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Given that the majority of wealth is inherited, how smart you are doesn't need to be related at all.

• sokoloff 4y ago
  Citation needed. The references that I looked for suggested that around 30-40% of wealth is inherited. No citation that I found suggested that it was a majority. Do you have any sources that I could additionally review to support the majority claim?
  • ResearchCode 4y ago
    That's in the US. Old money in Europe is older than US as a country.
    • est31 4y ago
      That older-than-USA money exists, but it is still a minority: 80% of inherited fortunes in Europe were younger than four generations (120-ish years). https://www.famcap.com/2016/05/2016-5-17-wealthspike-europe-where-its-all-about-inherited-wealth-family-businesses/ https://www.famcap.com/2016/05/2016-5-17-wealthspike-europe-... Edit: there has also been the absolutism movement which effectively removed control from large fractions of lower nobility over their lands, requiring them to be in the royal palace. There was also the german mediatization at the start of the 19th century where the holdings of lower noble families got integrated into larger units. Those larger units, as well as their holdings, then got turned into democracies in the 20th century.
• BurningFrog 4y ago
  The past was poor. There isn't enough old wealth for this to even be possibly true.