Total wealth since 1989

[jesmu84]

https://twitter.com/JStein_WaPo/status/1575159955191103489?t=eHQHsCkHDLcMnmPr7pANWw&s=19

When does the trickle down start?

[Jockey]

It was all just a scam. And it just happens every time they are in charge. Hey! Hey! Another tax cut for the billionaires. They'll use the money to create more jobs.

[Lennys Tap]

https://twitter.com/JStein_WaPo/status/1575159955191103489?t=eHQHsCkHDLcMnmPr7pANWw&s=19

When does the trickle down start?

Reaganomics ended in 1988. Your numbers are from 1989 on. Blame Bush sr., Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump. Biden will reverse the trend - wealth will go down for everyone.

[Uncle Rico]

Reaganomics ended in 1988. Your numbers are from 1989 on. Blame Bush sr., Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump. Biden will reverse the trend - wealth will go down for everyone.

Trickle-down economics is a myth.  Capitalism ain't cut like that.  If anyone learned anything from the 80's, the idea was preposterous from the get go.

[JWags85]

The tweet states the top 10% average household wealth went from $2.5MM to $6.4MM from 1989 to today.  FWIW, that almost literally tracks inflation.  Cumulative inflation would raise that $2.5M to roughly $6.0MM with no other factors.

Among many other things, that bottom 50% number shows some of the severe issues with debt, lending, and borrowing in this country.

[jesmu84]

What I took away most from the graph/series of tweets is that the bottom 50% just isn't working hard enough

[forgetful]

The tweet states the top 10% average household wealth went from $2.5MM to $6.4MM from 1989 to today.  FWIW, that almost literally tracks inflation.  Cumulative inflation would raise that $2.5M to roughly $6.0MM with no other factors.

You have a good point in general, but your numbers are inaccurate for what they posted. They were comparing 1989 to 2019.

The $2.5M in 1989 translates to $5.15M in 2019. That means their net wealth has increased by almost 25% more than from inflation alone. Given that they hold 34% of the wealth, that is a sizable redistribution of wealth from the bottom 50-75% upwards to the top 10%.

[Pakuni]

Reaganomics ended in 1988. Your numbers are from 1989 on. Blame Bush sr., Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump. Biden will reverse the trend - wealth will go down for everyone.

Didn't work under Reagan either.

The new paper, by David Hope of the London School of Economics and Julian Limberg of King's College London, examines 18 developed countries — from Australia to the United States — over a 50-year period from 1965 to 2015. The study compared countries that passed tax cuts in a specific year, such as the U.S. in 1982 when President Ronald Reagan slashed taxes on the wealthy, with those that didn't, and then examined their economic outcomes.
Per capita gross domestic product and unemployment rates were nearly identical after five years in countries that slashed taxes on the rich and in those that didn't, the study found.

But the analysis discovered one major change: The incomes of the rich grew much faster in countries where tax rates were lowered. Instead of trickling down to the middle class, tax cuts for the rich may not accomplish much more than help the rich keep more of their riches and exacerbate income inequality, the research indicates.
"Based on our research, we would argue that the economic rationale for keeping taxes on the rich low is weak," Julian Limberg, a co-author of the study and a lecturer in public policy at King's College London, said in an email to CBS MoneyWatch. "In fact, if we look back into history, the period with the highest taxes on the rich — the postwar period — was also a period with high economic growth and low unemployment."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tax-cuts-rich-50-years-no-trickle-down/

[JWags85]

You have a good point in general, but your numbers are inaccurate for what they posted. They were comparing 1989 to 2019.

The $2.5M in 1989 translates to $5.15M in 2019. That means their net wealth has increased by almost 25% more than from inflation alone. Given that they hold 34% of the wealth, that is a sizable redistribution of wealth from the bottom 50-75% upwards to the top 10%.

Good catch. 

I'd be interested to see the updated numbers.  We all heard what billionaires did during the pandemic, but not many people know billionaires.  We almost all know people that would be in that top 10% bucket, some of which I know didn't profit like gangbusters in 2020-2021, so it feels a bit more tangible.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Trickle-down economics is a myth.  Capitalism ain't cut like that.  If anyone learned anything from the 80's, the idea was preposterous from the get go.

Hasn't stopped the new British PM from once again recycling the same failed idea.

[The Sultan]

Hasn't stopped the new British PM from once again recycling the same failed idea.

Britain leaving the EU was really a dumb idea. Really they should have just gone all in on Europe instead. Now they're just going to be hanging out there with no easy access to markets.

[Hards Alumni]

Britain leaving the EU was really a dumb idea. Really they should have just gone all in on Europe instead. Now they're just going to be hanging out there with no easy access to markets.

And no empire.  The people of the island are delusional.

[jesmu84]

Brexit = maga

[WhiteTrash]

Britain leaving the EU was really a dumb idea. Really they should have just gone all in on Europe instead. Now they're just going to be hanging out there with no easy access to markets.

As a life long native of England, please elaborate about how 'dumb' your fellow British are.

(my fellow American's opinions of places they have not lived in and of people they don't know don't carry much weight)

[MU82]

Brexit = maga

Without as much terrorism.

[JWags85]

Without as much terrorism.

Impressive work shoehorning that obsession here, kudos!

[MU82]

Impressive work shoehorning that obsession here, kudos!

Yes, I'm obsessed with terrorist acts perpetrated by Americans against America.

[JWags85]

Yes, I'm obsessed with terrorist acts perpetrated by Americans against America.

We know, its your own 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon on nearly every thread in here 

[Hards Alumni]

As a life long native of England, please elaborate about how 'dumb' your fellow British are.

(my fellow American's opinions of places they have not lived in and of people they don't know don't carry much weight)

I guess you can dunk then

[The Sultan]

As a life long native of England, please elaborate about how 'dumb' your fellow British are.

(my fellow American's opinions of places they have not lived in and of people they don't know don't carry much weight)

I never said the British were dumb.  I said leaving the EU was a dumb idea.

[MU82]

Tech multi-billionaires have lost $315 billion in 2022. But don't worry -- they're still richer than they were before the pandemic.

https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/9/29/23377578/tech-billionaires-pandemic-wealth-2022?campaign_id=4&emc=edit_dk_20220930&instance_id=73325&nl=dealbook&regi_id=108420427&segment_id=108537&te=1&user_id=d36dcf821462fdd16ec3636710a855fa

[dgies9156]

You know gang, rather than whining about the rich getting richer, why not focus on how to make the middle class more affluent?

Taxes aint the answer, gang. Transfer payments aint the answer. If they were, Chicago would be nirvana!

Look, it will take investment for communities and people to succeed. It also takes personal sacrifice and a willingness to set and attain a goal. Government can help by encouraging investment in low and moderate income communities, but the communities have to take action on their own. That's why I admire Father Flager in Chicago. I don't always agree with his politics but his campaigning against guns, drugs, liquor stores and the lottery among other things and his sense that everyone has worth is just doing God's work. And if it was emulated, it would go a long way toward positive change!

I don't begrudge anyone whose innovation, creativity and brilliance made her lots of money. Lots more than I'll ever see or dream of. Rather, I'd work to encourage investment and opportunity! Look what Amazon has done for many communities in the United States!

[lawdog77]

Look what Amazon has done for many communities in the United States!

Aside from killing mom and pop stores, there's this:
https://www.planetizen.com/news/2021/12/115577-impact-amazon-warehouses-communities#:~:text=Often%20located%20in%20low%2Dincome,noise%20pollution%2C%20and%20traffic%20congestion.

[dgies9156]

Aside from killing mom and pop stores, there's this:
https://www.planetizen.com/news/2021/12/115577-impact-amazon-warehouses-communities#:~:text=Often%20located%20in%20low%2Dincome,noise%20pollution%2C%20and%20traffic%20congestion.

Said the same thing about Walmart a generation ago.

And chain grocers before that.

And on and on and on.

Look, I'm no great fan of Walmart but you learn compete with what comes down the road or you go out of business. There's lots of small stores that survived after Walmart, Kroger or Target. They offer something that the chains can't.

Bottom line: Building wealth requires investment and ingenuity.

[Goose]

dgies

I agree completely. You need investment, ingenuity and balls. One thing that I think hurt some startups was the access to easy investment and too big of an investment. Sometimes eating some dirt along the way is the best way to build a business.