A U.N. study said the richest 2 percent of the world population owns more than half the world's assets while those in the bottom half owned about 1 percent. The wealthiest people were concentrated in North America, Western Europe and the richer Asian countries. The poorest were concentrated in Africa and India. I guess life's tough there on the bottom of the economic heap, but making no effort to change your situation doesn't tug at my heartstrings. I have the best of wishes for the Indians, who're working diligently to improve the lot of their nation. I've ceased thinking about Africa, home of Mugabe, Taylor, and dozens of similar subgeniuses. I think I was still in my teens when it occurred to me that socialism's weak spot is that you can't divide the wealth if there's no wealth. It's an economic system designed for milking cash cows, not for raising them.
The study was done by the World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University in Helsinki. Researchers estimated total global wealth at $125 trillion or an average of $26,000 per person when adjusted for differences in purchasing power between countries. But per capita wealth was about $144,000 per person in the United States in 2000 and $181,000 in Japan, while it was $1,100 in India and $1,400 in Indonesia.
I'm guessing that 20 years ago, in the heyday of the Congress Party, the figure for India was even lower.
Assets of $2,200 per adult placed a household in the top half of the world wealth distribution in 2000. To be among the richest 10 percent of adults required $61,000, while $500,000 was needed to belong to the richest 1 percent. About 37 million people worldwide are in the top 1 percent and collectively own 41 percent of the world's assets.