Who is enjoying how much wealth?

by phil on Thursday May 6, 2010 4:08 PM
economics

Yes, rich people buy yachts which gives people jobs. But poor and middle-class people buy consumer goods too, which also employs a lot of people. The bigger question is Who is enjoying how much wealth? This is why it's important to focus on wealth distribution. Are you comfortable with your country's distribution of wealth?

A libertarian would say, well the government shouldn't mandate a wealth distribution. But that's a fantasy. The government can't help but be complicit in determining that distribution, and so it has to make a choice. A limited government could steal from the rich and give to the poor just as much a big government could.

Factoid: In 2001, 10% of the US population owned 71% of the wealth, and the top 1% owned 38%. The bottom 40% owned less than 1% of the nation's wealth.