More Proof that the Rich Are Getting Richer and the Poor Poorer
The rich are getting even richer.
The top 1% control 46% of the world’s assets -- and 86% of global wealth is owned by the richest 10%. Yet two-thirds of the world’s adults have wealth of less than $10,000. These numbers, compiled by Swiss bank Credit Suisse in its latest World Wealth Report, underscores that income inequality has become an international crisis. Credit Suisse also expects there will be a billion millionaires and 11 trillionaires within two generations. "Billionaires will be commonplace," note the report's authors.
Related: Top Secrets of Penny-Pinching Billionaires: Warren Buffett Has Company
There are nearly 2 million new millionaires this year compared to 2012, the majority of which are living in the U.S. A recovery in the housing market and a bull market for stocks helped the U.S. post its fifth consecutive year of increases in personal wealth.
Related: U.S. Economy Poised for Liftoff, Sonders Says: Pray Pols Don’t Blow It
Millionaires are experiencing even better times now than before the financial crisis: “wealth ownership grew by 12.7% [in 2013] to $72.1 trillion, 20% more than the pre-crisis high in 2006 and 54% above the recent low in 2008,” according to Credit Suisse. Overall global wealth has more than doubled since 2000, reaching a new all-time high of $241 trillion.
Yes. $241 trillion.
The “increasing lopsidedness in terms of wealth accumulation at the top end” would not be so dramatic if median wealth was also increasing, says Yahoo Finance senior columnist Mike Santoli. And it gets worse for poor families and individuals: Credit Suisse projects wealth for those in the bottom percentile will steadily fall over the next 60 years.
Watch the video above to see which country has lost $5.8 trillion in household wealth since January.
Tell Us What You Think!
Send an email to: thedailyticker@yahoo.com.
You can also look us up on Twitter and Facebook.
More from The Daily Ticker
Rickards on Fed & Yellen: Here Comes the 'Helicopter Money'
Shutdown Could Literally Make America Sick
What Wall Street and Fed Watchers Are Saying About Janet Yellen
