World Economic Forum

===Growing gaps in wealth===
A number of NGOs have used the World Economic Forum to highlight growing inequalities and [[wealth gap]]s, which they consider to have been neglected, or even to be exacerbated, through institutions like the WEF. [[Winnie Byanyima]], the executive director of the anti-poverty confederation [[Oxfam International]] co-chaired the 2015 meeting, where she presented a critical report of global wealth distribution based on statistical research by the [[Credit Suisse|Credit Suisse Research Institute]]. In this study, the richest 1% of people in the world own 48% of the world's wealth.<ref>Vara, Vauhini (January 2015). [https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/critics-oxfams-poverty-statistics-missing-point Critics of Oxfam's Poverty Statistics Are Missing the Point] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202164133/https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/critics-oxfams-poverty-statistics-missing-point |date=2 February 2019 }}. ''The New Yorker''. Retrieved 27 January 2019.</ref> At the 2019 meeting, she presented another report claiming that the gap between rich and poor has only increased. The report "Public Good or Private Wealth" stated that 2,200 billionaires worldwide saw their wealth grow by 12% while the poorest half saw its wealth fall by 11%. Oxfam calls for a global tax overhaul to increase and harmonise global tax rates for corporations and wealthy individuals.<ref>Taylor, Chloe (January 2019). [https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/1/22/18192774/oxfam-inequality-report-2019-davos-wealth Richest 26 people now own same wealth as poorest half of the world, Oxfam claims] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191108093033/https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/1/22/18192774/oxfam-inequality-report-2019-davos-wealth |date=8 November 2019 }} ''cnbc.com''. Retrieved 27 January 2019.</ref>

"[[You'll own nothing and be happy]]" is a phrase adapted from an essay written by [[Ida Auken]] in 2016 for the WEF, pondering a future in which urban residents would rely on shared services for many expensive items such as appliances and vehicles. Shortly after its publication, a commentator for [[European Digital Rights]] criticized Auken's vision of centralized property ownership as a "[[benevolent dictatorship]]".<ref name="edri-2017">{{cite web |last1=McNamee |first1=Joe |title=ENDitorial: Happiness – owning nothing and having no privacy? |url=https://edri.org/our-work/enditorial-happiness-owning-nothing-no-privacy/ |website=European Digital Rights (EDRi) |access-date=11 August 2023 |archive-date=29 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529180548/https://edri.org/our-work/enditorial-happiness-owning-nothing-no-privacy/ |url-status=live }}</ref> During the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], the phrase went viral, eliciting strongly negative reactions from mostly conservative but also some left-wing and unaffiliated commentators.<ref name="bronitsky">{{cite news |last1=Bronitsky |first1=Jonathan |title=Global Elites: 'No Money, No Problems' |url=https://www.newsweek.com/global-elites-no-money-no-problems-opinion-1755651 |access-date=March 19, 2023 |work=Newsweek |date=November 1, 2022 |language=en |archive-date=11 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811021553/https://www.newsweek.com/global-elites-no-money-no-problems-opinion-1755651 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="nationalreview-2023">{{cite news |last1=Geraghty |first1=Jim |title=Davos Elites Try to Save the World while Ignoring Actual Threats |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/davos-elites-try-to-save-the-world-while-ignoring-actual-threats/ |access-date=March 19, 2023 |work=National Review |date=January 17, 2023 |archive-date=2 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230802103936/https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/davos-elites-try-to-save-the-world-while-ignoring-actual-threats/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Responding to viral social media posts based on the phrase, the WEF denied that it had a goal related to limiting ownership of private property.<ref name="reuters-factcheck">{{cite news |title=Fact check: The World Economic Forum does not have a stated goal to have people own nothing by 2030 |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-wef-idUSKBN2AP2T0 |access-date=March 19, 2023 |work=Reuters |date=February 25, 2021 |language=en |archive-date=25 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525140854/https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-wef-idUSKBN2AP2T0 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Rutger Bregman]], a Dutch historian invited to a 2018 WEF panel on inequality, went viral when he suggested that the best way for the attendees to attack inequality was to stop avoiding taxes.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2019-01-30 |title='This is not rocket science': Rutger Bregman tells Davos to talk about tax – video |language=en-GB |work=the Guardian |url=http://www.theguardian.com/business/video/2019/jan/30/this-is-not-rocket-science-rutger-bregman-tells-davos-to-talk-about-tax-video |access-date=2023-08-13 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=23 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623143504/https://www.theguardian.com/business/video/2019/jan/30/this-is-not-rocket-science-rutger-bregman-tells-davos-to-talk-about-tax-video |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Elliott |first=Larry |last2= |first2= |date=2019-02-01 |title='This is about saving capitalism': the Dutch historian who savaged Davos elite |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/feb/01/rutger-bregman-world-economic-forum-davos-speech-tax-billionaires-capitalism |access-date=2023-08-13 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=13 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813221814/https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/feb/01/rutger-bregman-world-economic-forum-davos-speech-tax-billionaires-capitalism |url-status=live }}</ref> Bregman described his motivation, saying "it feels like I’m at a firefighters’ conference and no one’s allowed to speak about water".