Davos’ “dangerous delusions” slammed by new report

[polly7]

Wednesday, 21 January, 2015

While world leaders gather in Davos for the annual World Economic Forum, our new report and interactive infographics have slammed what we call the “dangerous delusions” of the summit.

In 2014 Bill Gates, a regular attendee at Davos, made a widely reported statement that, “By 2035, there will be almost no poor countries left in the world.”

However, the report shows that since 1981, the number of people living in poverty in sub-Saharan Africa (under $2) has doubled from 288 million to 562 million. Simultaneously, the global rich have become much richer. The world’s richest 300 people increased their wealth by 16% in 2013, while new research from Oxfam shows that 80 billionaires have the same wealth as the bottom half of the world’s population.

Provocatively titled “The Poor Are Getting Richer and Other Dangerous Delusions,” the report uses a mixture of research, analysis and infographics to undermine seven different assumptions about economics and development promoted by political and business leaders at Davos, including:

The poor are getting richer
Big business runs things better
We need to have faith in the market to solve our problems
All you need is growth
Everyone wins under free trade
Africa needs our help

http://www.globaljustice.org.uk/news/2015/jan/21/davos%E2%80%99-%E2%80%9Cdangerous-delusions%E2%80%9D-slammed-new-report

[jwirr]

1. They are down right scary in their ignorance.

[Wellstone ruled]

2. For the most part,

the closest contact with reality is when they might greet their servants or the lawn care person. And then it might be only a millisecond. Probably muttering some think derogatory after words.