The statistics keep on coming showing the increasing disparity of wealth accumulated by the mega-rich at a time when most people are experiencing increased hardship due to the Covid pandemic.
A new report released by Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) and the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) reveal the 70% surge of wealth among America's richest individuals since March of 2020 has resulted in approximately 130 new billionaires.
There are now 745 people with "10-figure bank accounts" compared to the 614 that existed when the pandemic first hit.
Those 745 billionaires now hold $5 trillion in collective wealth, having added $2.1 trillion since Covid-19 struck.
The $5 trillion in collective wealth, which the groups note is "two-thirds more than the $3 trillion in wealth held by the bottom 50% of U.S. households."
The new analysis notes, explains that most of these huge billionaires’ gains will go untaxed under current rules and will disappear entirely for tax purposes when they’re passed onto the next generation.
Good news for billionaires but over the past 19 months almost 89 million Americans have lost jobs, over 44.9 million have been sickened by the virus, and over 724,000 have died from it.
ATF executive director Frank Clemente, said, "This growth of billionaire wealth is unfathomable, immoral, and indefensible in good times let alone during a pandemic when so many have struggled with unemployment, illness, and death."
How long will it be before all those critical voices understand that it is not the tax rules that are at fault but capitalism itself?
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