5 ms·

Can somebody explain how this graph makes sense? It seems to imply the top 2 people own 30% of the wealth, which is not what the data states.

hatthew 4mo ago
Yeah the graph is more for vibes than an actual analogy. The yellow slice represents the top 1%, purple 90-99%, green 50-90%, and red bottom 50%. It would make a bit more sense if those slices were labeled "1 person", "9 people", "40 people", and "50 people" respectively.
cactacea 4mo ago
compare to https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/dataviz/dfa/distribute/table/#quarter:145;series:Net%20worth;demographic:networth;population:all;units:shares https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/dataviz/dfa/distr... rest of america == bottom 50% hedge funders, fascist VCs, etc == 50-90% walton children == 90-99% elon bezos == 99.9%
- pjscott 4mo ago
  Even then, the numbers don't even remotely work out. Consider this "Elon Bezos" person; the combined net worth of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos is about $1.3 trillion or so, and the "Top 0.1%" category in the Fed's data has a net worth of about $25 trillion. This is not a small difference.
LVB 4mo ago
I want to see the breakdown of fascist vs. non-fascist VCs, too!
NietzscheanNull 4mo ago
Sure. Hedge fund owners, VC firm owners, cosmetic surgeons, the Walton heirs, and Zuck/Jensen/Jeff/Elon own 97.5% of all wealth in the United States. The former three, while each representing cohorts, are very small cohorts. The latter are billionaire individuals. If you're an American and not among those specific groups, your share of the remaining 2.5% is split with the rest of the US population in that slice (i.e., the overwhelming majority of the population). It's an illustration of our extreme wealth inequality. (Whether it's an effective or good one is a matter of opinion, but I do think it broadly conveys what it intends to.)
- BobaFloutist 4mo ago
  Ok but many hedge funds and VCs have institutional investors. How does it look if you allocate pension funds to their ultimate beneficiaries?
- JKCalhoun 4mo ago
  So no one's arguing though that in fact "the rest of us" are just that tiny slice? Yeah, the uber-wealthy need a reckoning.
myroon5 4mo ago
Musk and Bezos don't even own that percentage of Tesla and Amazon respectively, let alone all American wealth

hatthew 4mo ago

Yeah the graph is more for vibes than an actual analogy. The yellow slice represents the top 1%, purple 90-99%, green 50-90%, and red bottom 50%. It would make a bit more sense if those slices were labeled "1 person", "9 people", "40 people", and "50 people" respectively.

cactacea 4mo ago

compare to https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/dataviz/dfa/distribute/table/#quarter:145;series:Net%20worth;demographic:networth;population:all;units:shares https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/dataviz/dfa/distr... rest of america == bottom 50% hedge funders, fascist VCs, etc == 50-90% walton children == 90-99% elon bezos == 99.9%

pjscott 4mo ago
Even then, the numbers don't even remotely work out. Consider this "Elon Bezos" person; the combined net worth of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos is about $1.3 trillion or so, and the "Top 0.1%" category in the Fed's data has a net worth of about $25 trillion. This is not a small difference.

LVB 4mo ago

I want to see the breakdown of fascist vs. non-fascist VCs, too!

NietzscheanNull 4mo ago

Sure. Hedge fund owners, VC firm owners, cosmetic surgeons, the Walton heirs, and Zuck/Jensen/Jeff/Elon own 97.5% of all wealth in the United States. The former three, while each representing cohorts, are very small cohorts. The latter are billionaire individuals. If you're an American and not among those specific groups, your share of the remaining 2.5% is split with the rest of the US population in that slice (i.e., the overwhelming majority of the population). It's an illustration of our extreme wealth inequality. (Whether it's an effective or good one is a matter of opinion, but I do think it broadly conveys what it intends to.)

BobaFloutist 4mo ago
Ok but many hedge funds and VCs have institutional investors. How does it look if you allocate pension funds to their ultimate beneficiaries?
JKCalhoun 4mo ago
So no one's arguing though that in fact "the rest of us" are just that tiny slice? Yeah, the uber-wealthy need a reckoning.

myroon5 4mo ago

Musk and Bezos don't even own that percentage of Tesla and Amazon respectively, let alone all American wealth