Weekend Economists Examine (E)sc(h)atology January 24-26, 2014

[Demeter]

10. Business chiefs fear ticking jobless time bomb REPORT FROM DAVOS

AND THIS EXPLAINS A LOT

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/Business_chiefs_fear_ticking_jobless_time_bomb.html?cid=37801578

The nascent global economic recovery is failing to trickle down to the man or woman on the street in the shape of new jobs or improved incomes, the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Davos meeting has heard.

Another five million people were added to the unemployed ranks last year to reach a total of 202 million job seekers worldwide. At the same time, prosperity is concentrated in the hands of the few, with NGO Oxfam calculating that the 85 richest people have the same wealth as half the world’s population.

The growing divide between the haves and have-nots had already been identified by the WEF Global Risks report. But while the well-heeled delegates in Davos have recognised the problem, they are less enthusiastic about doing something about it, according to UNI Global Union Secretary-General Philip Jennings.

“The benefits of economic recovery are not widespread; they are gravitating towards the elite,” the head of the Geneva-based international trade union movement told swissinfo.ch. “Business people are not going to open their wallets voluntarily.”

THEIR LOSS