Re:Dreams of a Red Emperor: The Relentless Rise of Xi Jinping
by whimsicalism on Friday October 23, 2020 @03:14PM
(#24872792)
> new billionaires we hear about on HN etc, are pretty intelligent.
New billionaires are the ones most likely to be intelligent (although again, measures of intelligence can't be detached from the opportunity you were provided), this is entirely consistent with the point I'm making.
Re:Dreams of a Red Emperor: The Relentless Rise of Xi Jinping
by smallnamespace on Friday October 23, 2020 @06:16PM
(#24874869)
Most billionaires are self-made, and that proportion has increased since the 1980s:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/luisakroll/2018/10/03/the-forbe...
> Looking at the numbers over time, the data lead us to an interesting insight: In 1984, less than half the people on The Forbes 400 were self-made; in 2018, 67% of the 400 created their own fortunes.
Re:Dreams of a Red Emperor: The Relentless Rise of Xi Jinping
by whimsicalism on Friday October 23, 2020 @06:52PM
(#24875197)
To be clear, I'm not saying that the US is entirely without mobility. Particularly for the billionaires, most of that wealth is not inherited - although much more of that mobility is from low millionaires -> billionaire than it is from poverty -> billionaire.
You deleted your other comment about income and IQ. Worried that it would reflect badly when someone in the future would trawl through your account?
You write as though that is obvious, but it seems like most new billionaires we hear about on HN etc, are pretty intelligent.
It’s obvious that there are a lot of intelligent people who do not become wealthy, but that’s because becoming wealthy requires not just intelligence, but being in the right place at the right time at the right age. I.e. it requires the right kinds of opportunity.