Worlds richest 1% to own more than everyone else put together

antrobus

Gangaweed wrote: »

....This is the most unequal wealth has ever been distributed. ...

I doubt that very much.

Off the top of my head, I'd guess that things were much more unequal back in about (oh) 1067, when 1.5 million Englishmen owned bascially nothing, whilst a sundry assortment of around 10,000 or so Normans, Bretons, and suchlike, owned basically everything.

Gangaweed wrote: »

..Inequality is good for capitalism but taken too far it leads to a breakdown in the social 'contract' and that is bad for all of us.

In what sense is inequality "good for capitalism".

ruggedtoast

Gangaweed wrote: »

I can't see how anyone could reasonably say that this isn't a problem.

This is the most unequal wealth has ever been distributed. I'm all for free markets and privatisation and so on but this isn't what we have. In many places opportunities are closed to all but few privelided few.

Inequality is good for capitalism but taken too far it leads to a breakdown in the social 'contract' and that is bad for all of us.

I knew this topic would end up as a thread over here and I knew the responses would be exactly as they have been.

Unfortunately attempting to generate any concern about inequality on economics forums is like trying to grow bougainvillea on a concrete car park that is regularly traversed by Range Rover Sport's doing donuts.

I do find the mentality of small investors interesting though, they are completely bought into the system, even if its clearly stacked massively in favour of other people and has been since before they were able to open a bank account.

danothy

One thing that I often wonder about is why there is a fundamental objection to wealth becoming concentrated in an economy/a market. Warren Buffett, for example, receives some of my money when I purchase HP Sauce. I want HP Sauce because I like it, and I give my money freely to my good friend Warren for supplying me with it.

Aren't, fundamentally, those people who end up with the wealth the ones earning it by giving people what they want in exchange for that wealth? If things would be better if wealth was more evenly distributed then wouldn't that require a likewise more even distribution of the production of things that people want? Why doesn't that happen, I also wonder ...

nicko33

Carl31 wrote: »

I'm just thinking out loud a bit. Think of how beneficial his fortune could be if some was released

Released how?
Someone uses 38bn cash to buy it from him?
net effect... zero

N1AK

Graham_Devon wrote: »

The worlds richest 1% will soon own more than the rest of the world's population combined.

Is this a problem? I have my views, and I'd say it is. However, I'm not entirely sure what can be done about it.

If all the 1% (people with networths of £500k+ btw) lost 10% of their money and the rest of the world became 1% poorer then you'd probably be here telling us all how in your opinion it's more equal and thus better :rotfl:

N1AK

ruggedtoast wrote: »

Unfortunately attempting to generate any concern about inequality on economics forums is like trying to grow bougainvillea on a concrete car park that is regularly traversed by Range Rover Sport's doing donuts.

Likely because the arguments against it are generally anti-elitist, and based more on making the rich suffer than on helping the poor; the few arguments that rise above that context get about as far as jealously and proposals for state-mandated theft.

As this article points out just about anyone with a decent pension pot, or who owns a home in London is part of the global 1%. UK citizens didn't earn their comparative luxury by being any harder working than those starving in Syrian refugee camps, yet I don't hear them demanding that their money be redistributed down? They want redistribution from other to them and others being better off is just a convenient excuse.

I'm entirely in favour of policies that bring about greater equality, but not if they do it by just dragging down the peaks or by harming long term universal growth.

Pincher

If I owned everything, I will look after it.


How can I gamble in a casino? since I own all the money, there is no one I can win from?

lisyloo

even if its clearly stacked massively in favour of other people and has been since before they were able to open a bank account

I don't think you're right on this.
On a global scale most people in the UK are very wealthy so are benefitting from global inequality.

Did you really expect turkeys to vote for Christmas?

Conrad

Is it true that just £530k in net wealth to include ones main home puts you into the 1%?


Most everyone I know is suddenly in the super elite 1%, really? Sounds bonkers to me. Look across the world and you find vast numbers of 2 week holidays catering for people from all over the place that cost £10k which we personally cannot afford and yet I'm in this 1%?


Another case of lofty academics being clueless. I bet their stats never capture your typical London black cabby that owns a 4 bed house, a few B2Ls and a place in Spain not to mention his stake in the local tanning salon. Everyday people with £1m +

lisyloo

Most everyone I know is suddenly in the super elite 1%, really?

If you are older i.e. benefit from having paid off your mortgage, have benefitted from massive HPI and possibly have a large pension fund simply due to age, then yes it's possible.
There are billions of peasants (I meant that literally not in a derogatory way) compared to wealthy Londoners.

It's possible your social circle is elite.
It's also possible some have debts behind closed doors that you are not aware of.

and you find vast numbers of 2 week holidays catering for people from all over the place that cost £10k

I'm in the top 1% (partly due to age because I own a house and pension pot) but I wouldn't normally spend £10K on a holiday and neither have I seen loads advertised either. Perhaps those types of holiday companies can afford to advertise widely?

bet their stats never capture your typical London black cabby that owns a 4 bed house, a few B2Ls and a place in Spain not to mention his stack in the local tanning salon.

They are relative small in number comapred with Chinese peasants who have next to nothing.
Perhaps it's just your social circle.
What is normal in London is not normal elsewhere.

I'm in the top 1% but can only afford to rent a small 1-bed flat in central London.