Disney, says extreme wealth is polluting politics, driving social
exclusion and fuelling the climate emergency.
“A handful of global oligarchs with extreme wealth have bought up our
democracies; taken over our governments; gagged the freedom of our media;
placed a stranglehold on technology and innovation; deepened poverty and social
exclusion; and accelerated the breakdown of our planet,” it reads. “What we
treasure, rich and poor alike, is being eaten away by those intent on growing
the gulf between their vast power and everyone else.
“We all know this. When even millionaires, like us, recognise that extreme
wealth has cost everyone else everything else, there can be no doubt that
society is dangerously teetering off the edge of a precipice.”
According to
Forbes, Donald Trump assembled the richest cabinet in US history
last year after being re-elected as president, with an estimated joint worth
last August of $7.5bn (£5.6bn).
A poll conducted for the Patriotic Millionaires group, who campaign for higher
taxes on the super-rich, found that 77% of millionaires from G20 countries
think extremely wealthy individuals buy political influence.
The survey, of 3,900 people in G20 countries with more than $1m in assets,
excluding their homes, also found that three-fifths think Trump has had a
negative impact on global economic stability (the poll was conducted before the
US president threatened new tariffs at the weekend against European countries
if a deal to acquire Greenland was not reached).
More than 60% of those surveyed were concerned that extreme wealth was a threat
to democracy. Two-thirds supported higher taxes on the super-rich to invest in
public services, with only 17% opposed."
Via Esther Schindler.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
