Richest 1% Is Likely to Control Half of Global Wealth by 2016

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/19/business/richest-1-percent-likely-to-control-half-of-global-wealth-by-2016-study-finds.html

by tomek_zemla • 12 years ago

31 24 12 years ago

nytimes.com

DanBlake• 12 years ago

I always wish in these articles they would single out the top 1% of the 1% - It definitely shows more of the issue since most doctors would be in the top 1%.

When you say "1/100,000th of the population has xx% of the wealth" it showcases the issue at hand in a much clearer view.

hatu2• 12 years ago

If you take the global richest 1%, pretty much everyone on this website gets included. The cut-off point is at around $35,000 a year.

knocte• 12 years ago

The cut-off point is at around $35,000 a year.

That doesn't sound true. Can you back up your argument with facts' data?

elchief• 12 years ago

Stock != flow

whybroke2• 12 years ago

Rather than seeking contrived numbers to reinforce your preconceive notions, you could actually spend a few seconds on google to figure it out. The article talks about ownership so:

Net world wealth $263,242bil [1]

World population 7bil [2]

Thus you need roughly $2million in assets to be in the world 1%

[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_wealth

[2]https://www.google.com/search?q=world+population&ie=utf-8&oe...

youngtaff• 12 years ago

But it depends how we define wealth - if you define it by income it's going to cast a wider net than if you define it by assets.

My view is we should define the 1% by assests

Hermel• 12 years ago

Considering that about 2 billion humans have a negative net wealth due to debt, this is not surprising. If you don't have any debt, you are already richer than the poorest 2 billion humans combined!

For more details why this statistic should not be trusted, see here: http://www.iea.org.uk/node/9980

gesman2• 12 years ago

Negative View: 1% of people control half of global wealth.

Positive View: 99% of people control half of global wealth.

I guess it's a matter of perspective?

heydenberk• 12 years ago

Neither sounds very good.

gesman2• 12 years ago

It's ok.

You belong to the group of people who control half of global wealth :)

leeoniya• 12 years ago

the half-full glass analogy doesnt quite work here.

97/100 times your brakes will work.

3/100 times your brakes will fail.

this is two ways of saying there's something severely wrong. it's not a matter of perspective unless the situation itself is subjective. a half-full glass is not - in isolation - worse than one that is full without context.

sctb• 12 years ago

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8910476 and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8912298.

jacquesm• 12 years ago

So, who are the 1%:

http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/04/news/economy/world_richest/

davidsmith2015• 12 years ago

The global cutoff for the top 1% in annual income is $34,000. (Not a typo.) Different than wealth, but still revealing.

Richest 1% Is Likely to Control Half of Global Wealth by 2016

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