The US stands out on wealth inequality

by confuzzled dude Thu May 21, 2015 3:14 pm

The wealthiest 10 percent of U.S. households have captured a whopping 76 percent of all the wealth in America. And that number is considerably higher than in other rich nations, as the chart below shows.
The US stands out on wealth inequality OECD-wealth

The US stands out on wealth inequality OECD-wealth

Now we've reached the bottom 40 percent of Americans, but guess what? We've run out of stuff. Sorry guys, you get nothing. In fact, Wolff calculates that this bottom 40 percent actually has an overall negative net worth, which means that they owe more money than they own -- and they probably owe that money to somebody in that top five or 10 percent.

You're not necessarily living in squalor if you have a negative net worth. For instance, some student loans and a brand-new mortgage will probably put you in that category. But if you've got a bachelor's degree, a job and a house to show for it, you're probably doing okay.

But plenty of folks will be stuck in that bottom 40 percent category forever. And as the OECD report points out, this is a big problem for everyone -- even the top one percent. Their data shows that more inequality equals less economic growth: Between 1985 and 2005, the OECD estimates that increasing inequality has knocked nearly five percentage points off growth in OECD countries.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/05/21/the-top-10-of-americans-own-76-of-the-stuff-and-its-dragging-our-economy-down/

by Hellsangel Thu May 21, 2015 3:32 pm

http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2014/08/defining_rich_in_america_what_are_the_income_cutoffs.html wrote:According to theWorld Top Incomes Database, a household income of about $113,000 lands you at the top 10th, while $394,000 makes you a bona fide member of the 1 percent.

So donate your income, Comrade. Simple!

The US stands out on wealth inequality

The US stands out on wealth inequality

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