#Union Finance Minister

[rightnewshindi]

केंद्रीय वित्त मंत्री के बजट में दलितों की हुई अनदेखी, एससी-एसटी संगठनों ने राष्ट्रपति को भेजा ज्ञापन

Chmaba News: अनुसूचित जाति एवं अनुसूचित जनजाति से संबंधित विभिन्न संगठनों ने केंद्र सरकार पर अनदेखी का आरोप लगाया है। पदाधिकारियों ने बताया कि केंद्रीय बजट में इन श्रेणियों को पूरी तरह नजरअंदाज किया गया है। उन्होंने उपायुक्त मुकेश रेपसवाल के माध्यम से राष्ट्रपति को ज्ञापन भेजा। आंबेडकर मिशन सोसायटी चंबा के अध्यक्ष योगेश्वर अहीर ने कहा कि आज पूरे भारत में केंद्रीय मुख्य संस्थाओं के आह्वान पर…

[sandeep01world]

Rs 12 Lakh Tax Exemption Explained

[head-post]

Former Goldman Sachs chief becomes German finance minister

Jörg Kukies, Chancellery State Secretary, will replace Christian Lindner as Germany’s finance minister following the collapse of the ruling coalition on Wednesday night, public broadcaster ARD and several other German publications reported Thursday morning.

Jörg Kukies worked for investment bank Goldman Sachs for several years, then as a state secretary at the German Finance Ministry before moving to the federal chancellor’s office in 2021. He is considered an important economic adviser to Olaf Scholz. Among other things, he negotiated the outcome documents at the G7 and G20 summits on behalf of the Chancellor.

The news that Olaf Scholz had fired Christian Lindner after weeks of wrangling over the government’s economic policy and next year’s budget became known in the evening of  November 6. The chancellor explained that the former finance minister had “too often” undermined his confidence and refused to compromise. The basis for co-operation with the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP) led by Mr. Lindner is no longer available, Mr. Scholz concluded.

Following this, all FDP ministers – Justice, Education and Transport, Research and Education – left the government. German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck has recognised the collapse of the ruling coalition of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP. Olaf Scholz intends to ask the Bundestag for a vote of confidence in January, after which snap parliamentary elections may be necessary. They could take place by the end of March 2025 – more than six months ahead of schedule.

Read more HERE

[thehansindiaseo]

Stop levying tax on uncertainties of life

Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has urged Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to consider withdrawing 18 per cent goods and services tax (GST) on life and medical insurance premiums. It is really a great move that should be supported by everyone, both those who buy insurance policies and those who intend to buy, and even those who sell, should back the suggestion of Gadkari.

[vinaydogra]

Recently Union Budget of the Year 2024 was passed and announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman. This time with the theme of Viksit Bharat, it has led an ambitious roadmap for our nation’s progress. With ample of changes being aimed at boosting the economy, to address the key factors, youth and addressing the stakeholders as well. The budget is aimed at making a developed India.

[dhallblogs]

Government Allocates Rs 1.48 Lakh Crore for Education and Employment Initiatives.

New Delhi: In the Union Budget 2024, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced a significant allocation of Rs 1.48 lakh crore towards education, employment, and skill development. This funding is aimed at enhancing the quality and reach of educational and training programs across the country.

ALSO READ MORE- https://apacnewsnetwork.com/2024/07/government-allocates-rs-1-48-lakh-crore-for-education-and-employment-initiatives/

[demiumresearch]

What can salaried employees expect from Budget 2024? #unionbudget2024 ... What to expect from Budget 2024 for salaried employees? * Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to present the Union Budget for 2024-25. * Sitharaman becomes the first Finance Minister to present seven consecutive Union Budgets. * Budget expected in the second half of July. * High expectations for taxpayers, especially salaried employees seeking tax relief. * Key demands include lower tax rates, revised slabs, and higher deductions. * Call for expansion of the 50% HRA exemption to more non-metro cities. * Expectation of an increase in the Section 80C deduction limit for investments in life insurance, PPF, FD, and ELSS. * Prediction of a rise in the new tax regime’s exemption limit. * Deduction under Section 24(b) for home loan interest expected to increase from Rs 2 lakhs to Rs 3 lakhs. Join us at demiumresearch.com, or call 7030916716 today. Let's make your money work smart! . . . . . . #unionbudget #financeminister #nirmalasitharaman #invest #nifty #investor #sharemarket #financialfreedom #trader #sensex #stock #wealth #nse #bse #stockmarketindia #stockmarketnews #salariedemployees #employee #insurance

[merisarkar]

Union Budget: No change in tax structure, FM sticks to path of fiscal consolidation

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Modi 2.0 government’s last Budget before the general elections on Thursday. The interim budget has a mix of measures for the economy and significant segments for women that are important from the point of voters’ pull. The Finance Minister, in her budget speech, said the government was focused on Poor, Women, Youth and Farmers, and it was…

[shaktiknowledgeblog]

Nirmala Sitharaman | finance minister nirmala sitharaman | nirmala sitharaman news | nirmala sitharaman union budget | Finance Bill

Government gave a strong shock to investors, now debt will have to be paid on mutual funds. Tax like FD The bill proposed that from April 1, mutual funds associated with investment in bonds or fixed-income products would incur short-term capital gains tax. The Finance Bill has passed in the Lok Sabha on Friday amid uproar in Parliament। The government has made several major changes in this…

[wondercementpvtltd]

Importance of the cement industry in the Indian economy and Infrastructure growth

The Indian cement industry is one of the oldest sectors in India. With the immense growth in the housing sector, the cement industry plays a crucial role in the growth and development of the Indian economy and infrastructure. There are speculations that in the year 2023, the Indian cement industry will close around 380 million to 390 million tons of production. With the employment of up to 2 million people, India is just behind China in terms of cement production. In the coming future, India will soon overtake China in terms of cement production and will contribute significantly to the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

One of the key drivers of the Indian economy is the construction and real estate sector, which is heavily dependent on the availability of cement. With a rapidly growing population and urbanization, the demand for housing, commercial buildings, and infrastructure projects is increasing, leading to a corresponding increase in the demand for cement. Though due to huge demand, real estate might experience a hike in cement prices but the government will still focus on affordable housing and improving the country's infrastructure.

According to the report made by CARE advisory India's cement production and consumption grew by 11% in the financial year 2023 (April to November) on a year-on-year basis. In the Union Budget 2023, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a hike of 33% in the infrastructure project, which means that the Indian cement industry is expected to grow in 2023 due to increasing demand from the construction and real estate sectors.

The Indian cement industry is contributing significantly to the circular economy by expanding the use of renewable energy in the production of electrical power. A firm has set a goal to meet 100% of its electrical energy demands using renewable energy by 2030. Apart from this, the government is also promoting advanced technologies and alternative fuels to reduce emissions and improve efficiency. The adoption of green technologies and best practices has not only helped reduce the industry's carbon footprint but has also resulted in cost savings and improved competitiveness.

The Indian cement industry has continued to grow and expand, reflecting the underlying strength of the Indian economy and the government's commitment to infrastructure development. The industry has attracted significant investment in recent years, with both domestic and international companies setting up new plants and expanding existing ones.

Various plans which were launched by the government on infrastructure development, coupled with the increasing demand for housing, have resulted in a steady demand for cement. The Indian government has launched various initiatives to improve the infrastructure of the country, such as the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, and the Smart Cities Mission, among others. The investment in these initiatives has increased the demand for cement, leading to the growth of the cement industry.

In conclusion, the Indian cement industry is a vital part of the country's economy and infrastructure growth. Its contribution to the construction and real estate sector, as well as its linkages with other industries, has helped drive economic growth and development. The cement suppliers regularly face challenges, such as competition from imports and the shortage of raw materials, but have responded by adopting new technologies and alternative materials, and have continued to grow and expand. The government's focus on affordable housing, and infrastructure development through Union Budget 2023, as well as its efforts to promote the use of green technologies, will continue to provide support to the industry and ensure its continued growth and success.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Mira Lazine at LGBTQ Nation:

On Thursday, the United States House of Representatives passed a bill that would give authority to the Treasury Department to revoke a 501c non-profit’s tax-exempt status if they’re believed to support terrorism.

House Resolution 9495, also known as the “Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act,” was sponsored by Rep. Tenney Claudia (R-NY) and passed through the house in a 219–184 vote. It has gone through multiple different forms since it was initially introduced in response to pro-Palestine organizers in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. According to anthropologist and legal scholar Darryl Li, who spoke to Democracy Now, this bill exists exclusively as a means for the right-wing to crush their political opponents, especially those who advocate for the rights of Palestinians, who were recently found by the International Criminal Court to be victims of war crimes enacted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “This bill is essentially a civil rights disaster, that … would allow the government to shut down nonprofits on the smear of being terrorist-supporting organizations…. This law requires an accusation with no evidence, but a tie-in. It’s an accusation that nonprofits are supporting a group on one of the existing international terrorism lists… The bill is essentially discriminatory by design,” he said. “Initially, it did have significant bipartisan support, because, of course, anti-Palestinian racism is one of the great bipartisan unifiers in Congress.”

Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) justified the bill as a plain way to defund terrorism. “We, as members of Congress, have the duty to make sure that taxpayers are not subsidizing terrorism. It’s very, very simple,” he said on the House floor.  Smith didn’t provide evidence that any major U.S. non-profit group has ever supported terrorism. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), the only Palestinian-American in Congress, said of the bill, “I don’t care who the president of the United States is. This is a dangerous and unconstitutional bill that would allow unchecked power to target nonprofit organizations as political enemies and shut them down without due process.” The bill doesn’t just pose a danger to advocates for war refugees trapped in Gaza, but also possibly to LGBTQ+ nonprofits as well. As the Trump-Vance campaign spent record numbers on anti-trans ad spending, it is increasingly likely that they could use this bill as a pretense to attack the many nonprofits that advocate for LGBTQ+ individuals. Li details that this could be the case for just about anyone who is a political opponent of the ruling administration.

[...] “Right-wingers and white supremacists in Congress can support this bill, with the assurance that their allies, right-wing extremist groups, are highly, highly unlikely to ever be targeted by this bill, because there isn’t going to — it’s much less likely that they will be smeared with an accusation of being tied to an international terrorist organization that’s already on one of the government lists,” Li said. Groups that could be on the chopping block with this bill include the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood, the Human Rights Campaign, as well as nonprofit news outlets like Mother Jones or ProPublica.

HR9495 is an attack on nonprofit organizations, and Donald Trump and his allies can twist the definition of “supporting terrorism” to not only include pro-Palestinian groups, but also pro-abortion access and pro-LGBTQ+ groups (or any group that opposes the MAGA movement).

It’s time to kill this immoral bill in the Senate.

[jewishvitya]

You can see how much the Israeli government is committed to preserving "the only democracy in the Middle East."

This is the article from Haaretz.

The Shin Bet is saying this is pointless, will make their work harder, and teachers aren't a threat to anything.

Stood out to me:

In addition to the Shin Bet vetting, the bill includes a provision allowing the withholding of state funds to schools "in which there are or may be expressions of solidarity with acts of terrorism." It also proposes giving the director general of the Education Ministry expanded powers to fire, in an accelerated process, a teacher who "committed an act of solidarity with a terrorist organization" or "published praise, support or encouragement" of an act of terrorism.

For me the context is the way the definition of terrorism is vecoming broader (we saw protests against the government referred to that way).

Oshrat Elmaliah, Education for a Shared Society project coordinator at the Jewish-Arab civil-society organization Sikkuy-Aufoq, said that the purpose of the bill is to "intimidate and silence."

The rest, in case the article is paywalled:

The coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is advancing a bill that would require the Shin Bet security service to vet Israel's teachers, even though the provision was originally removed from the draft legislation. The contentious provision in the bill was removed in the Knesset's Education, Culture and Sports Committee, in part due to opposition from the Shin Bet itself, among others.

Last week, the MK who initiated the bill and one its co-sponsors, MK Amit Halevi of Likud, raised the provision again during the committee's discussion of objections to the bill, to pave the way to submitting the draft law for approval by the full Knesset, even though the provision does not appear in the version that was approved by the committee.

Labor lawmaker Gilad Kariv asked to postpone debate on the bill, arguing that Halevi's reservation concerns a provision that is no longer in the draft law and therefore could not be submitted to a vote.

The Knesset House Committee is expected to decide on the issue Thursday.

The provision Halevi seeks to restore would require the Education Ministry to send the ID numbers of all teachers to the Shin Bet every year, for background checks to determine "suspicion of support or sympathy for terrorism," and perform investigations as needed. Halevi is seeking in effect to restore Shin Bet oversight of teachers, which was abolished in 2005.

The Shin Bet opposes restoring general checks of all teachers. During last year's discussions, the Prime Minister's Office made it clear that the agency, which it oversees, "does not consider teachers a threat, and it therefore does not carry out any analysis of them."

The Shin Bet also argues that having to conduct background checks on so many teachers, without receiving additional funding for this purpose, would divert resources from the agency's core security missions.

A representative of the Finance Ministry who attended a meeting of the Knesset Education, Culture and Sports Committee that discussed the bill last week told the lawmakers that if the background checks were only performed on a few dozen teachers and not to all of them – there are 200,000 teachers in Israel – there would be no budgetary implications.

The ministry also said this in response to a question from Haaretz, ignoring the wording of Halevi's attempt, in which he was proposing to first submit the ID numbers of all teachers in Israel to the Shin Bet. Only after this would an examination be held in cases of hints indicating support or sympathy for terror groups.

During the debate on the law by the previous Knesset, Israel Teachers Union Secretary General Yaffa Ben David strongly objected to the Shin Bet vetting provision. She argued that the law persecutes teachers and labels them as having a greater tendency toward terrorism than people in other professions. "Because of a few bad apples, we'll make a law for all teachers?" she asked rhetorically.

The bill sponsored by Halevi and MK Tzvika Foghel (Otzma Yehudit) bill deals with teachers and school that are suspected of expressing solidarity or support for acts of terrorism.

In addition to the Shin Bet vetting, the bill includes a provision allowing the withholding of state funds to schools "in which there are or may be expressions of solidarity with acts of terrorism." It also proposes giving the director general of the Education Ministry expanded powers to fire, in an accelerated process, a teacher who "committed an act of solidarity with a terrorist organization" or "published praise, support or encouragement" of an act of terrorism.

These provisions, which remain in the bill, also caused strong disagreement in the discussions. Opposition lawmakers noted the problem of giving the director general sole power to decide on a dismissal or revoke budgets. Civil society organizations pointed out that current law already permits dismissing teachers convicted or suspected of supporting terrorism, and that the bill proposes expanding this option without the required system of balances. Oshrat Elmaliah, Education for a Shared Society project coordinator at the Jewish-Arab civil-society organization Sikkuy-Aufoq, said that the purpose of the bill is to "intimidate and silence."

"From now on, every female Arab educator in the country will know that if she chooses to express a political opinion or hold a challenging dialogue in the school environment, she will be under the sole judgment of the Education Ministry director general and the minister, and could be accused of supporting terrorism and could lose her job, in the absence of the current protocol," Elmaliah said.

During the discussions on the bill, some of its wording was slightly softened, and many sections were canceled in the version that is now being submitted for discussion by the committee ahead of submitting it to the full Knesset. At last week's meeting, committee legal adviser Nira Lamay Rachlevsky said, "The Israel Bar Association still insists that the wording of the bill that is on the agenda be legally balanced." She said that it was necessary to balance the wording prescribing that budgets may be revoked from schools by establishing an expert consultation mechanism that will consider the seriousness of the acts."

At the discussions on the objections to the bill, Kariv said that it lacked various important components, such as prescribing the maximum allocation that could be revoked and the duration of the withholding. "When the education minister cuts 20 percent of the budget, can a school teach 20 percent less mathematics?" he asked. He slammed the bill's sponsors for "legislating laws so that we will take them to the High Court of Justice."

In March, Halevi objected to the state budget, but during the vote – despite objections by experts – the Education Committee distributed a new version of the bill that included her original sections but then withdraw her implied threat to oppose the budget and voted in favor of it. At the time, the Likud denied that there was deal linking the two things.

At the Education Committee meeting, Foghel insisted that the bill was necessary, adding: "The legal wrangling and the ability of the legal team to defend the bill before the High Court of Justice does not interest me. As far as I'm concerned, proportionality and balance carry no weight when it comes to protecting the State of Israel. It's unacceptable that a teacher or state-supported education institution would act against the state."

Halevi added, "This bill will prevent the continued fostering of an infrastructure that encourages terrorism and fans evil."

In a response to Haaretz, the Shin Bet said that "the security service's position is that this proposed arrangement is not required for security reasons and is disproportionate. Along with addressing the essential issue, a budgetary evaluation was performed and the results were transferred to professionals. Imposing the obligation to examine teachers on the Shin Bet without covering the expenses for doing so will divert resources allocated to the security service for the purpose of performing its core mission, and could harm its main operations, meant to foil terror attacks at this complex period, with the growing threats on all fronts."

[soon-palestine]

In a huge win for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement, one of the world's largest pension funds, announced it divested almost half a billion from Israel Bonds. Norway’s pension fund divested the entirety of their Israel Bond holdings.

"We believe that it is entirely wrong for the Government's foreign pension fund to invest in government bonds, which directly contribute to financing the war in a region like Gaza," says Beckham of HK Norway, a Norwegian trade union.

Israel Bonds are loans from individuals and institutions that send money directly into the Israeli government’s war chest controlled by the Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, an Israeli politician who openly calls for genocide and total ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

Israel Bonds represent up to 25% of Israel’s foreign debt, which means they provide critical financial support for Israel’s apartheid regime, ongoing dispossession and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, and the Israeli military’s genocidal campaign against Palestinians in Gaza.

Like all forms of divestment, Israel Bonds divestment is a means of withdrawing financial complicity from Israeli apartheid, occupation, and genocide of Palestinians; and it’s an opportunity to challenge the political and moral support undergirding Israeli violence and oppression

As people of conscience, we applaud this act of solidarity with Palestinians facing genocide. As we celebrate the Norwegian Pension Fund for divesting from Israel’s settler-colonial regime, we also call on individuals and institutions invested in Israel Bonds to follow suit!

[mariacallous]

When U.S. President-elect Donald Trump was first elected in November 2016, many European countries rallied around German Chancellor Angela Merkel as the new leader of the free world. This time around, they will have to look somewhere else: The three-party coalition in Berlin under Chancellor Olaf Scholz has just collapsed after the Free Democrats—a small pro-business party—rebelled on the economic direction of the country.

The timing seems terrible after Trump’s reelection just the day before, which threatens to throw Europe and Germany into an era of instability. In reality, however, the crisis in Berlin could prove to be good news. The coalition of Scholz’s Social Democrats, Greens, and Free Democrats was the most dysfunctional, dithering, and divided German government in decades. The members of the coalition actively worked against one another on European Union affairs, Ukraine aid, China policy, and economic reform. With Trump returning to the White House, Germany and Europe cannot afford near-total paralysis in Berlin.

After the 2021 national election in Germany, the three parties declared “a new beginning” to break the reform stagnation of the Merkel era. Then, after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, they promised a reckoning with Germany’s old business model, which had depended on Russia for cheap gas, China for growing exports and investment, and the United States for military protection.

Two years on, even the rosiest of optimists would struggle to see the glass of change as even half full. Rather than step up as a leader of Europe and the West, the coalition abdicated leadership in Europe, avoided pressing strategic decisions, and pursued narrow national interests first. On Ukraine, Germany can scrape together a passing record at best. Yes, it has been one of the biggest donors, leads in commitments for heavy weapons deliveries, ranks second in total aid to Ukraine after the United States (although only 15th by aid as a percentage of GDP), and has accepted the most voluntary Ukrainian refugees of any country.

However, Germany has no strategic focus or sense of urgency. Going against his coalition partners and contrary to his own claims of being in lockstep with allies, Scholz has continued to prohibit the delivery of German-made Taurus missiles, even after Britain, France, and the United States delivered their own long-range strike missiles. And support for Ukraine has been cut and deprioritized in the 2025 federal budget, with the German government disingenuously declaring that loans backed by the interest earned by frozen Russian assets would offset the cuts. This clever use of Russian assets was supposed to expand Western aid, not replace it.

For its own defense spending, Germany finally reached NATO’s minimum of 2 percent of GDP this year, but the special off-budget fund created to boost spending to this level will run out in 2027. How Berlin intends to finance defense in 2028 and beyond is entirely unclear; the coalition simply kicked that can down the road. Social Democratic Defense Minister Boris Pistorius—the most popular politician in Germany, which is why the unpopular Scholz has largely sidelined him—said that the 2025 budget does not provide the necessary funds to cover increased personnel costs, much less to invest in new capabilities. Germany’s discussion about restoring conscription to its depleted forces led nowhere beyond a voluntary option. Far from becoming a leading security player and the “best-equipped armed force” in Europe, as Scholz promised, Germany looks to be continuing business as usual.

In Europe, the Scholz government has been seen as the most unilateral, inward-looking, and uncooperative German leadership in a long time. Not only did Berlin unilaterally reintroduce border controls in a panicked reaction to right-wing populists surging in opinion polls following a series of violent attacks involving migrants, but the German government’s representatives at the European Union were also increasingly abstaining from votes because the coalition’s three parties had no unified position.

Broader European interests seemed completely absent from German calculations; for example, when Germany joined Hungary, Malta, Slovakia, and Slovenia to vote against imposing tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. And Free Democrat Finance Minister Christian Lindner, whom Scholz fired on Nov. 6, was the first to say “no” to former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s proposal to increase European competitiveness with large-scale investments financed through joint debt.

With early elections expected by the end of March, it will be a new opportunity for Germany to assert leadership on these strategic issues. If a vote were held today, the most likely result would be a grand coalition of the right-of-center Christian Democrats and the left-of-center Social Democrats—with the former coming out on top and thus providing the chancellor. They collectively poll at about 48 percent of the vote. When Merkel, a Christian Democrat, was the chancellor, she ruled under this constellation for 12 of her 16 years in power, and although this time was marred by perceptions of inertia, a change of chancellorship could bring new strength to Germany’s foreign policy.

Friedrich Merz, the Christian Democrats’ party chairman and likely chancellor of a grand coalition, would finally achieve his life goal after having been pushed out from politics by Merkel two decades ago. On security, Merz has already signaled that he is more forward-leaning on Ukraine than Scholz. He publicly challenged Scholz to deliver Russian President Vladimir Putin an ultimatum: Stop attacking Ukrainian civilian infrastructure within 24 hours, or Germany will deliver Taurus missiles. Although Merz would need to follow up his rhetoric with action if and when he actually moves into government, a grand coalition could also provide new fiscal flexibility to underwrite defense spending and aid to Ukraine, since both parties could agree to loosen Germany’s fiscal restrictions, which Lindner and the Free Democrats opposed.

This would be the kind of leadership that Germany’s European partners have waited for since 2022, when Scholz proclaimed a Zeitenwende—or new era—in security and defense without ever following up. And that kind of leadership will be indispensable with war raging in Europe and Trump in the White House for a second term.

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Can Brazil Convince the World to Tax Billionaire Wealth?

Recent weeks have brought three more eye-popping glimpses of our world’s unconscionable concentration of income and wealth . . .

The fabled luxury automaker Lamborghini, for the first time ever, has sold over 10,000 vehicles in a single year. Lamborghini’s current 2024 Revuelto model starts at $608,358 . . .

Google co-founder Larry Page has just expanded his collection of private islands to five. His latest, a isle that sits between Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands, sethim back $32 million . . .

The Austrian design firm Motion Code: Blue has released renderings of a new submersible superyacht that can stay underwater for up to four weeks at a time. The 541-foot-long Migaloo M5 also features a built-in swimming pool, a helipad, and a $2-billion price-tag . . .

Why are Austrian designers devoting their talents to fashioning $2-billion baubles for billionaires? Just one reason: Today’s super rich are sitting on mountains of spendable billions.

And what’s raising those mountains of cash? Researchers at Oxfam have a compelling answer to offer in a just-released new analysis.

“The share of national income going to the top 1 percent of earners in G20 countries has increased by 45 percent over the last four decades,” Oxfam notes. “During the same period, the top tax rates on their incomes has fallen by roughly a third.”

In 2022, Oxfam’s researchers add, the top 1 percent of earners in G20 countries pocketed $18 trillion in income.

Oxfam released all these stats on the eve of this week’s inaugural finance track meeting of G20 financial ministers and central bank chiefs. The “G20” actually includes 21 players, 19 of the world’s most powerful nations, plus the European Union and this year, for the first time, the African Union.

Brazil, the G20 chair for 2024, hosted this week’s meeting in São Paulo — and Brazil’s left-led government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva vigorously seized this hosting opportunity. His administration’s ambitious goal? To shove the case for taxing the wealth of our world’s wealthiest onto the world’s political stage.

Continue reading.