Isn’t this wonderful? Scrumptiously gorgeous?
It is predicted that the world will continue to get richer:
The number of billionaires in the world could reach nearly 4,000 by 2031, figures suggest, as the super-rich accumulate wealth at an accelerating rate.
There are now 3,110 billionaires globally, according to analysis by the estate agent Knight Frank. This is forecast to rise by 25% over the next five years, taking the total to 3,915.
The multimillionaire class is also expanding rapidly, with the number of people worth at least $30m (£22m) around the world rising from 162,191 in 2021 to 713,626 today – an increase of more than 300%, Knight Frank found.
How wondrous it is that the odd mix of capitalism and free markets continues to make our species richer.
Now, true, we do tend to differ from many in our disdain for worrying about inequality. But not only are we in aggregate getting richer, but wealth is becoming more evenly distributed:
Global capital income inequality has declined in the 21st century, with the Gini coefficient falling from 97% to 94%. Over the same period, the share of the world population with annual capital income above $100 increased from 12% to 27%. This implies more than a doubling of the number of individuals earning positive income from interest, dividends, rents, and privately-funded pensions. Most Western nations have lost positions in the global capital income ranking, in contrast to several developing countries, particularly China and Russia. When adjusting for missing capital income in surveys using national accounts, while the levels of inequality slightly vary across adjustment methods, the results consistently confirm a decreasing inequality trend. This is also confirmed when the capitalized wealth of billionaires is included in the analysis using Forbes lists.
Which is scrumptiously gorgeous, isn’t it? Richer and becoming more equal? Good on capitalism and free markets then. Neoliberalism wins the day. And, yes, capital income being more equally distributed does mean capital is so. For that’s how the Piketty, Saez, Zucman estimates of wealth are calculated, a multiple of capital incomes.
The only question left is why are so many whining about this?
Tim Worstall