American Exceptionalism? -- not in citizen wealth -- USA ranked 21st (2018)

[LVZ]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_per_adult
https://money.cnn.com/2014/06/11/news/economy/middle-class-wealth/index.html

https://imgur.com/gallery/0M93xAT

[PeeJ52]

1. Nor Freedom...

Last I saw we were 23rd in freedom. Those damn Canadians were 6th. They keep copying everything we do and improve upon it...

[fiorello]

2. These numbers are screwy. America twice as rich as Germany?? Etc.

I’ve seen lots of statistics that show how median Americans are worse off compared to Europeans, even though the United States as a whole has more wealth (in the hands of its 1% - I’m sure everyone recognizes that median shows the condition of the person in the middle, whereas other measures are based on the sum of everyone from the poorest to the richest, never mind that most oUS wealth is locked up in the vaults of the 1%.)

But look at some of these numbers. Germany is the most extreme. It’s usually reads as one of the richest countries as a whole, and its level of inequality is typical for a European country, much lower then the United States. And yet its median wealth is only slightly more than half the US? And 1/3 the level of its EU neighbors, France, Belgium and the Netherlands? And half that of Italy and Ireland? And lower than Greece? The second lowest in the EU? Germany is the craziest, but others look weird as a whole.

[Las Vegas Mixx]

3. Original Source - Credit Suisse Global Wealth 2018 Databook PDF - Table 3.1

https://www.credit-suisse.com/corporate/en/research/research-institute/global-wealth-report.html

Some of the numbers do seem odd. You can view/download the databook PDF from the link above.

Within the PDF, click on the bookmark 05_CS18_DB3_vFR2

[Las Vegas Mixx]

4. Extract: Credit Suisse Global Wealth Data 2018 - Table 3.1 only

https://xradio.us/PDF/Global-Wealth-2018-Table-3.1.pdf

[Las Vegas Mixx]

7. The German "median" wealth may be skewed by impoverished former East-German states, etc.

The low German median wealth figure does stick out, but there are at least two factors that might be influential.

The former East Germany is still impoverished compared to the rest of Germany.

Note that this map reflects GDP "mean/average" and not "median/middle" and income (not wealth).

It may also be partly a statistical fluke since the "median" may have shifted enough downward from the relatively large new immigrant population and the holdover poverty from unification with East Germany.

It is just speculation but while the USA's extreme wealth inequality may be less visible in Germany, there may still be enough of an overall wealth gap between the top 50% and the bottom 50% to greatly influence where the median is placed.

[Takket]

5. The vast majority of that is concentrated at the top 1% too

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

6. America is #1 in having the most exceptionally dumb president. n/t