It's outrageous

Richest 1% to own more than rest of world, Oxfam says.

It was quite some headline.  It seemed so unfair.  The top 1% owning all that.  The charity's research  shows that the share of the world's wealth owned by the richest 1% increased from 44% in 2009 to 48% last year.  On current trends, Oxfam says it expects the wealthiest 1% to own more than 50% of the world's wealth by 2016.  And it was neatly timed to coincide with the start of the World Economic Forum in Davos.  The implications were obvious.  

But, wait a minute.  The BBC's head of statistics, Anthony Reuben, said in order to be part of the wealthiest 1% of the world's population, an individual would need to be worth just over half a million pounds.  Yes, everyone with wealth of £530,000 or more.  That includes many people in rich countries who may not regard themselves as particularly wealthy, but who simply own their house outright or have paid off a significant chunk off their mortgage.  In fact it accounts for 2.9m people in the UK.  So the finger pointing at Davos was, at best mischievous.  Like it or not these people have the skills that create successful businesses. And jobs.

Charities like Oxfam have to be careful.  They have a good story to tell.  But they spoil it by sensationalising.  And that not only undermines the credibility of the charity, it also damages the people we seek to serve, the poorest in the world.