Thom Hartmann: We're #1 in Billionaires but not in Top 10 for Median Wealth

[thomhartmann]

America likes to think of itself as the richest nation on the planet. It's basically considered common knowledge - which country is the richest on earth? America, of course! We hear it from our politicians, our school teachers, or news media. And looking strictly at total combined wealth, we are the richest....by a lot. According to a 2011 study by Allianz - the United States has over $41 trillion in combined wealth. Second is Japan - with far less than half the wealth of the United States at just over $14 trillion. So we're number one right?! Well, not exactly...Our nation's combined wealth IS astronomically high. But that’s only because there are a heck of a lot of billionaires living here. In fact, about a third of the world's billionaires live in America. That's 412 billionaires that live in America - and second on the list is China with only 115 billionaires. So are total wealth is inflated by all the billionaires that live here. If you want a true measure of how wealthy the United States ACTUALLY is - then you have to look at median wealth, or how much Americans in the middle are making. Under that criteria - the United States doesn’t even crack the top ten in the world. According to a report by Credit Suisse, 15 OECD nations have a higher median wealth than the United States. That includes nations like Australia, Japan, and Israel. It also includes European nations that are in crisis like the Spain, Italy, and Ireland.

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