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I did not believe this to be true, but after researching it turns out that your figure is accurate for 2016 and that it's likely only gotten worse since then.
by Kranar 6y ago
I did not believe this to be true, but after researching it turns out that your figure is accurate for 2016 and that it's likely only gotten worse since then.
Page 19 of this document produced by the NBER states that indeed, the wealthiest 10% own 84% of all publicly traded stocks, mutual funds, trusts, or various pension account assets:
https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w24085/w24085.pdf https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w24085/w240...
It has many other interesting insights that are worth quickly reading through, for example you mention you are unsure about housing, but that report says the top 10% own 41% of all housing in the U.S.
The other interesting figure is debt, where the top 10% owe 28% of all debt.
- l3v3ll 6y agoThanks for the link. I’m on mobile and only got a second hand source on my comment below. I totally agree it must be worse now. It would be interesting to see the latest numbers.
- WillPostForFood 6y ago67.4% of Americans own a home. You don't need to be in the be in the top 10% to benefit. https://www.census.gov/housing/hvs/files/currenthvspress.pdf https://www.census.gov/housing/hvs/files/currenthvspress.pdf
- ALittleLight 6y agoThat's not exactly what "home ownership rate" means. Home ownership rate is the proportion of occupied homes which are owned by their occupants. If your town has one hundred occupied homes, then 67 of those occupied homes would be owned (or being paid for on mortgagee) by the people living inside. Adult children living at home, adults living in homes with roommates, people underwater on their mortgage, etc would all count towards a higher home ownership rate.
- WillPostForFood 6y agoRising housing prices help people underwater on their mortgage get above water.
- l3v3ll 6y agoI wouldn’t call ownership a benefit for the 71% of home owners with a mortgage. > Zillow’s Negative Equity 2012 Q3 data; we find 29% (20.6 million) of homeowners own their home outright https://www.zillow.com/research/free-and-clear-american-mortgages-3681/ https://www.zillow.com/research/free-and-clear-american-mort...
- cratermoon 6y agoAt least one Nobel prize-winning economist has noted that home ownership is not all that it's made out to be. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-10-15/the-economist-who-just-won-a-nobel-prize-thinks-owning-a-home-is-a-terrible-investment https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-10-15/the-econo...
- WillPostForFood 6y agoJust flip it around, would plummeting housing prices benefit homeowners with a mortgage? No, that's a disaster (see the 2007 housing crash). Borrowing, especially at the extreme low rates, on an appreciating asset is great, paying debt on a depreciating asset is a nightmare.
- l3v3ll 6y agoFlip what around? A mortgage doesn’t give you the benefits of being wealthy. Whether the market is good or bad. Anyway, the point is moot as the parent report shows the top 10% also own 41% of the houses, so the initial argument stands that the wealthy are benefiting the most.