According to a story published by CBS News, the world’s wealthiest citizens now own about one-half of the world’s riches. Earlier this year, the charity, Oxfam, predicted that this would occur by 2016. Reports state that at this time, the wealthiest are thriving while the rest are forced to make do with less as each year passes.
As a result, many policymakers and American employees fear that the inequality between economical classes is damaging those in the middle and lower classes. Findings also determined that in North America, the middle class possesses less than average wealth, making North America the only region for which this is true. Additionally, the middle class has not recovered from the economic level they stood at in 2007 since the recession.
What Negative Affects Can Come From This?
Sources state that this unbalanced economy can lead to worse inequality and can worsen the lack of growth in areas where the middle class and poor are unable to find jobs or live comfortably. Many also believe that the gap between levels of income can worsen America’s long-term economic growth.
The CBS News article states that as of now, the income distribution leftover from the world’s richest 1% does not come out ahead, making the lower 71% of the world’s population control only about 3% of the world’s wealth. This means that each person in the lowest levels has less than $10,000 in assets. The remaining 21%, the middle-class, only owns about 12.5% of the world’s assets, giving each person in that class about $100,000 in assets.
These statistics are frightening when one considers the eventual economic collapse that can occur as a result.