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The richest eight people now have the same wealth as the poorest 50 percent. Most of that wealth comes from investing (rather than labor). There is no probabili

The richest eight people now have the same wealth as the poorest 50 percent. Most of that wealth comes from investing (rather than labor). There is no probability model that would lead to this result; eventually someone on a "hot streak" is bound to lose. What we're seeing is that luck may give some random people a boost at first, but that boost is sufficient to let them take all the winnings over time. The rich get richer. Investing success and wealth building follow a Darwinian rather than a probabilistic model.

taeric 10y ago
I'm not sure I follow. A basic Pareto distribution could easily lead to this setup. Now, are we seeing that the powers that be are finding ways to keep their wealth? Almost certainly. But, consider that the same fact for "top 8 have as much as bottom half" was probably true in the Rockefeller years. Difference is that, in American until recently, we had schemes to prevent a landed gentry, or class based society. But to claim that this is somehow new or unheralded in history seems to ignore a lot of history.
myf01d 10y ago
Yes, and just once you get big using good luck like Amazon or Facebook, you invest your profits to hire the best people to make sure that no one else can threaten your empire in the foreseeable future.
harmegido 10y ago
Gates, slim, Ellison, the Kochs, and the Waltons were all in the top eight from a quick search I did. None of those gained the majority of their wealth through investing.
- ci5er 10y ago
  Buffet and Carlos Slim did, did they not? After starting out in trading (for ~30 years, no?), Carlos Slim got bigger with Telmex (while I don't know how much collusion was involved with that; I assume it couldn't have been none, which probably isn't fair of me) before going large with investing again... The rest of the list includes Ingvar Kamprad, Bezos, Zuckerberg and Amancia Ortega, and none of them gained the majority of their wealth through inheritance or investment either. Now, their kids on the other hand... :-)
tonyedgecombe 10y ago
That statistic from Oxfam is really dodgy, if all you have to your name is a dollar bill in your pocket then there are 2 billion people in the world poorer than you, ie they have debt. It says nothing about income.

taeric 10y ago

I'm not sure I follow. A basic Pareto distribution could easily lead to this setup. Now, are we seeing that the powers that be are finding ways to keep their wealth? Almost certainly. But, consider that the same fact for "top 8 have as much as bottom half" was probably true in the Rockefeller years. Difference is that, in American until recently, we had schemes to prevent a landed gentry, or class based society. But to claim that this is somehow new or unheralded in history seems to ignore a lot of history.

myf01d 10y ago

Yes, and just once you get big using good luck like Amazon or Facebook, you invest your profits to hire the best people to make sure that no one else can threaten your empire in the foreseeable future.

harmegido 10y ago

Gates, slim, Ellison, the Kochs, and the Waltons were all in the top eight from a quick search I did. None of those gained the majority of their wealth through investing.

ci5er 10y ago
Buffet and Carlos Slim did, did they not? After starting out in trading (for ~30 years, no?), Carlos Slim got bigger with Telmex (while I don't know how much collusion was involved with that; I assume it couldn't have been none, which probably isn't fair of me) before going large with investing again... The rest of the list includes Ingvar Kamprad, Bezos, Zuckerberg and Amancia Ortega, and none of them gained the majority of their wealth through inheritance or investment either. Now, their kids on the other hand... :-)

tonyedgecombe 10y ago

That statistic from Oxfam is really dodgy, if all you have to your name is a dollar bill in your pocket then there are 2 billion people in the world poorer than you, ie they have debt. It says nothing about income.