The Growing Concentration Of Wealth

The distribution of wealth is the comparison of the wealth of various members or groups in a society.

Now, one must remember, that wealth and income are not the same thing. Wealth is what remains after debts, or liabilities, are paid off.

WEALTH DISTRIBUTION IN 2001
1.  Top 1% controlled 38%
2.  Top 10% controlled 71%
3.  Bottom 40% controlled less than 1%

WEALTH DISTRIBUTION DATA
1.  Wealth inequality has almost doubled since 1975.
2.  The top 5% owns more than half the wealth.
3.  The bottom 20% owns 0% of wealth.
4.  The top 10% owns 85% of stocks.
5.  U.S. ranks number 1 in wealth inequality; Great Britain ranks second.
6.  Wealth Inequality in U.S. is maximum efficiency.
7.  The top 20% owns over 80% of all wealth in U.S.
8.  In March 2007 Forbes reported 946 billionaires in the US with combined net worth of $3.5 trillion.
9.  Severe poverty is at its highest point in three decades.
10.  This phenomenon called the “vertical spike” is referred to as the growing increase of millionaires and billionaires in America.

Sources:
* Wikipedia:  Distribution Of Wealth
* The L-Curve: A Graph of the U.S. Income Distribution by David Chandler
* Third World Traveler – The Wealth Divide: The Growing Gap in the United States Between the Rich and the Rest — An interview with Edward Wolff and Multinational Monitor, May 2003
* The Federal Reserve Board:  Survey Of Consumer Finances