Inequality Grows As The Super-Rich Become Richer

Submitted By: Tania Basu(00715903912) Prabhleen Kaur(04715903912)

Who are Rich People?

According to most dictionaries, rich is defined as having abundant material

possessions.
So although you can be rich in spirit and be considered emotionally wealthy, the definition of rich is all about having lots of money.

According to a survey done with public on HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE RICH?,
33% Having just enough money not to worry 26% Having enough money that you don't need to work 17% A net worth of $1 million or more

11% A six-figure annual income

7% Possessions such as houses, cars, boats, etc. 3% Other 3% Don't know

The Richest People In The World-2012

1. Carlos Slim Helu, Telecom, Net Worth:$69 billion As of March 2012 2. Bill Gates, Microsoft, Net Worth:$66 billion As of September 2012 3. Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway, Net Worth:$46 billion As of September 2012 4. Larry Ellison, Oracle, Net Worth:$41 billion As of September 2012

5. Bernard Arnault, LVMH, Net Worth:$41 billion As of March 2012

6. Amancio Ortega, Zara, self-made, Net Worth:$37.5 billion As of March 2012 7. Charles Koch , Net Worth:$31 billion As of September 2012 8. David Koch, Diversified, inherited and growing, Net Worth:$31 billion As of September 2012 9. Eike Batista, Mining, oil, self-made, Net Worth:$30 billion As of March 2012 10. Christy Walten & family, Walmart, Net Worth:$27.9 billion As of September

2012

Inequality Between the Rich & the Rest

In China inequality has a lot to do with the hukou system of residency permits, which limits internal migration to the towns; by some measures inequality has peaked as rural labour becomes more scarce.

In America income inequality began to widen

in the 1980s largely because the poor fell behind those in the middle. More recently, the shift has been overwhelmingly due to a rise in the share of income going to the very topthe highest 1% of earners and aboveparticularly those

working in the financial sector.

Statistics Showing Difference Between Rich and the Poor

Cont.

Why Rich needs Government More Than Rest Of Us?

1. Security :
Wealthy Americans can rest better at night knowing that the police are "stopping and frisking" in the streets of the poor neighborhoods.

2. Laws and Deregulations:

The wealthiest Americans are the main beneficiaries of tax laws, property rights, zoning rules, patent and copyright provisions, trade pacts, antitrust legislation, and contract regulations.

3. Research and Infrastructure:

A publicly supported communications infrastructure allows the richest 10% of Americans to manipulate their 80% share of the stock market.

Cont.

4. Subsidies:
According toCitizens for Tax Justice, 280 profitable Fortune 500 companies, which together paid only half of the maximum 35 percent corporate tax rate, received $223 billion in tax subsidies.

5. Disaster Costs:
Government costs can run into the billions, or even tens of billions, of dollars.

Rich Getting Richer & Poor Poorer

(acc. To American Survey)
The wealthiest 1 percent of all Americans now own more than a third of all the wealth in the United States More than 50 percent of all stocks and bonds are owned by just 1 percent of the population. The poorest 50 percent of all Americans collectively own just 2.5% of all the wealth in

the United States.

The top 0.01% of all Americans make an average of $27,342,212. The bottom 90% make an average of $31,244. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 6.7% of all Americans are living in extreme poverty, and that is the highest level that has ever been recorded before. Half of all American workers now earn $505 or less per week. Today, one out of every six elderly Americans lives below the federal poverty line.

Cont.
The poverty rate for children living in the United States rose to 22% in 2010.
Today, one out of every seven Americans is on food stamps and one out of every four American children is on food stamps. In 2010, 42 percent of all single mothers in the United States were on food stamps. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer on a global scale as well. According to Credit Suisse, those with a household net worth of a million dollars or more control 38.5% of all the wealth in the world. Last year, that figure was at 35.6%. As

you can see, it is rapidly moving in the wrong direction.