9 ms·

America’s 50 Largest Inherited-Wealth Dynasties Accelerate Inequality

62 points by bengtan 5y ago

ChuckNorris89 5y ago
That's cute compared to Europe where for example in Austria, the top 50 wealthiest families own a third of the country's wealth.
- captainredbeard 5y ago
  Correct: Europe has a far more entrenched elite / patrician class than the United States with far less opportunities for someone to "break out" by creating a company. Yet we continually hear about how terrible the US's economic & social policies are... to this observer, it makes no sense.
  - slumpt_ 5y ago
    Socioeconomic mobility is low in the US. This has been litigated and resolved in research ad nauseam. Survivorship bias, on the other hand…
    - mk81 5y ago
      >Socioeconomic mobility is low in the US. Compared to where?
      - slumpt_ 5y ago
        Other developed countries (or ourselves, in the past).
dagw 5y ago
Of the 10 richest people in Sweden, you have 1 company founder, 1 hedge fund manager and 8 people who directly or indirectly inherited their wealth, 4 of whom belong to the same family. This is hardly unique to the US
- hackerNoose 5y ago
  Sweden has one of the largest wealth inequalities in the world. This might be unexpected given how how the aggressive taxation keeps the income equality high.
  - pbadg3r 5y ago
    Wow this is fascinating, GINI for wealth inequality is definitely not talked about enough
    - boxed 5y ago
      It's a lie though. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_equality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_eq...
      - quickthrowman 5y ago
        Income and wealth are two different things.
        dagw 5y ago
        In some ways the low income inequality is driving the high wealth inequality. The income 'equality' means that the top end wages are quite low by global standards, meaning it is basically impossible to build wealth by just working hard and getting a salary. In the US it is absolutely possible to become a millionaire simply by working your way up the ladder at a large corporation. In Sweden that is basically impossible since there are hardly any jobs offering those sort of salaries.
    - tryptophan 5y ago
      Yeah I was pretty surprised as well. Made me re-consider how much of a bubble of ideology I am in. How could I NOT hear about such a statistic for so long?! Especially with all these other inequality statistics being thrown around.
ppf 5y ago
>Dynastic families have seen their wealth grow significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic >Dynastically wealthy families wield a great deal of political power, and use it to further their interests. I've been saying this pretty much since the start of lockdowns and restrictions. For the past year, we have essentially legislated the transfer of more power and wealth to those already wealthy and powerful. When the dust starts to settle, it will become clearer just how much has changed, and maybe the theoretical questions of "was this worth it"? will become more practical.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- tolbish 5y ago
  Does "this" = low taxes on the wealthy? Or allowing lobbying?
  - ppf 5y ago
    "This" = mandating most regular folks put their lives on hold, while the rich and powerful get to continue with their schemes.
    - 8note 5y ago
      Most regular people's lives go towards making those same people wealthier and more powerful. I'm not clear that putting those lives on hold acts in one direction or another.
      - ppf 5y ago
        That doesn't matter. You consume their content, and buy their goods. In fact, those two things have increased massively over the past year.
DrNosferatu 5y ago
Laudable goals and action points - for which I would vote. Already, if nothing more, raising awareness is a positive outcome of this initiative. *However*, I guess it is easy to agree that the prescribed policies would face huge political opposition in attempts to implement them. Look at what happened to Bernie's campaign! (Unless, of course, something majeur / extraordinary circumstances - like the Pandemic - are invoked to pass such a policy package in one clean swoop). Being it so, how about considering a simpler, less contentious, parallel alternative - a bypass around the mighty legal loopholes, media & lobby opposition? That would be *the creation of Citizen's Wealth Fund*. Just like Norway's Oil Fund. But instead of oil, the asset would be *the bailed out stocks*. In other words, in the "bailout action", the State buys stock, then the State would keep said stock in the fund. Extendable to 5G auction proceeds, other licenses, etc. best explanation, also longer read, the 208 page book: https://angrynomics.com/ https://angrynomics.com/ https://www.ippr.org/media-item/watch-a-citizens-wealth-fund-explained https://www.ippr.org/media-item/watch-a-citizens-wealth-fund... https://youtu.be/rC9RAylrl0s https://youtu.be/rC9RAylrl0s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_wealth_fund https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_wealth_fund
- geofft 5y ago
  They face huge political opposition because rich people have the means to create that opposition (through all sorts of mechanisms from bribery on the one extreme to subtly influencing popular media to create the perception that wealth accumulation is a virtue on the other extreme). That means that any policy at all that effectively solves the problem will face opposition - or in other words, if your proposed policy somehow doesn't face opposition, it means the rich families have figured out a loophole in it that lets them keep their money and power. You have to figure out either a way to get this done despite opposition or a way to break their ability to effectively create opposition.
  - DrNosferatu 5y ago
    Dear Geofft, I think aiming at a CWF would simply be a more attainable goal. But what course of action do you purpose? Revolution? They're notoriously messy and difficult to implement...
prometheus76 5y ago
Pareto Distribution makes people angry. Film at 11.
- strikelaserclaw 5y ago
  well it is an issue that is important enough to keep bringing up over and over especially as most Americans see their standard of living go down
Proven 5y ago
Another junky socialist article. Sorry to break it to you, but different individuals must be equal only before law. Elsewhere, their abilities, talents, effort, and luck makes them realize different outcomes. Many people in the US get unjust income, not just the rich. Material inequality isn't illegal, and isn't a problem either. Plunder still is illegal, but that's a necessary condition for socialism so you won't write about that, will you?

62 points by bengtan 5y ago

That's cute compared to Europe where for example in Austria, the top 50 wealthiest families own a third of the country's wealth.

captainredbeard 5y ago
Correct: Europe has a far more entrenched elite / patrician class than the United States with far less opportunities for someone to "break out" by creating a company. Yet we continually hear about how terrible the US's economic & social policies are... to this observer, it makes no sense.
- slumpt_ 5y ago
  Socioeconomic mobility is low in the US. This has been litigated and resolved in research ad nauseam. Survivorship bias, on the other hand…
  - mk81 5y ago
    >Socioeconomic mobility is low in the US. Compared to where?
    - slumpt_ 5y ago
      Other developed countries (or ourselves, in the past).

dagw 5y ago

Of the 10 richest people in Sweden, you have 1 company founder, 1 hedge fund manager and 8 people who directly or indirectly inherited their wealth, 4 of whom belong to the same family. This is hardly unique to the US

hackerNoose 5y ago
Sweden has one of the largest wealth inequalities in the world. This might be unexpected given how how the aggressive taxation keeps the income equality high.
- pbadg3r 5y ago
  Wow this is fascinating, GINI for wealth inequality is definitely not talked about enough
  - boxed 5y ago
    It's a lie though. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_equality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_eq...
    - quickthrowman 5y ago
      Income and wealth are two different things.
      - dagw 5y ago
        In some ways the low income inequality is driving the high wealth inequality. The income 'equality' means that the top end wages are quite low by global standards, meaning it is basically impossible to build wealth by just working hard and getting a salary. In the US it is absolutely possible to become a millionaire simply by working your way up the ladder at a large corporation. In Sweden that is basically impossible since there are hardly any jobs offering those sort of salaries.
  - tryptophan 5y ago
    Yeah I was pretty surprised as well. Made me re-consider how much of a bubble of ideology I am in. How could I NOT hear about such a statistic for so long?! Especially with all these other inequality statistics being thrown around.

ppf 5y ago

>Dynastic families have seen their wealth grow significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic >Dynastically wealthy families wield a great deal of political power, and use it to further their interests. I've been saying this pretty much since the start of lockdowns and restrictions. For the past year, we have essentially legislated the transfer of more power and wealth to those already wealthy and powerful. When the dust starts to settle, it will become clearer just how much has changed, and maybe the theoretical questions of "was this worth it"? will become more practical.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
tolbish 5y ago
Does "this" = low taxes on the wealthy? Or allowing lobbying?
- ppf 5y ago
  "This" = mandating most regular folks put their lives on hold, while the rich and powerful get to continue with their schemes.
  - 8note 5y ago
    Most regular people's lives go towards making those same people wealthier and more powerful. I'm not clear that putting those lives on hold acts in one direction or another.
    - ppf 5y ago
      That doesn't matter. You consume their content, and buy their goods. In fact, those two things have increased massively over the past year.

DrNosferatu 5y ago

Laudable goals and action points - for which I would vote. Already, if nothing more, raising awareness is a positive outcome of this initiative. *However*, I guess it is easy to agree that the prescribed policies would face huge political opposition in attempts to implement them. Look at what happened to Bernie's campaign! (Unless, of course, something majeur / extraordinary circumstances - like the Pandemic - are invoked to pass such a policy package in one clean swoop). Being it so, how about considering a simpler, less contentious, parallel alternative - a bypass around the mighty legal loopholes, media & lobby opposition? That would be *the creation of Citizen's Wealth Fund*. Just like Norway's Oil Fund. But instead of oil, the asset would be *the bailed out stocks*. In other words, in the "bailout action", the State buys stock, then the State would keep said stock in the fund. Extendable to 5G auction proceeds, other licenses, etc. best explanation, also longer read, the 208 page book: https://angrynomics.com/ https://angrynomics.com/ https://www.ippr.org/media-item/watch-a-citizens-wealth-fund-explained https://www.ippr.org/media-item/watch-a-citizens-wealth-fund... https://youtu.be/rC9RAylrl0s https://youtu.be/rC9RAylrl0s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_wealth_fund https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_wealth_fund

geofft 5y ago
They face huge political opposition because rich people have the means to create that opposition (through all sorts of mechanisms from bribery on the one extreme to subtly influencing popular media to create the perception that wealth accumulation is a virtue on the other extreme). That means that any policy at all that effectively solves the problem will face opposition - or in other words, if your proposed policy somehow doesn't face opposition, it means the rich families have figured out a loophole in it that lets them keep their money and power. You have to figure out either a way to get this done despite opposition or a way to break their ability to effectively create opposition.
- DrNosferatu 5y ago
  Dear Geofft, I think aiming at a CWF would simply be a more attainable goal. But what course of action do you purpose? Revolution? They're notoriously messy and difficult to implement...

prometheus76 5y ago

Pareto Distribution makes people angry. Film at 11.

strikelaserclaw 5y ago
well it is an issue that is important enough to keep bringing up over and over especially as most Americans see their standard of living go down

Proven 5y ago

Another junky socialist article. Sorry to break it to you, but different individuals must be equal only before law. Elsewhere, their abilities, talents, effort, and luck makes them realize different outcomes. Many people in the US get unjust income, not just the rich. Material inequality isn't illegal, and isn't a problem either. Plunder still is illegal, but that's a necessary condition for socialism so you won't write about that, will you?