davos

Christian Aid says solutions favoured by the super-rich always seem to involve further opportunities for their own enrichment.

As the World Economic Forum  meets in Davos this week, Christian Aid has released a new report which draws on the agency’s decades of experience in development work to offer a critique of the idea that pursuing increased GDP is the best way of relieving poverty.

Eighty-two per cent of wealth generated last year across the world went to the richest one per cent of the global population, while the 3.7 billion people who make up the poorest half saw their wealth flatline, according to a new Oxfam report.

As politicians and business leaders prepare to gather in Davos next week (20-23 January) for the World Economic Forum, Christian Aid questions whether Switzerland’s role as a haven for “dirty” money from poor countries makes it an appropriate host country.