As we have reported since governments imposed lockdowns on all non-essential businesses and permitted only the big box stores and other multinational “essentials” to do business when they launched the COVID War, the rich have gotten richer while the rest of the world has gotten poorer.
Indeed, billionaires saw their wealth increase by some $4 trillion between 18 March and 31 December, according to Oxfam. “The increase in the wealth of the 10 richest billionaires since the crisis began is more than enough to prevent anyone on Earth from falling into poverty because of the virus and to pay for a COVID-19 vaccine for all,” their report concluded.
On the downside, the World Bank reported last week that for the first time since the 1990s, the global middle class decreased. They blamed it on the coronavirus outbreak.
Citing a Pew Research Center study, Bloomberg reported that the middle class worldwide dropped by 90 million people to about 2.5 billion. The report identified the middle class as those making $10 to $50 a day. Rakesh Kochhar, the author of the study, said the official count does not truly reflect the total impact and said that 62 million people considered “high income” saw their income drop to the middle tier group, the report said.
According to The Pew analysis:
“The global middle class encompassed 54 million fewer people in 2020 than the number projected prior to the onset of the pandemic. Meanwhile, the number of poor is estimated to have been 131 higher because of the recession.”
The Pew report said the countries most impacted were in South Asia, specifically India. Sub-Saharan Africa also “accounted for the most of the increase in poverty, reversing years of progress.”
“In modern history, it is hard to come up with examples where you saw such a sharp downturn in global economic growth,” Kochhar said, according to Bloomberg.
The report said there was a separate report on household incomes around the world, and it found that about two-thirds saw incomes fall in the past year.
TRENDPOST: The Bloomberg report said the World Bank estimates up to 124 million people around the world experienced extreme poverty in 2020, where households earned less than $1.90 per day. The report said the number is not expected to improve in 2021 and is expected to reach 163 million.
On 13 October, the Trends Journal published the article, “COVID LOCKDOWNS SPIKE EXTREME POVERTY,” which pointed to a report from the World Bank that said extreme poverty has impacted urban areas and those with higher education levels. Sub-Saharan Africa, which already had about 440 million in extreme poverty, is preparing for a 42-percent rise.
As Gerald Celente has long said, “When people lose everything and have nothing left to lose, they lose it.” Therefore, as socioeconomic conditions continue to deteriorate, “NEW WORLD DISORDER,” one of our 2020 Top Trends, will escalate as billions take to the streets, demonstrating against the lack of basic living standards, crime, violence, and government corruption.
Also, the poorer and more desperate people become, the more they will do to flee their homeland, thus increasing the refugee and migrant crisis, which, in turn, will accelerate populist movements in nations not wanting foreigners to enter their country.
