Hammering home the facts

Less than one per cent of the wealth created since 2000 has gone to the poorest 50 per cent of the world's population, new research has revealed. In other words, for every $1 made since 2000 the poorest half only got 1c.

The poorest 3.5 billion people across the globe earn less than £830 ($1,200) a year – that’s £2.30 a day. The wealthiest one per cent have profited over the past 15 years. For every $1 of wealth created, they have earned 51¢

Over the past four decades, the pay of American chief executives has risen 11 times as much as that of the typical American worker. While American companies are now six times as valuable as they were in 1978, the pay of the American worker has barely risen.

It’s the same story in the UK. Last year FTSE, chief executives earned more than 180 times as much as the average worker. So far in 2016, the typical FTSE boss has earned £230,000 in less than three weeks. That’s more than five times as much as the poorest 3.5 billion people in the world will earn in a lifetime of work. Yet FTSE 100 companies are not any more valuable collectively than they were in 2000. For most of the past 15 years, they have been less valuable. So far in 2016, the FTSE 100 has lost nearly a 10th of its value, while its chief executives have been paid almost £250,000.