The rich own the world

[urstwile]

Fascinating and yet sad at the same time (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061205.wxrich05/BNStory/International/home)

[morea]

wow.

Then again, I guess it really isn't THAT big a surprise.

[urstwile]

Apparently, not to the researchers, either.

[Juggnoxalo]

Good read

But I figured this out when I started my first job at Mc Donalds. :D

[Red Kittie Kat]

good article Urst ;)

It's something I'll never have problems with :p

[budafist]

The bottom half of the world adult population owned barely 1 per cent of global wealth. The research finds that assets of $2,200 per adult places a household in the top half of the world wealth distribution.



That's pretty shocking. I guess we are all in the top 50%. That is if you can scrape up all your belongings to equal $2,200. C'mon, your computer is worth at least half that right?

[urstwile]

I was a little confused by that too, Buda. $2200? I wonder if that was a typo?

To be among the richest 10 per cent of adults in the world required $61,000 in assets, and more than $500,000 was needed to belong to the richest 1 per cent. The latter figure, according to the study, is surprisingly high since it represents 37 million adults and is "therefore far from an exclusive club."

[budafist]

No I think that makes sense. If you think that a LOT of people are living in debt, anyone who has over $2,200 isn't exactly starving. There are a lot of people in the world living day to day y'know.

Consider yourself lucky that you have money to spend.

[budafist]

I'm certainly not the richest 10% of the world ($61,000) certainly anyone with a house or mortgage is.

[urstwile]

No I think that makes sense. If you think that a LOT of people are living in debt, anyone who has over $2,200 isn't exactly starving. There are a lot of people in the world living day to day y'know.

Consider yourself lucky that you have money to spend.
I'm one of the former, not the latter, at least lately, anyway. I certainly don't have $2200 in assets, unless we count my computer and even that's probably not worth that anymore. That's not even what I paid for it.

[PrintDriver]

The $2200 figure is used twice so unless it's a typo twice...

You are all thinking of what $2200 is in the US. Think of what $2200 is to the lowest caste wage earner in the entire world.

[jimking]

The article is a little hard to believe. My wife and I were lucky enough to buy a detached house 8 years ago at the right time, at the right place, in which it has at least tripled in value. Selling the house would put me and my wife into the world's super duper rich 1%? Funny, I don't feel that way. Even if we sell, move to a lower cost area, pay cash for a house I would at least still have to work, punch a clock, take orders from someone in order to pay the property taxes, health and car insurance etc. Selling my house and assets would generate around $500,000.00. This is from working our butts off for 30 years. Of course we could move to Mexico in some American enclave but we have no family or friends there. Rich to me are folks worth several Million American dollars (not several hundred thousand) who do not work for a living. They live off a trust fund and their offspring too. With money, everthing is and can be relative. For example, I live in one of the richest counties in the US, Fairfax, VA (google it). If I was to sell my house, I could not afford to buy a detatched house similar to mine in this county.

[Drazan]

I think the key point is "net $2,200" or more.

Which means that if you take all your posessions and subtract all your debt you would still come ahead by at least $2,200.

You could be earning $500,000 a year, but if you are in debt by 1.5 million with morgage, credit card, loans, etc then no - you are not part of the elite.

By the same token if you make $40,000 a year and have managed your finances well and have no debt and you could very well be part of the elite who have net worth of over $60,000.

It's all relative.

And considering that the article takes in global population - it's got a hel'o'va bell curve to the statistics. I don't like the percentages. Now if they said out of the population of each country and gave numbers as to who's who on the finance scale, then that would be a real statistic. The global generalization based on dollars alone gives a slanted aspect.

for example the average mid class american can see a gross of $1,000 a week. In other parts of the world that income is equivalent to three months of pay. The value of the dollar does not translate globally.

[urstwile]

Very good points indeed, Drazan.

[frankster]

I wonder how mortgages are calculated into it. Does having one mean you are counted as being in debt by however much you still have left to pay, or do they only count the value of the house that you have paid off up to this point as posetive? I'd say it should be the latter. My student loans mean that I'm in negative numbers. I hope to get on the property ladder before I'm old and grey. Renting sucks.

[PrintDriver]

I'm not so sure renting sucks.
If you've never owned a house before you might think so, but if your furnace, roof, refrigerator and washing machine all croak in the same year you will wish you still had a landlord to 'fix it'... :D

[budafist]

Ahuh. I do want a house one day, but I love the fact that when anything needs to be fixed, the landlord deals with it. Considering we've had a tree fall over, blocked drains, faulty wiring in the last few months, I'm glad it's not my house...

[jimking]

There is truth to that. My kitchen is about shot. It's 21 years old and it has to be redone. At first my thinking is just replace the appliances and a new countertop, Which would cost about 3-4 thousand. However, I've changed my mind and decided to treat the house as a flip. I'm going to replace the kitchen at a price around $25000.00. Since I'm going to sell the house in a couple of years I should be able to double my kitchen investment...hopefully.

[frankster]

if your furnace, roof, refrigerator and washing machine all croak in the same year you will wish you still had a landlord to 'fix it'... :D

Not if you had a landlord like ours! He's a DIY spaz. They repainted the kitchen after we had signed the lease but before we moved in and in and in doing so they painted all the cupboard doors, but they painted over the hinges, so now none of them will stay closed and he fridge was a bit rusty, so yes you guessed it, the landlord applied the same finish to the fridge. So now our fridge is painted in matt emulsion that is meant for the walls and the rust is showig through it anyway.

We've had no end of trouble trying to get him to sort out a damp and mould problem in the back bedroom, which is now uninhabitable. I would much rather the money we pay for rent each month was actually going towards owning something rather than lining this numpty's pockets, even if it does mean we'd have to do maintenance ourselves. Owning in or around san francisco is not something we'll ever be able to manage though, so it'll have to wait till we move back to Blighty, even then it's going to be a while away.

[budafist]

I hear ya frankster! Owning around where we live now is impossible for first home buyers. You're looking a close to a million dollars for a house. If I bought a house now or soon, I would only be able to afford a place further out of the city - an hour's drive in the mornings. I enjoy walking 5 minutes to work, so that's another reason to rent.