Half the world's wealth now officially in the hands of 1%

[MusterX]

one percent of seven billion is 70 million.

so half of the world's wealth is in the hands of 70 million out of 7 billion people.

Ok here is the thing. When talking about money it has to be quantified. People through around words like "rich", and "wealthy", and "top 1%" when in reality it does not tell the story.

World Pop. 7,000,000,000
Top 1% 70 million
Total Billionaires 1,645
Richest Billionaires 80


The top 1% of people that have done well for themselves are not the so called "rich guys" we are talking about. We are talking about the 1,645 billionaires, and specifically we are talking about the richest 80 billionaires. That's right, 80 people out of 7 billion.

The disparity in wealth between the world's richest and poorest is staggering: 80 billionaires now hold the same amount of wealth as the bottom 50 percent of the global population, according to an analysis by Oxfam International. Of those 80 billionaires, 90 percent are male and 85 percent are over the age of 50.

The report emphasized the rapid growth of the wealth gap and criticized how the wealthiest members of society are shaping policies to protect their wealth. Galasso said there hasn't been such a gap in wealth in the world since before the Great Depression. After the Depression and World War II, the gap in wealth remained small until it began to widen in the late 1970s and the took off. In 2010, 388 billionaires had the same amount of wealth as the poorest half of the world; by 2014 it was down to 85 billionaires, and now is only 80. By next year, 1 percent of the world's population will have more wealth than the entire rest of the world combined, according to the report.

https://news.vice.com/article/the-r...onaires-now-control-most-of-the-worlds-wealth

So basically we are talking about 80 people that have managed to win the compounding interest game. Bill Gates alone has about $6.00 for every year the universe has existed. He would have much more though if he didn't give it away as fast as he makes it.

Its 80 people, that is the bulk of wealth on the planet.

 

[InvestigatorIL]

So basically we are talking about 80 people that have managed to win the compounding interest game. Bill Gates alone has about $6.00 for every year the universe has existed. He would have much more though if he didn't give it away as fast as he makes it.

Its 80 people, that is the bulk of wealth on the planet.

That would be $6,000.

I kid

 

[MusterX]

That would be $6,000.

I kid

Too early in the morning for counting that kind of money. My point is that when we are looking for all the money, its not 70 million people or 20 million people, or 1 million people, its 80 people.

 

[InvestigatorIL]

Too early in the morning for counting that kind of money. My point is that when we are looking for all the money, its not 70 million people or 20 million people, or 1 million people, its 80 people.

I know...I was being sarcastic in saying the universe is only 6000 years old like some of our religious friends on here. You are absolutely right about 80 or so people controlling half the worlds wealth. You don't have to be a liberal democrat to see that's is a tad unfair and dangerous

 

[kahiljabroni]

Bullshit. If you're talking about world wealth, talk about world wealth. The fact that you're including people who make less than a dollar a day in that average means you also gotta account for the fact that you can live like a king for a million dollars in many parts of the world.

Im simply stating the fact that a million dollars in wealth is nothing to be jealous of. Wealth is totally different than income. Wealth is the accumulation of a lifes worth and many times two people's, when they are married. Go talk to any financial advisor or retirement expert and they will tell you a million in net worth is not much. People retire at 62 and go on to live into their 90s. That's a long fkn time that your nest egg has to last.

If you want yo hate a millionaire in Zimbabwe knock yourself out but the majority of millionaires live in the US and about 90% of them started with nothing and saved their entire life so they could retire with dignity. Its something to be commended. Grow the fk up.

 

[InvestigatorIL]

Im simply stating the fact that a million dollars in wealth is nothing to be jealous of. Wealth is totally different than income. Wealth is the accumulation of a lifes worth and many times two people's, when they are married. Go talk to any financial advisor or retirement expert and they will tell you a million in net worth is not much. People retire at 62 and go on to live into their 90s. That's a long fkn time that your nest egg has to last.

If you want yo hate a millionaire in Zimbabwe knock yourself out but the majority of millionaires live in the US and about 90% of them started with nothing and saved their entire life so they could retire with dignity. Its something to be commended. Grow the fk up.

This is true... Being a millionaire in America is a nice feat but nothing to get all that excited about. All it really means is that you have a 400K home (which is reasonable) that you own and have 500-600K in other assets including retirement accounts and other savings. If you are 60-70 years of age and have saved your whole life it isn't really that hard to do.

 

[MusterX]

I know...I was being sarcastic in saying the universe is only 6000 years old like some of our religious friends on here. You are absolutely right about 80 or so people controlling half the worlds wealth. You don't have to be a liberal democrat to see that's is a tad unfair and dangerous

I just hate the witch hunt for the "top 1%". Those are not the folks to be looking at. Its 80 men out of 7 billion people. You could say all billionaires which is still only 1,645 people, but really its the top 80 guys that have unimaginable wealth.

People talk about if Bill Gates dropped $100 its not even worth his time to bend over and pick it up because he makes more than that per the 2 seconds it would take to bend over and pick it up. Think about that. He could walk around throwing hundred dollar bills and it doesn't even make a difference. It isn't even worth his time to pick them up. That is like being the Willy Wonka of money.

 

[kahiljabroni]

You guys seriously sound pathetic. Does your life suck that much? Are you really that poor?

Stats are total rubbish. Half the entire world population lives in dirt huts and drink brown water and that is not the fault of the developed world. Half of the remaining population is too young to have amassed any wealth...they are 40 and under. Most are in school til early 20s and dont hit prime earning years til late 30s. Half of the remaining population made decent money but never lived within their means and are in debt.

If you live in the us and work your entire life u should be a millionaire by the time u retire.
Im talking a teacher and a police officer.
A hvac installer and a hair dresser.
A lawyer and a stay at home mom.
A welder and a social worker

These married couples, if properly invested, will go on to have a million in net worth. Are these the people you hate? Are you telling me you can't accomplish this?

 

[Touchstone]

You guys seriously sound pathetic. Does your life suck that much? Are you really that poor?

Stats are total rubbish. Half the entire world population lives in dirt huts and drink brown water and that is not the fault of the developed world. Half of the remaining population is too young to have amassed any wealth...they are 40 and under. Most are in school til early 20s and dont hit prime earning years til late 30s. Half of the remaining population made decent money but never lived within their means and are in debt.

If you live in the us and work your entire life u should be a millionaire by the time u retire.
Im talking a teacher and a police officer.
A hvac installer and a hair dresser.
A lawyer and a stay at home mom.
A welder and a social worker

These married couples, if properly invested, will go on to have a million in net worth. Are these the people you hate? Are you telling me you can't accomplish this?

But this gives us reason to take away other people's money and makes us feel better about ourselves!

And yes, our lives do suck. We'd rather have less as long as there are no evil billionaires out there to annoy us.

 

[Forkfoot]

Im simply stating the fact that a million dollars in wealth is nothing to be jealous of. Wealth is totally different than income. Wealth is the accumulation of a lifes worth and many times two people's, when they are married. Go talk to any financial advisor or retirement expert and they will tell you a million in net worth is not much. People retire at 62 and go on to live into their 90s. That's a long fkn time that your nest egg has to last.

If you want yo hate a millionaire in Zimbabwe knock yourself out but the majority of millionaires live in the US and about 90% of them started with nothing and saved their entire life so they could retire with dignity. Its something to be commended. Grow the fk up.

You're having trouble keeping up. Let me simplify: It is intellectually dishonest to take the GLOBAL average income (which includes millions upon millions of people surviving on less than a dollar a day) and then hold that global average up to the LOCAL standards of the richest nation on earth. Of COURSE it's not going to look like a lot if you do that; that's profoundly disingenuous.

 

[MusterX]

You guys seriously sound pathetic. Does your life suck that much? Are you really that poor?

Stats are total rubbish. Half the entire world population lives in dirt huts and drink brown water and that is not the fault of the developed world. Half of the remaining population is too young to have amassed any wealth...they are 40 and under. Most are in school til early 20s and dont hit prime earning years til late 30s. Half of the remaining population made decent money but never lived within their means and are in debt.

If you live in the us and work your entire life u should be a millionaire by the time u retire.
Im talking a teacher and a police officer.
A hvac installer and a hair dresser.
A lawyer and a stay at home mom.
A welder and a social worker

These married couples, if properly invested, will go on to have a million in net worth. Are these the people you hate? Are you telling me you can't accomplish this?

That was basically my point in post #61. The true wealth is not the 70 million people who are the top 1%, the true wealth is about 80 people on the planet.

 

[InvestigatorIL]

You guys seriously sound pathetic. Does your life suck that much? Are you really that poor?

Stats are total rubbish. Half the entire world population lives in dirt huts and drink brown water and that is not the fault of the developed world. Half of the remaining population is too young to have amassed any wealth...they are 40 and under. Most are in school til early 20s and dont hit prime earning years til late 30s. Half of the remaining population made decent money but never lived within their means and are in debt.

If you live in the us and work your entire life u should be a millionaire by the time u retire.
Im talking a teacher and a police officer.
A hvac installer and a hair dresser.
A lawyer and a stay at home mom.
A welder and a social worker

These married couples, if properly invested, will go on to have a million in net worth. Are these the people you hate? Are you telling me you can't accomplish this?

Dumb post makes people dumber. Try and keep up. Nobody hates people who work their whole lives and end up with a million or two. We should dislike the system that allows 80 people to own half the worlds wealth.

Surely if a CEO makes 30 mil a year and his 1000 employees are making 30k a year he can give them a bump to 40 or 45 and cut his salary to say 20 mil? Or pay a fair share of his taxes.

 

[SexyMahnaz]

Only 34 million have $1million + in net worth? That seems way low.

 

[kpt018]

If 100% of the population voted there would be no 1%. Unfortunately republicans turn out in larger numbers than Democrats and the important issues for them are abortion, guns, freedom, bibles, guns, emails,Benghazi and freedom. Whereas the rest of the country is interested in raising the minimum wage, providing health care to all Americans, not wasting money on endless wars and making college affordable.

Agreed. We are seeing that the country leans left but as you said voter turnout is an issue. I suppose we really do get the government we deserve!

I also strongly agree about the fact that most Republicans vote against their own economic interests.

 

[kpt018]

Ok here is the thing. When talking about money it has to be quantified. People through around words like "rich", and "wealthy", and "top 1%" when in reality it does not tell the story.

World Pop. 7,000,000,000
Top 1% 70 million
Total Billionaires 1,645
Richest Billionaires 80


The top 1% of people that have done well for themselves are not the so called "rich guys" we are talking about. We are talking about the 1,645 billionaires, and specifically we are talking about the richest 80 billionaires. That's right, 80 people out of 7 billion.

The disparity in wealth between the world's richest and poorest is staggering: 80 billionaires now hold the same amount of wealth as the bottom 50 percent of the global population, according to an analysis by Oxfam International. Of those 80 billionaires, 90 percent are male and 85 percent are over the age of 50.

The report emphasized the rapid growth of the wealth gap and criticized how the wealthiest members of society are shaping policies to protect their wealth. Galasso said there hasn't been such a gap in wealth in the world since before the Great Depression. After the Depression and World War II, the gap in wealth remained small until it began to widen in the late 1970s and the took off. In 2010, 388 billionaires had the same amount of wealth as the poorest half of the world; by 2014 it was down to 85 billionaires, and now is only 80. By next year, 1 percent of the world's population will have more wealth than the entire rest of the world combined, according to the report.

https://news.vice.com/article/the-r...onaires-now-control-most-of-the-worlds-wealth

So basically we are talking about 80 people that have managed to win the compounding interest game. Bill Gates alone has about $6.00 for every year the universe has existed. He would have much more though if he didn't give it away as fast as he makes it.

Its 80 people, that is the bulk of wealth on the planet.

Yes, I eluded that that earlier but you spell it out here. That 1% includes the doctors, lawyers, etc. who do really well (several hundreds of thousands per year) but these conversations should really be around the 0.1% because I think most of us agree that highly skilled professionals should be highly compensated and because we have a progressive income tax system it is all good. Most of the mega wealthy have accumulated their wealth through investments, whereas the skilled professionals are through salary, which is a huge difference from a tax perspective. What doesn't seem fair is that a guy can make $100 million in long term capital gains and pay 20% while laborers pay 25% or whatever.

The extreme concentration of wealth has negative economic consequences.

But I guess talking about the 0.1% isn't as catchy!

 

[James Keith]

Not surprised to see MD absent from the list.

That was a list for professions that don't require an advanced degree.

 

[James Keith]

This is disingenuous. If we're looking at world wealth we're looking at world wealth. Half a million dollars goes WAY farther in some parts of the world than others.

It also goes farther in different states. Guess what, the people with the most money are in the places where money goes the least far. That's how it works.

For that matter, the stats are undoubtedly adjusted for purchasing power parity which tries to equalize such things. But it's still kind of meaningless since as you note, you can't actually make them comparable. Prices for everything are never in just a fixed ratio.

Other than that no idea how you think this argument counters something. Crappy countries suck because their crappy govt and/or culture and/or constant civil wars with their neighbors holds them back. Of course people in developed countries will be an ever-increasing distance ahead of people living in ancient subsistence-farming economies. That's why they call it technological progress.

 

[Forkfoot]

It also goes farther in different states. Guess what, the people with the most money are in the places where money goes the least far. That's how it works.

For that matter, the stats are undoubtedly adjusted for purchasing power parity which tries to equalize such things. But it's still kind of meaningless since as you note, you can't actually make them comparable. Prices for everything are never in just a fixed ratio.

Other than that no idea how you think this argument counters something. Crappy countries suck because their crappy govt and/or culture and/or constant civil wars with their neighbors holds them back. Of course people in developed countries will be an ever-increasing distance ahead of people living in ancient subsistence-farming economies. That's why they call it technological progress.

It's disingenuous to compare the global average to a local situation. If you're going to talk about America, talk about OUR top one percent. That's quite a bit more than half a million or whatever amount you were quoting.

 

[MusterX]

It's disingenuous to compare the global average to a local situation. If you're going to talk about America, talk about OUR top one percent. That's quite a bit more than half a million or whatever amount you were quoting.

All that doesn't even matter the way I see it. The only people that are a problem are the top 80 guys on the planet and even if we include all Billionaires then its only the top 1,645 people on the planet.

That is the group we are talking about but for some reason we get bogged down in this idea that there is an entire class of people with all the money. It just isn't true. Its 80 old rich dudes that have the bulk of it.

 

[James Keith]

It's disingenuous to compare the global average to a local situation. If you're going to talk about America, talk about OUR top one percent. That's quite a bit more than half a million or whatever amount you were quoting.

Sounds like your complaint is with the TS and Credit Suisse then.