eder@ssc-vax.UUCP (Dani Eder) (12/06/84)
> >When is the last time you saw ANY newspaper present information about the > >distribution of wealth in this country? Occasionally they present information > >about the distribution of income, never about the distribution of wealth. Always willing to throw some facts at a discussion, here is some data on 'wealth' in the US. The source data is the Statistical Abstract of the US, 1978 edition, with adjustment to the present for inflation and an assumed 2.7% per year increase in real wealth (this is the average historical rate). NATIONAL WEALTH -- The value of the United States and everything in it except the people is 13.75 Trillion dollars, of which 10.5 Trillion is privately owned. The major components are: Land, 3.1 Trillion; Residences, 3.2 Trillion; Other Structures, 4 Trillion; Equipment, 2 Trillion; and Households, 1.45 Trillion. PERSONAL WEALTH -- The components of personal wealth are (in Trillions) Real estate - 4.5, Stock - 2.6, Bonds - 0.5, Cash & Savings - 2.2, Debt Instruments - 0.2, Life Insurance - 0.4, Misc. - 2.5, less Debts - (-2.4). WEALTH DISTRIBUTION -- These figures are approximate and interpolated values. Real estate is assessed for tax collection, Stocks & Bonds are traded on exchanges. Hence, there is fairly accurate data on amounts. Who owns what, on the other hand, is only investigated at death for estate taxes, so the data is not as good. With those caveats, the table below gives the distribution of wealth in the US. Wealth Class Net Worth ------------Percentages-------------- (K$) of population Cum. Cum. Wealth --------------------------------------------------------------------- Superrich >7500 .1 .1 22 Very rich 4000-7500 .3 .4 39 Rich 1500-4000 .6 1 52 Very wealthy 750-1500 .8 1.8 61 Wealthy 300-750 1.2 3 66 Moderately " 175-300 2 5 71 Upper Upper 100-175 5 10 77 Upper 66-100 10 20 86 Lower Upper 52-66 5 25 90 Upper Middle 30-52 15 40 96 Middle 8-30 25 65 99 Lower Middle 0-8 20 85 100 Poor <0 15 100 100 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Dani Eder / Boeing Aerospace Company / ssc-vax!eder / (206)773-4545
mjk@tty3b.UUCP (Mike Kelly) (12/07/84)
Isn't interesting that, according to his figures, 1% of the U.S. population controls more wealth than the remaining 99%? Mike Kelly
krista@iham1.UUCP (krista anderson) (12/07/84)
<eat me> >Isn't interesting that, according to his figures, 1% of the U.S. population >controls more wealth than the remaining 99%? >Mike Kelly Yes, and 90% of the wealth is controlled by only 25% of the population! And 15% of the people are poverty stricken? ihnp4!iham1!krista (k.j.anderson)
eder@ssc-vax.UUCP (Dani Eder) (12/09/84)
> > Yes, and 90% of the wealth is controlled by only 25% of the > population! And 15% of the people are poverty stricken? > > ihnp4!iham1!krista (k.j.anderson) Not necessarily the group you think of as poor. For example, when I first came to work at Boeing, I had about $10 000 in debts (mostly school loans) and no assets to speak of (clothes, books). So I was in that negative net worth group. I could have spent every dollar I earned and had a fairly high standard of living, but not moved up in wealth. I was poor in the sense of not being able to stop working and continue to eat. On the other hand, a small farmer could have zero income and a large net worth (40 acres at $3000 an acre, plus house and barn=$200 000). He could sell out and be comfortable on the interest. What the government defines as 'poor' is low income, while the real indicator is amount of capital. Income is the first derivative of wealth (in the mathematical sense of derivative), and is not the proper unit to measure poverty. I just wanted to clear up how to interpret the data I presented. Dani Eder / Boeing Aerospace Company / ssc-vax!eder / (206)773-4545
jim@haring.UUCP (12/17/84)
>Isn't interesting that, according to his figures, 1% of the U.S. >population controls more wealth than the remaining 99%? >Mike Kelly There is a theatre-group in Britain called '784'. The name comes from the fact that in that country, 7% of the population own 84% of the wealth. Jim McKie Centrum voor Wiskunde en Informatica, Amsterdam mcvax!jim