There's the 1 percent against the 99 percent, we've all heard that. At this point, most of the people who have significant power in the world are more like the 0.001 percent, or some other absolutely minuscule figure with many zeroes. However, there is also the 5 percent. No, they're not five percenters, but they're the 1 out of every 20 Americans who are allegedly
millionaires.
On its face, the figure looks absurd. If you put 20 Americans, a classroom's worth, into a single room, you'll have a millionaire? I guess so. But the number is so deceptive. For example, entire communities could feature zero millionaires, and one other community could house several dozen. Wealth inequality is by no means rejected by this figure - it just shows there are more Americans in the top brackets than we ever thought.
So where is this 1 in 20 number coming from?
Credit Suisse released an annual global wealth report featuring the findings. It claims that 1.1 million new millionaires were created this year in America alone, in 2017, bringing the total up to 15,356,000 millionaires in the United States. A total of 43 percent of all millionaires in the world live in the United States.
“Wealth per adult has now fully recovered [from financial crisis lows], and is 30% above the 2006 level,” says Credit Suisse. “There is some uncertainty about future interest rates and stock market prospects, but otherwise the signs are mostly positive for household wealth.”
Can you believe that over 15 million people in America have a million dollars? It's way higher than I would ever think. I don't know a single millionaire - most Americans don't. But most millionaires likely know each other. As George Carlin said: "It's a big club, and you ain't in
it."
In a country of 330 million people, 15 million millionaires is a lot. It's a total of 1 in every 20...which just sounds absurd, because it makes it look like being a millionaire is a common thing. It's really not. Statistics can be very deceptive that way.
The fact that over a million people became millionaires this year makes it look so easy. But is it really? Did they get lucky? Did they have 900,000 dollars last year? More detailed studies are warranted. But the reality of wealth inequality in America isn't going away at all. Wealthy people get wealthier, but the poor and the middle class stagnate. Most new wealth is created at the top, not dispersed throughout society. Since the 1970s, American wages and benefits have stagnated.
When it comes to median wealth, the US, with a median wealth of $55,876, is only the 21st wealthiest country in the world. That means that there are a comparatively high number of millionaires by global standards, and then far, far more people who are doing okay or barely getting
by.
The wealthiest 1 percent of people on Earth own about 46 percent (as of 2015, it's risen since then) of the world's wealth. The US has a tremendous disparity in household income between white and black families as well, with the average black household earning only 57 dollars for every 100 dollars earned by a white household.
There are a lot of millionaires out there, but you or I won't become one, with extreme likelihood.
