The Few Get More

Speculations by Stefan Stenudd

The rich ones keep on grabbing more of the world's wealth. One percent of the world population owns 39% of its wealth. Greed is insatiable.

The Boston Consulting Group reveals this and other injustices when they present the 2010 global wealth figures. The millionaire households are 0.9% of all, but they own 39%. In 2009 the figure was 37%, so their share increases rapidly.

The total global wealth is estimated at USD 121.8 trillion, a 9 trillion gain since 2009. The figure is so high that it makes little sense. What does it mean to us in our everyday lives?

Well, the world population is 6.9 billion, making the global wealth equal USD 17,650 for each person – but that's surely not how it's distributed.

The richest 0.9% share 47.5 trillion, giving them the mean fortune of USD 765,000 each, while the rest has to settle for USD 11,000 each. Actually, most of the latter have much less and some of them significantly more. The world is far from just, especially when it comes to money.

It has to change. Injustice starts fires. It's not realistic to hope for the wealthy to give up their fortunes, but it would be nice with a world economy where they were at least hindered from increasing them at the cost of everybody else – especially the most needy.

That's the bottom line, ever since the days of Jesus. The rich are reluctant to share their wealth, or even to halt its growth. It's the poor that pay for the poor. You don't have to be an economist to figure out that this will not work.

Stefan Stenudd
June 9, 2011