The $50,000,000,000,000 Upward Transfer of Wealth
According to the Rand Corporation, since 1975, a staggering $50 trillion has gone from the bottom 90% straight to the top
Everyone knows inequality has been steadily growing worldwide. Economist Thomas Piketty’s surprise best-seller Capital in the 21st Century laid out the state of global inequality back in 2013. More recently, the Rand Corporation took a stab at putting a price on how much money has been redistributed from the bottom to the top in the US of A.
The number is stupid large: $47,000,000,000,000 to be exact.
How on earth did forty-seven trillion — trillion with a t — get vacuumed from hard-working Americans to corporate CEOs and shareholders? What would the country look like if the distribution of the economic gains would have stayed even, like the post-war period?
It’s a cliche to say America is a bonafide dumpster fire at the moment, but it rings true for a reason. My super-politically involved Italian friend visited me recently and commented, “America is like a third-world country with money.” While that is a bit of an oxymoron, is he wrong?
The poverty stats are insane: almost half the country without $400, 13 million children in food insecurity, the worst COVID…
