4 ms·

I'm richer than the poorest two billion people in the world combined, and I'm an upper-middle-class programmer with some modest savings. Please stop adding up

I'm richer than the poorest two billion people in the world combined, and I'm an upper-middle-class programmer with some modest savings. Please stop adding up the wealth of the poor: http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2014/04/04/stop-adding-up-the-wealth-of-the-poor/ http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2014/04/04/stop-adding...

Ericson2314 10y ago
Excellent post. It's never ceases to amaze how hard this stuff is to quantify.
loopbacker 10y ago
That was great, thanks for posting it. However, I think these kinds of shock headlines are still somewhat useful. They help remind me that money doesn't really work the way I imagine it does in everyday life. It also reflects the control that a few individuals have over money, if not wealth/resources.
rgbrenner 10y ago
that's a really interesting article.. I think the more surprising fact is that 7.5% of the bottom 10% are in the US. That's 50 million US citizens. That's pretty shocking. Edit: although since we're talking about people who have negative net worth.. perhaps it's only because they're able to borrow so much. I doubt a poor Indian or Nigerian would be able to borrow $100K for college.
- geodel 10y ago
  It would look less shocking once one understand US poorest 5% are equal to India's richest 5% http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2011/01/americas-poor-indias-richest.html http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2011/01/americas-poor-indias-ric...
  - rgbrenner 10y ago
    Also interesting.. but it took me a minute to figure out how to sync this info with the article... the article is for net worth, and this is for income. It is surprising how little the top 5% Indians earn.. I actually had to verify it to believe it.
  - dv_dt 10y ago
    In terms of money perhaps, but in terms of life security, leisure time, etc I am in doubt the comparison really holds.
- ferdythebull 10y ago
  I would be interested to see the relative poverty of the US poor vs the relative poverty of Indian poor. Things like affording food, shelter, and transportation based off their income.
nbanks 10y ago
It would be interesting to add up the annual income of the world's poorest and richest people instead of net worth. This isn't entirely fair either, given than some unemployment is voluntary, but there would still be a massive inequality between the richest and poorest working people.

Ericson2314 10y ago

Excellent post. It's never ceases to amaze how hard this stuff is to quantify.

loopbacker 10y ago

That was great, thanks for posting it. However, I think these kinds of shock headlines are still somewhat useful. They help remind me that money doesn't really work the way I imagine it does in everyday life. It also reflects the control that a few individuals have over money, if not wealth/resources.

rgbrenner 10y ago

that's a really interesting article.. I think the more surprising fact is that 7.5% of the bottom 10% are in the US. That's 50 million US citizens. That's pretty shocking. Edit: although since we're talking about people who have negative net worth.. perhaps it's only because they're able to borrow so much. I doubt a poor Indian or Nigerian would be able to borrow $100K for college.

geodel 10y ago
It would look less shocking once one understand US poorest 5% are equal to India's richest 5% http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2011/01/americas-poor-indias-richest.html http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2011/01/americas-poor-indias-ric...
- rgbrenner 10y ago
  Also interesting.. but it took me a minute to figure out how to sync this info with the article... the article is for net worth, and this is for income. It is surprising how little the top 5% Indians earn.. I actually had to verify it to believe it.
- dv_dt 10y ago
  In terms of money perhaps, but in terms of life security, leisure time, etc I am in doubt the comparison really holds.
ferdythebull 10y ago
I would be interested to see the relative poverty of the US poor vs the relative poverty of Indian poor. Things like affording food, shelter, and transportation based off their income.

nbanks 10y ago

It would be interesting to add up the annual income of the world's poorest and richest people instead of net worth. This isn't entirely fair either, given than some unemployment is voluntary, but there would still be a massive inequality between the richest and poorest working people.