Power, Profits and the Pandemic
From corporate extraction for the few to an economy that works for all
The worsening inequality crisis triggered by COVID-19 is fuelled by an economic model that has allowed some of the world’s largest corporations to funnel billions of dollars in profits to shareholders, giving yet another windfall to the world’s top billionaires, a small group of mostly white men. At the same time, it has left low-wage workers and women to pay the price of the pandemic without social or financial protection. Since the onset of the pandemic, large corporations have put profits before workers’ safety, pushed costs down the supply chain, and used their political influence to shape policy responses. COVID-19 should be the catalyst for radically reining in corporate power, restructuring business models with purpose, and rewarding all those that work with profits, creating an economy for all.
These are heartbreaking times. Six months since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, more than 800,000 people have died from the disease. An estimated 400 million people, and disproportionately women, have lost their jobs. Up to half a billion people could be pushed into poverty by the time the pandemic is over.
The pandemic has further exposed the vast gap between the few and the many. While workers, their families, and businesses – particularly small and medium enterprises – are struggling to survive, some large corporations have either managed to shield themselves from the economic fallout of the pandemic or even cashed in on the disaster.
The skewed economic impacts from COVID-19 are not a natural phenomenon nor a historical accident. They could have been dampened, and the economic fallout more equally shouldered. Governments could have been more prepared, workers could have been better protected, and struggling companies could have been more resilient to the economic shock.
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