Millionaires control 41% of world's wealth, expected to take more

CNBC's Inside Wealth ^ | June 15, 2015 | Robert Frank

[Fightin Whitey]

there are more people with greater wealth than in history

All you say is true, thanks to the rise of Western Civ and particularly to the miraculous founding of the United States.

What is also true is that the poor on earth live lives far and away better than any time in history; and the "poor" in the U.S. are in fact wealthier than most of humanity ever has been, right up to two or three generations ago.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

Here we go again. How have the productive efforts of "the rich" improved the condition of the poor over the past few decades? How has Capitalism, which makes these millionaires rich, improved the lives of the poor? To the Left, it doesn't matter. As Margaret Thatcher said, they'd rather the poor were poorer provided that the rich were less rich.

[from occupied ga]

As if they just stole that money to begin with.

It's part of the white privilege money. You just go into the bank and ask for your white privilege money (if you're white) and they'll say "Sure how much do you want?" and then ask for whatever you think you'll need until you go again. For example I know if I get $5000 of my white privilege money, the bank will just go and take it from poor people since poor people are such a great source of wealth. <- This is what liberals and the run of the mill black democrats believe anyway.

Any attempts to edjumacate away this fantasy will be met with the most strenuous resistance including riots.

[navyguy]

“Millionaires control 41% of world’s wealth, expected to take more”

That headline needs to be changed. Wealthy people don’t “take” wealth. They create it.

[july4thfreedomfoundation]

Exactly.

Millionaires hire a lot of employees with their wealth; the poor don’t hire anyone.

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

When I was a kid a “millionaire” was “rich”. Not so much anymore.

[navyguy]

Well said!

[The_Reader_David]

I’m surprised they didn’t use a more generous definition of millionaire to make the figure sound more supportive of the left’s positions. They did make it households instead of individuals, which is a little shady (Mr. and Mrs. Joe Slightly-Above-Average might each have $500,000 in their 401(k)’s, Roth IRAs and bank accounts taken all together, which, having reached normal retirement age, the could “easily monetize”, but neither is a millionaire) but they limited the assets considered to “easily monetizable” assets, thereby excluding real estate.

I’d thought the standard definition of millionaire was net worth of one million dollars or more, but the definition they use both catches folks who fail that definition (since million plus in easily monetizable assets doesn’t say anything about outstanding debts) at leave out folks who meet it (by excluding, for instance, real estate holdings).

[from occupied ga]

If nothing else...it irks them ;-)

True, but then you have to talk to them and it's like teaching a pig to sing. The pig will never learn, it irritates the pig (your point) and it wastes your time.

[PGR88]

I certainly have no problem with millionaires and those who are rich through the dint of their own intelligence and hard work.

But today in America, much wealth comes at the hands of, permission from, or rule making by the US Government. Is there a reason why 7 of the 10 wealthiest counties in the country are now surrounding Washington DC? Our financial system in particular is very corrupt - bailouts from the Federal Reserve and TARP, as well as massive money printing and debt handling have made those select few cronies on Wall Street especially rich. This is NOT capitalism. It is statism and a type of fascism.

[dfwgator]

And what percentage of the world’s jobs do those millionaires create?

[MrB]

The young lib was probably motivated by envy
that “some old fart” had more stuff than s/he did,
and “that’s not fair”,
and liberalism says that the gov’t will make things “fair”.

[freedomfiter2]

Not a many. The middle class produces more jobs per dollar income than the wealthy.

[justlurking]

A million (or two) doesn’t buy what it used to, at least in the US.

[The_Reader_David]

And what portion of this wealth was created by these millionaires?

That's actually an interesting question, since there are millionaires who actually have created wealth (successful entrepreneurs, venture capitalists who backed good start-ups, and the like) and there are millionaires who simply gamed the system (the sort of investment bankers who call their clients "muppets" and work to maximize their own bonuses, rather than their clients' assets; CEOs whose "golden parachute" opened to give them great wealth even as they destroyed shareholder valued; Congressmen who exploited their exemption from insider trading laws;...)

The skewed definition the article used also makes it likely that more of the millionaires in their count are of the latter sort, since it excludes assets tied up in business operations, and thus, many entrepreneurs whose net worth may be over a million dollars and who are actually creating wealth.

We on the right really need to actually reject the left's whole schema. The divide between rich and poor is not that interesting. The divide between makers and takers doesn't correspond to income levels -- we need to support the makers, whether well-off, middle class, or even poor, and oppose the takers, regardless of their income level, rather than reflexively identifying the rich as "makers" and the poor as "takers".

[Jakarta ex-pat]

"the very poor need to get it in gear and work more and harder.".

I'm presuming you mean in the US and the "developed world".

In most developing countries, poverty breeds poverty through lack of education, lack of confidence, and lack of finance. .

Moreover, the majority of the wealthy are happy with these circumstances; often government workers who have used graft to live their lavish lifestyles, or businessmen who patronize them.

Make no mistake, this disease has arrived in the west, and except for drugs, sports,acting, or music; the stats of the very poor, or even the middle classes "making it" will become fewer and fewer.

Finally, except for the growing number of freeloaders, I see the very poor are also working very hard!

[freedomfiter2]

A lot of people have become millionaires doing honest business with poor people.

[Uversabound]

Well thousandaires control 99.95 percent of the world’s wealth, I think we should go after them.

Instead of trying to relect what they did to become a sucess? I worked hard, not rich but not a burden to anyone.

Yeah nobody recognizes this merit anymore.

[dfwgator]

It's part of the white privilege money. You just go into the bank and ask for your white privilege money (if you're white) and they'll say "Sure how much do you want?" and then ask for whatever you think you'll need until you go again.

White Loan Officer: [ laughs, then sits ] That was a close one, wasn't it?

Eddie Murphy: It certainly was.

White Loan Officer: We don't have to bother with these formalities, do we, Mr. White? Huh?

Eddie Murphy: What a silly Negro!

[MUDDOG]

When I was a kid a “millionaire” was “rich”. Not so much anymore.

The Beverly Hillbillies had $25 million in 1962.