Re:Make elites compete: Why the 1% earn so much and what to ...
by id on Saturday March 26, 2016 @07:49PM
(#11368071)
I made two distinct statements. I did not try to support the second with the first one, I just recited the claims from the Oxfam report.
I agree, however, that "62 richest people own as much as poorest 50%" is really not that interesting. It might give a more astounding number to get the point across in the media coverage, but i. e. "x richest people own 50% of total wealth" would be much more interesting.
What is interesting though is that the number changed from 388 to 62 in just a few years. And the trend that the super rich become much richer even compared to very rich people. Take a look at this graph for example:
I agree, however, that "62 richest people own as much as poorest 50%" is really not that interesting. It might give a more astounding number to get the point across in the media coverage, but i. e. "x richest people own 50% of total wealth" would be much more interesting.
What is interesting though is that the number changed from 388 to 62 in just a few years. And the trend that the super rich become much richer even compared to very rich people. Take a look at this graph for example:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_Census_income_discrepa...
(income discrepancies within the top 1.5% of households)
The problem is that since a few decades only a handful of people raked in all productivity gains.