About Wealth Inequality

Robert Samuelson writes on economics for The Washington Post. Here RealClearPolitics has his article on the subject of millionaires, people whose net worth (assets minus liabilities) is at least $1 million.

In the U.S. roughly one person in 20 qualifies. We read complaints about wealth inequality in the U.S., Samuelson reports the results of a Credit Suisse analysis:

In the United States, the wealthiest 10 percent of Americans own about 75 percent of the personal wealth, a share that's unchanged since 2000; the income share of the top 10 percent is slightly less than 50 percent.

The study also found that wealth inequality is high in virtually all societies. Although the United States is at the upper end of the range, the low end is still stratospheric.

In 2014, the wealthiest 10 percent owned 62 percent of the personal wealth in Germany; 69 percent in Sweden; 49 percent in Japan; 64 percent in China; 51 percent in Australia; 54 percent in the United Kingdom; 53 percent in France; 72 percent in Switzerland; and 68 percent in Denmark. These steep levels, the report noted, defied large cross-country differences in tax and inheritance policies.

There is, however, one country where wealth inequality is "so far above the others that it deserves to be placed in a separate category." This is Russia. In 2014, the wealthiest 10 percent owned 85 percent of personal wealth.

Did you have any idea wealth inequality was so great in countries like Sweden and Denmark? I did not.