1.76 trillion dollars (1 Viewer)

bostonfred · Jan 20, 2016

That's the amount of money shared by the bottom half of the world's population. About 3.5 billion people have, on average, about 500 dollars in total wealth.

It's also the amount owned by the richest 62 people, who have about 30 billion each on average.

It's also less than 10% of the u.s. national debt, which is over 18 trillion in federal debt.

18 trillion is also the approximate US GDP.

I don't know what's scariest:

62 people have 1/10 the amount of the entire gdp

The US national debt is bigger than the national gdp

The disparity of wealth is so stark that 62 people own as much as half of the world

The us owes ten times more money than half of the world owns

Cjw_55106 · Jan 20, 2016

I think this is where I show outrage. :rant:

Ministry of Pain · Jan 20, 2016

1,760,000,000,000.00

I'm ashamed to admit I didn't know enough about this when I was in my 20s and early 30s running around. It saddens me that it is so difficult to make masses of people understand what probably needs to happen at some point. The reason the super rich don't fear much is there really is not a threat of revolution. We have a very soft and lazy society at the bottom where welfare has created a mindset for many of why go work? And then you have the far worse situation with the working poor. People going to work everyday, perhaps working 2 jobs to make ends meet and even that is not enough.

We should not have full time employees working at jobs where the companies are showing them how to apply for food stamps. It's ridiculous.

Great topic Fred, I hope there will be some meaningful discussion in here. I was called a cutthroat capitalist in school, sung all the traditional business ways but my views and stance have greatly changed over the last 5 years I would say. We have to find a way to bridge the gap and at least make a healthy wage increase for all and let Wall Street know their bully tactics will not be tolerated any more.

FUBAR · Jan 20, 2016

bostonfred said:
I don't know what's scariest:

62 people have 1/10 the amount of the entire gdp

The US national debt is bigger than the national gdp

The disparity of wealth is so stark that 62 people own as much as half of the world

The us owes ten times more money than half of the world owns

those two should be our biggest concerns (of your list)

Abraham · Jan 20, 2016

If 3.5billion people have about 500 each...

And 62 people have about 3 billion each...

Then how are those two amounts roughly equivalent? It also occurs to me that there are a lot more than 62 people with three billion dollars.

Worm · Jan 20, 2016

Isn't this a theme throughout the history of the world? This is not new right? Throughout history it's been the powerful and the less. Rulers/kings/despots dominating the world fortune and economy. Right?

bostonfred · Jan 20, 2016

Abraham said:
If 3.5billion people have about 500 each...

And 62 people have about 3 billion each...

Then how are those two amounts roughly equivalent? It also occurs to me that there are a lot more than 62 people with three billion dollars.

Should have said 30, not 3. Fixed in the op.

ArbyMelt · Jan 20, 2016

You could divide the wealth and give each person the same amount of money, and we'd be in the same boat 10 years later.

SWC · Jan 20, 2016

you could sure as hell take that to the bank brohans

matuski · Jan 20, 2016

ArbyMelt said:
You could divide the wealth and give each person the same amount of money, and we'd be in the same boat 10 years later.

I don't think anyone is advocating this, but there is a huge spectrum short of this that might contain a point that makes sense.

tommyGunZ · Jan 20, 2016

Ministry of Pain said:
1,760,000,000,000.00

I'm ashamed to admit I didn't know enough about this when I was in my 20s and early 30s running around. It saddens me that it is so difficult to make masses of people understand what probably needs to happen at some point. The reason the super rich don't fear much is there really is not a threat of revolution. We have a very soft and lazy society at the bottom where welfare has created a mindset for many of why go work? And then you have the far worse situation with the working poor. People going to work everyday, perhaps working 2 jobs to make ends meet and even that is not enough.

We should not have full time employees working at jobs where the companies are showing them how to apply for food stamps. It's ridiculous.

Great topic Fred, I hope there will be some meaningful discussion in here. I was called a cutthroat capitalist in school, sung all the traditional business ways but my views and stance have greatly changed over the last 5 years I would say. We have to find a way to bridge the gap and at least make a healthy wage increase for all and let Wall Street know their bully tactics will not be tolerated any more.

You say your mindset has changed, but your immediate response to Fred's post blames poor people for be lazy, soft, welfare leechers.

matuski · Jan 20, 2016

The numbers for those 62 are astonishing.

According to the internet, I am in the top 1-1.5% of earners, numbers vary on net worth.... but I am closer to the half of the world with $500 to their names than these 62 individuals.

Abraham · Jan 20, 2016

I actually am comforted by such a high concentration up top. Those 62 people having 3 billion or 30 billion doesn't make much difference. Short of redistribution it doesn't matter.

How about this for an idea though: ask each of them to give 10% of their wealth to charitable organizations, one time....and they never have to file a tax return or pay taxes again. What would an immediate influx of 180 billion dollars do for research and poverty in this countr?

tommyGunZ · Jan 20, 2016

bostonfred said:
That's the amount of money shared by the bottom half of the world's population. About 3.5 billion people have, on average, about 500 dollars in total wealth.

It's also the amount owned by the richest 62 people, who have about 30 billion each on average.

It's also less than 10% of the u.s. national debt, which is over 18 trillion in federal debt.

18 trillion is also the approximate US GDP.

I don't know what's scariest:

62 people have 1/10 the amount of the entire gdp

The US national debt is bigger than the national gdp

The disparity of wealth is so stark that 62 people own as much as half of the world

The us owes ten times more money than half of the world owns

Preach it Fred. While the numbers are astonishing, I think as a society we've almost become numb to numbers that end in "illions", as most of us have trouble comprehending the scale. It's just a lot.

I wish Soros or Gates or Zuckerberg would spend 100M running some scaled down, concise versions of this YouTube video to help folks understand the magnitude of the problem. http://youtu.be/QPKKQnijnsM

tommyGunZ · Jan 20, 2016

Abraham said:
I actually am comforted by such a high concentration up top. Those 62 people having 3 billion or 30 billion doesn't make much difference. Short of redistribution it doesn't matter.

How about this for an idea though: ask each of them to give 10% of their wealth to charitable organizations, one time....and they never have to file a tax return or pay taxes again. What would an immediate influx of 180 billion dollars do for research and poverty in this countr?

Give these guys a tax break???

Abraham · Jan 20, 2016

tommyGunZ said:
Abraham said:

I actually am comforted by such a high concentration up top. Those 62 people having 3 billion or 30 billion doesn't make much difference. Short of redistribution it doesn't matter.

How about this for an idea though: ask each of them to give 10% of their wealth to charitable organizations, one time....and they never have to file a tax return or pay taxes again. What would an immediate influx of 180 billion dollars do for research and poverty in this countr?

Click to expand...

Give these guys a tax break???

They already don't pay taxes.

tommyGunZ · Jan 20, 2016

Abraham said:
tommyGunZ said:

Abraham said:

I actually am comforted by such a high concentration up top. Those 62 people having 3 billion or 30 billion doesn't make much difference. Short of redistribution it doesn't matter.

How about this for an idea though: ask each of them to give 10% of their wealth to charitable organizations, one time....and they never have to file a tax return or pay taxes again. What would an immediate influx of 180 billion dollars do for research and poverty in this countr?

Click to expand...

Give these guys a tax break???

Click to expand...

They already don't pay taxes.

Then why would they take the deal?

Reaper · Jan 20, 2016

Help Me out:

It saddens me that it is so difficult to make masses of people understand what probably needs to happen at some point.

What needs to happen?

The reason the super rich don't fear much is there really is not a threat of revolution.

Why should they Fear????? Are they the enemy???? Should we storm their houses in Revolt?

I'd think I wouldn't fear much because I earned a ton of money and I'm above policy - I can take my ball and go home at any time - but, seems like most of the super rich do a lot of charity.

We have a very soft and lazy society at the bottom where welfare has created a mindset for many of why go work?

Agreed and IMO stuff like this - Showing the ppl who started Microsoft, Amazon, Orcale, Facebook and Wallmart is used to scare ppl into policy that won't touch them at all but, probably hurts Everyone else in the middle....

People going to work everyday, perhaps working 2 jobs to make ends meet and even that is not enough.

IMO Trickle Down works - These 62 Super Rich are out of the equation somewhat, their money is just in the compounding machine at this point... But, for the rest of us, when the economy is optimal we can all hire more, spend more, pay more, earn more.

Promising Freebies and more minimum wage for crap jobs give less incentive.

lod01 · Jan 20, 2016

Let's say we spread the wealth out evenly. How long do you think it takes before 62 people have 1/10 the amount of the entire gdp again?

The bottom line is the average person cannot manage their money so it's bound to be this way and there is nothing anyone can do about it.

IC FBGCav · Jan 20, 2016

bostonfred said:
That's the amount of money shared by the bottom half of the world's population. About 3.5 billion people have, on average, about 500 dollars in total wealth.

It's also the amount owned by the richest 62 people, who have about 30 billion each on average.

It's also less than 10% of the u.s. national debt, which is over 18 trillion in federal debt.

18 trillion is also the approximate US GDP.

I don't know what's scariest:

62 people have 1/10 the amount of the entire gdp

The US national debt is bigger than the national gdp

The disparity of wealth is so stark that 62 people own as much as half of the world

The us owes ten times more money than half of the world owns

This is all the poor peoples fault. They are all lazy.

IC FBGCav · Jan 20, 2016

This is also why capitalism in the US is a sham. It had a better chance before all the mega corporations but now it is done.

Gawain · Jan 20, 2016

How many of the 3.6 billion people live in the USA? This isn't a USA problem, it's a world problem. University of Sussex estimated 50% of the world's poor lived in two countries (India and China), 25% were the poorest in middle income countries and 25% were from poor countries. If America only has a handful of people who fall into the bottom 50%, I think we are doing pretty well.

FUBAR · Jan 20, 2016

lod01 said:
Let's say we spread the wealth out evenly. How long do you think it takes before 62 people have 1/10 the amount of the entire gdp again?

The bottom line is the average person cannot manage their money so it's bound to be this way and there is nothing anyone can do about it.

Probably not too long.

It would be interesting to see whether the same 62 would have the money.

matttyl · Jan 20, 2016

Just to be clear, the "62 people" are from everywhere, not just the US? Is that right?

matuski · Jan 20, 2016

matttyl said:
Just to be clear, the "62 people" are from everywhere, not just the US? Is that right?

31 are from the US if I recall.

Rich Conway · Jan 20, 2016

tommyGunZ said:
Abraham said:

tommyGunZ said:

Abraham said:

I actually am comforted by such a high concentration up top. Those 62 people having 3 billion or 30 billion doesn't make much difference. Short of redistribution it doesn't matter.

How about this for an idea though: ask each of them to give 10% of their wealth to charitable organizations, one time....and they never have to file a tax return or pay taxes again. What would an immediate influx of 180 billion dollars do for research and poverty in this countr?

Click to expand...

Give these guys a tax break???

Click to expand...

They already don't pay taxes.

Click to expand...

Then why would they take the deal?

Because the deal says they never even have to file tax returns again. The amount of money they'd save on accountants and lawyers would probably be worth it?

cstu · Jan 20, 2016

We should not have full time employees working at jobs where the companies are showing them how to apply for food stamps. It's ridiculous.

Exactly, MOP.

I totally understand the resentment towards people who don't work but try to leech off the system, but when we talk about people who get up every single day to go to work full-time they deserve to make enough for the basics (housing, food, health care) so they don't have to work multiple jobs.

cstu · Jan 20, 2016

FatUncleJerryBuss said:
This is also why capitalism in the US is a sham. It had a better chance before all the mega corporations but now it is done.

Capitalism is not the problem - the problem is that capitalists have brainwashed the masses that they will go out of business if they have to pay a higher percentage of their profits in taxes. The entire system is set up for people with money to make even more money, but much of the general population doesn't see how they are being hung out to dry.

matttyl · Jan 20, 2016

matuski said:
matttyl said:

Just to be clear, the "62 people" are from everywhere, not just the US? Is that right?

Click to expand...

31 are from the US if I recall.

So half of the 62 richest people in the world are from the US?! And a fairly small percentage of the 3.5B that have so little? Go US!

timschochet · Jan 20, 2016

Surely you're not saying we have the resources to save the poor from their lot?

There will be poor always, pathetically struggling, think of the good things you've got!

bostonfred · Jan 20, 2016

FUBAR said:
bostonfred said:

I don't know what's scariest:

62 people have 1/10 the amount of the entire gdp

The US national debt is bigger than the national gdp

The disparity of wealth is so stark that 62 people own as much as half of the world

The us owes ten times more money than half of the world owns

Click to expand...

those two should be our biggest concerns (of your list)

Why specifically is that a bigger concern than the growing wealth disparity? You seem pretty confident but why?

E Street Brat · Jan 20, 2016

timschochet said:
Surely you're not saying we have the resources to save the poor from their lot?

There will be poor always, pathetically struggling, think of the good things you've got!

Shut up Judas

George Jefferson Airplane · Jan 20, 2016

If poor people stopped having babies, there would be more money for the others. Like $12 more!

eoMMan · Jan 20, 2016

Meh. Stuff is cheaper in other parts of the world. It's really not fair to compare assets/wealth of people in different economies/countries.

jonessed · Jan 20, 2016

bostonfred said:
FUBAR said:

bostonfred said:

I don't know what's scariest:

62 people have 1/10 the amount of the entire gdp

The US national debt is bigger than the national gdp

The disparity of wealth is so stark that 62 people own as much as half of the world

The us owes ten times more money than half of the world owns

Click to expand...

those two should be our biggest concerns (of your list)

Click to expand...

Why specifically is that a bigger concern than the growing wealth disparity? You seem pretty confident but why?

I think it's a much harder problem to fix.

We could adjust tax laws, investment, etc to shift the needle on wealth disparity. I don't neccesarily think its a good idea, but it can be done.

The amount we spend on debt servicing is only going to go up. Reforms and cuts will have to be across the board and they will hurt everybody. The middle-class will inevitably take the brunt as they have by far the biggest pockets.

shadyridr · Jan 20, 2016

The last Powerball jackpot was $1.3b, there are 300m people in this country. If you gave everyone in this country an equal share of the jackpot that would be $4.3m each. Boom national debt solved!

jonessed · Jan 20, 2016

timschochet said:
Surely you're not saying we have the resources to save the poor from their lot?

There will be poor always, pathetically struggling, think of the good things you've got!

That's true. We don't.

Meatwad Reloaded · Jan 20, 2016

Worm said:
Isn't this a theme throughout the history of the world? This is not new right? Throughout history it's been the powerful and the less. Rulers/kings/despots dominating the world fortune and economy. Right?

Not new at all, and it always corrects itself in a bad, bad way for the rich people.

Ladsud · Jan 20, 2016

Worm said:
Isn't this a theme throughout the history of the world? This is not new right? Throughout history it's been the powerful and the less. Rulers/kings/despots dominating the world fortune and economy. Right?

Marcus Licinius Crassus is my favorite dead old rich guy. He had a fitting end.

E Street Brat · Jan 20, 2016

Meatwad Reloaded said:
Worm said:

Isn't this a theme throughout the history of the world? This is not new right? Throughout history it's been the powerful and the less. Rulers/kings/despots dominating the world fortune and economy. Right?

Click to expand...

Not new at all, and it always corrects itself in a bad, bad way for the rich people.

That'se why so many rich folks,mostly musicians and actors feign outrage to keep the spotlight off themselves while maintaining their over the top lifestyle.

Ladsud · Jan 20, 2016

America's three biggest banks -- JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC) and Wells Fargo (WFC) -- earned more than $6 billion just from ATM and overdraft fees last year, according to an analysis by SNL Financial and CNNMoney.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/01/14/investing/atm-overdraft-fees/index.html?section=money_topstories

Valjean · Jan 20, 2016

shadyridr said:
The last Powerball jackpot was $1.3b, there are 300m people in this country. If you gave everyone in this country an equal share of the jackpot that would be $4.3m each. Boom national debt solved!

Seems to me you are using Obamacare math here. $1,300,000,000 / $300,000,000 = $4.33. Not even enough for a $5.00 Foot long sub at Subway.

fatguyinalittlecoat · Jan 20, 2016

lod01 said:
Let's say we spread the wealth out evenly. How long do you think it takes before 62 people have 1/10 the amount of the entire gdp again?

The bottom line is the average person cannot manage their money so it's bound to be this way and there is nothing anyone can do about it.

We could redistribute more than once.

Andy Dufresne · Jan 20, 2016

cstu said:
We should not have full time employees working at jobs where the companies are showing them how to apply for food stamps. It's ridiculous.

Click to expand...

Exactly, MOP.

I totally understand the resentment towards people who don't work but try to leech off the system, but when we talk about people who get up every single day to go to work full-time they deserve to make enough for the basics (housing, food, health care) so they don't have to work multiple jobs.

Regardless of the work they do?

I try not to get mixed up in this stuff anymore. I just can't help myself. :wall:

TripItUp · Jan 20, 2016

Nobody "deserves" anything.

This country gives nearly every person ample opportunity to make something of themselves.

So sick of this entitlement tone our country has taken on.

Go get a useful college degree and report back to me if you can't get a ####### job. My company has to use Visa students to fill out our labor force because lazy American kids don't want to work or properly educate themselves.

:rant:

Cjw_55106 · Jan 20, 2016

TripItUp said:
Nobody "deserves" anything.

This country gives nearly every person ample opportunity to make something of themselves.

So sick of this entitlement tone our country has taken on.

Go get a useful college degree and report back to me if you can't get a ####### job. My company has to use Visa students to fill out our labor force because lazy American kids don't want to work or properly educate themselves.

Typical. Trying to take the focus off the rich that are ruining the world.

kface · Jan 20, 2016

I don't know why solutions always end up on the extreme end. Let's just tax them so they have less. Let's tax international financial transactions, let's end hiding money in offshore havens. You know what you don't need 3 billion, you could live with one.

Then let's use that money for 3 things:

1. provide health care for everyone (maybe even some safe drinking water). let's invest in preventative treatment as well and drive costs down

2. ensure those that work are compensated fairly and can live a good life

3. ensure that those that want to work their way up the change can by making training/universities/colleges affordable to everyone

heropretend · Jan 20, 2016

TripItUp said:
Nobody "deserves" anything.

This country gives nearly every person ample opportunity to make something of themselves.

So sick of this entitlement tone our country has taken on.

Go get a useful college degree and report back to me if you can't get a ####### job. My company has to use Visa students to fill out our labor force because lazy American kids don't want to work or properly educate themselves.

As another poster mentioned, you're focusing on the opposite extreme end of the wealth spectrum. Why?

TripItUp · Jan 20, 2016

heropretend said:
TripItUp said:

Nobody "deserves" anything.

This country gives nearly every person ample opportunity to make something of themselves.

So sick of this entitlement tone our country has taken on.

Go get a useful college degree and report back to me if you can't get a ####### job. My company has to use Visa students to fill out our labor force because lazy American kids don't want to work or properly educate themselves.

Click to expand...

As another poster mentioned, you're focusing on the opposite extreme end of the wealth spectrum. Why?

I'm not focusing on anything. I was reacting to the word "deserves" which was used in a prior post.

Nobody deserves anything and this country did not become the power that it is based on an entitlement mindset. As a matter of fact, one can argue it has regressed since we've increased entitlements.

heropretend · Jan 20, 2016

killface said:
I don't know why solutions always end up on the extreme end. Let's just tax them so they have less. Let's tax international financial transactions, let's end hiding money in offshore havens. You know what you don't need 3 billion, you could live with one.

Then let's use that money for 3 things:

1. provide health care for everyone (maybe even some safe drinking water). let's invest in preventative treatment as well and drive costs down

2. ensure those that work are compensated fairly and can live a good life

3. ensure that those that want to work their way up the change can by making training/universities/colleges affordable to everyone

So you want billionaires who are capable of becoming multi-billionaires to lose all incentive to like, produce anything ever?

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