3 Richest Americans Now Own More Wealth Than Bottom Half of US Combined

[queentonic]

Wednesday, November 08, 2017
by Common Dreams
Three Richest Americans Now Own More Wealth Than Bottom Half of US Combined: Report

"The elite ranks of our billionaire class continue to pull apart from the rest of us," a new Institute for Policy study analysis finds
by Jake Johnson, staff writer

In the United States, the 400 richest individuals now own more wealth than the bottom 64 percent of the population and the three richest own more wealth than the bottom 50 percent, while pervasive poverty means one in five households have zero or negative net worth.

snip

"The wealthiest 25 individuals in the United States today own $1 trillion in combined assets," the report notes. "These 25, a group equivalent to the active roster of a major league baseball team, hold more wealth than the bottom 56 percent of the U.S. population combined, 178 million people."'

snip

In order to get a broader sense of the size of the chasm between rich and poor in the U.S., Collins and Hoxie place the net worth of the top one percent and the bottom one percent side by side.

"The wealthiest 25 individuals in the United States today hold more wealth than the bottom 56 percent of the U.S. population combined, 178 million people." "All combined, households in the bottom one percent have a combined negative net worth of $196 billion," the report finds. "For comparison, the top one percent, a category holding the exact same number of people, have positive $33.4 trillion in combined net worth."

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[Canoe52]

1. knr nt

[SeattlePop]

2. They could pay our national debt and not miss the money.

[PSPS]

3. In fact, the national debt itself was incurred by our lining of their pockets.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

4. Exactly!

And yet RWers want us to think our problems are caused by minorities, immigrants, and the poor. What a fucking snowjob.

[jmowreader]

9. Oh lord. Please don't try to reduce blame for the national debt to one thing

The reason we didn't have huge deficits before Reagan took office, is we had a tax-and-spend Republican Party. The government has always borrowed money, and borrowing money is not a problem as long as you can pay it back. This now-legendary party required tax revenues be high enough to deal with the payments and debt never got the chance to build up. The Republican Party we have now pays its Visa bill with its MasterCard, and it's biting us in the ass.

[kelly1mm]

7. National debt is over 20 Trillion. The 25 richest have 1 Trillion combined.

That is 5% of our national debt. I think they would miss it.

[PSPS]

8. The top 1% has $33 trillion, but this is a silly framing.

The "national debt" is not the same as, say, your credit card bill.

[queentonic]

10. What was being said

The $1 trillion has to do with the top 25 individuals while the $33 trillion has to do with the total of the top 1 percent. So, yes, the top 1 percent could afford to pay off the national debt and still have $13 trillion left over.

[Yavin4]

14. How can you expect anyone to live on $13 Trillion?

Where's your heart?

[Kablooie]

5. They are like a vacuum, sucking up all the US dollars so there's none left for anyone else.

Maybe since they hoard so much of it they should pay back the US costs to make more money.

[SeattlePop]

6. Everyone Rec This

Folks don't know how many trillion they have sucked out of us.

[TheFrenchRazor]

11. but but, people are just living beyond their means... nt

[FiveGoodMen]

17. The rich, in particular!

[secondwind]

12. K&R

[Wednesdays]

13. But dammit, they EARNED all that wealth!

By exploiting others.

[Yavin4]

16. More like inheriting it.

Never worked a day in their lives.

[Wounded Bear]

15. K & R...nt

[crosinski]

18. 25 people have more money than 178 million of us combined!

I had to write that out because my brain was in shock.

We are seeing the rise of a worldwide oligarchy, and its going to take a hell of an effort to turn it around. I suspect that effort will be the defying force of the Millennial generation.

[jalan48]

19. This is an issue Democrats can win on-income inequality. It affects everyone.