Inequality Still Rising

The Global Wealth Report 2014 from Credit Suisse shows that, by one measure (wealth to income ratio), wealth inequality is at the highest point since the Great Depression.  The report also says that the top one percent in the world own 48 percent of the wealth.

Update (October 25):  Lynn Stuart Parramore points out how the Credit Suisse report supports Thomas Piketty's contention that we're returning to a world of extreme inequality.

Update (November 7):  Paul Buchheit highlights five facts from the Global Wealth Databook 2014.

1. Each Year Since the Recession, America's Richest 1% Have Made More Than the Cost of All U.S. Social Programs

2. Almost None of the New 1% Wealth Led To Innovation and Jobs

3. Just 47 Wealthy Americans Own More Than Half of the U.S. Population

4. The Upper Middle Class of America Owns a Smaller Percentage of Wealth Than the Corresponding Groups in All Major Nations Except Russia and Indonesia.

5. Ten Percent of the World's Total Wealth Was Taken by the Global 1% in the Past Three Years.

Update (January 2, 2015):  An interview with Joseph Stiglitz on why the rich are getting richer and Paul Krugman worries about parallels to 1930s Europe.

Update (October 25, 2015):  Paul Buchheit again has five facts from the Global Wealth Databook 2015.

1. Of the Half-Billion Poorest Adults in the World, One out of Ten is an American

2. The Richest 1/10 of American Adults Have Averaged Over $1 Million Each in New Wealth Since the Recession

3. The US is the Only Region Where the Middle-Class Does Not Own Its Equivalent Share of Wealth

4. For a Full 70% of Americans, Percentage Ownership of National Wealth is One of the Lowest in the World

5. Only Kazakhstan, Libya, Russia, and Ukraine Have Worse Wealth Inequality than the United States