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So what if 62 people are rich? Inequality is falling | Ben Southwood writes for City AM

Head of research at the ASI, Ben Southwood, has writen for City AM on the misleading nature of Oxfam's inequality statistics:

Each time they release the new number there is much wailing and gnashing of teeth, but their numbers are nonsense, and on top of that they tell the wrong story.

Firstly, adding up negative numbers gives some paradoxical results. For example, as far in debt as the most indebted person is (i.e. the poorest person by Oxfam’s measure) they are still richer than the next two billion people all put together, because all of those people have small negative net wealth.

Secondly, and more importantly, it cannot measure human capital. For most people, their most valuable assets are their talents and skills.

Read the full article here.

Ben Southwood's comments on Oxfam's inequality stats feature on the Spectator and BBC

Head of research at the ASI, Ben Southwood, has had his comments on Oxfam's inequality statistics featured in articles for the BBC and the Spectator. Ben argues that the statistics they publishes are deeply misleading. From the Spectator:

Ben Southwood from the Adam Smith Institute makes the following observation:

‘Oxfam is once again misleading everyone with its punchy wealth inequality stats.

‘By Oxfam’s measures, the poorest people in the world are recent Harvard graduates with student debt piles. The bottom 2bn don’t have zero wealth, but rather about $500bn of negative wealth.

Read the full Spectator piece here.

From the BBC:

The Adam Smith Institute's head of research Ben Southwood also said the data was "misleading".

"More meaningful measures show greater equality. Those in the middle and bottom of the world income distribution have all got pay rises of around 40% between 1988-2008. Global inequality of life expectancy and height are narrowing too—showing better nutrition and better healthcare where it matters most.

Read the full BBC article here.

Is France the sick man of Europe? | Sam Bowman argues NO in City AM

Executive director of the ASI, Sam Bowman, argued against France being the 'sick man of Europe' in City AM, although he pointed out that France still has significant downfalls with regards to the labour market:

France may not be the sickest man in Europe, but by any normal standard the country is in deep trouble. The reform package announced by Francois Hollande is better than nothing, but only just.

Read the full article here.

Senior fellow Tim Worstall discusses the steel industry on BBC 5 Live

Tim Worstall, a senior fellow at the ASI, was on BBC 5 Live discussing the decline of the UK steel industry, following Tata Steel's decision to cut another 1050 jobs this morning.

"The underlying problem is that we recycle much more iron and steel now than we used to, and this is a technological change that's been a century in the making. The plants that are having the big job losses are blast furnace sites. If you recycle more iron and steel, then you need fewer blast furnaces."

"We won't help anybody by saying no actually we're going to keep this blast furnace that we don't need anymore"

Listen to the full clip here (Starts 00:16:00)

Press Release: Oxfam's wealth inequality stats are deeply misleading

For further comments or to arrange an interview, contact Head of Communications Kate Andrews: kate@adamsmith.org | 07584 778207.

Commenting on Oxfam's latest inequality report (An Economy For the 1%), Head of Research at the Adam Smith Institute, Ben Southwood, said:

Oxfam is once again misleading everyone with its punchy wealth inequality stats.

By Oxfam's measures, the poorest people in the world are recent Harvard graduates with student debt piles. The bottom 2bn don't have zero wealth, but rather about $500bn of negative wealth. The poorest person in the world is richer than the next 30% put together. Having negative wealth may actually be a sign of prosperity, since only people with prospects can secure loans.

But there is a bigger issue with the narrative: more meaningful measures show greater equality. Those in the middle and bottom of the world income distribution have all got pay rises of around 40% between 1988-2008. Global inequality of life expectancy and height are narrowing too—showing better nutrition and better healthcare where it matters most.

What we should care about is the welfare of the poor, not the wealth of the rich."

Notes to Editors:

The Adam Smith Institute is a free market, libertarian think tank based in London. It advocates classically liberal public policies to create a richer, freer world.

Sam Bowman's letter regarding CEO pay features in the Independent

Executive Director of the ASI, Sam Bowman, has had his letter discussing CEO pay featured in the Independent.

It simply does not make sense to compare the rate of growth in CEO pay and firm value, as Ben Chu does ("Think the market is always right when it comes to top pay? Think again", 11 January).

A CEO on an annual salary of £1m could be given an extra £1m pay rise after raising her firm's value by £1bn, from £100bn to £101bn. Comparing the 100 percent growth rate in her salary with the 1 per cent growth rate in the firms value will not tell us anything useful about whether she is being paid fairly.