Wealth disparity

9 comments

1. Can’t imagine there’s a country on earth where this isn’t true

2. Allegedly, one of the walmart heirs is the lad who flies a spitfire all over the peninsula every time there’s a clear sky.

   I can’t imagine what the cost of that is, but every time I hear the engine I’m annoyed.

3. In America it’s the 3 richest – I honestly wouldn’t have thought there were that many “mega rich” here

4. That’s pretty shitty phrasing. I would imagine the two wealthiest people in the country would have more money than all of the poorest, not just 50%.

5. It’s always been like that throughout the history of humanity and I don’t think it’s likely to change anytime in the future either

6. Wealth disparity figures often look quite shocking because the poorest don’t have wealth (i.e. savings or property). It’s literally 0 (if not negative if you account for debt) for the poorest segment of society). I probably have more “wealth” than a fair % of the poorest combined, just by having some savings. However, my wealth was 0 or negative until I was working for a couplr years after college.

   Ireland has done a really good job at improving income inequality as it got wealthier – it’s one of only a small group of western countries where income inequality dropped over the last few decades. However, wealth inequality is a big and growing issue, largely because of housing issues. However, a lot of people, and not just the super wealthy, seem opposed to measures that specifically target wealth inequality, like higher inheritance taxes, property taxes etc.

7. I don’t think it is a good measure for example in this case a student with no mortgage is richer than me even though I have a higher than median income. Mortgage is an investment though in an asset that will hold its value.

8. How many people are considered the ‘poorest’?

9. What’s the salary of the oxfam chief executive?