How Billionaires Are Profiting From the Pandemic

Sonali Kolhatkar speaks with Chuck Collins.

While tens of millions of Americans lose their livelihoods and struggle to put food on the table during the coronavirus pandemic, billionaires are laughing all the way to the bank.

Since the start of this year alone, the world’s richest man Jeff Bezos saw his wealth increase by a whopping $25 billion, bringing his total net worth to $143.1 billion.

Now, a new report sheds much-needed light on how the wealthy in America have become wealthier as the rest of us have become poorer. It’s published by the Institute for Policy Studies and the title says it all: “Billionaire Bonanza 2020: Wealth Windfalls, Tumbling Taxes, and Pandemic Profiteers.”

Chuck Collins, senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies where he directs the Program on Inequality and the Common Good. He has written a number of books including 99 to 1: How Wealth Inequality is Wrecking the World and What We Can Do About It, and Born on Third Base: A One Percenter Makes the Case for Tackling Inequality, Bringing Wealth Home, and Committing to the Common Good. He is the lead author of a new report, “Billionaire Bonanza 2020: Wealth Windfalls, Tumbling Taxes, and Pandemic Profiteers.”

Rising Up with Sonali is a radio and television show that brings progressive news coverage rooted in gender and racial justice to a wide audience.

Rising Up With Sonali was built on the foundation of Sonali Kolhatkar's earlier show, Uprising, which became the longest-running drive-time radio show on KPFK in Los Angeles hosted by a woman.

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