UN Calls For Tax On Billionaires

The United Nations has called for a special tax on the world's billionaires, saying that such a fund could provide as much as $400B a year for impoverished countries.

An annual lump sum payment by the super-rich is one of a host of measures including a tax on carbon dioxide emissions, currency exchanges or financial transactions proposed in a UN report that accuses wealthy nations of breaking promises to step up aid for the less fortunate. The annual World Economic and Social Survey says it is critical to find new ways to help the world’s poor as pledged cash fails to flow. The report estimates that the number of people around the globe worth at least $1 billion rose to 1,226 in 2012. There are an estimated 425 billionaires in the United States, 315 in the Asia-Pacific region, 310 in Europe, 90 in other North and South American countries and 86 in Africa and the Middle East. Together they own an estimated $4.6 trillion so a one percent tax on their wealth would raise more than $46 billion, according to the report.

RELATED: France's new Socialist government has said they plan to implement a 75% income tax on those making more than one million euros a year. There's a real possibility of that happening due to the commanding majority the Socialists now hold in the national legislature.