Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHow the Wal-Mart heirs got their wealth
Voxs Ezra Klein lays out why wealth inequality is a more dangerous cousin of income inequality. Close to 40 percent of Americas national wealth rests in the hands of the top one percent of US households. What that means is that the top one percent in the country holds more accumulated wealth than the bottom 90 percent.
And all that wealth gets passed on to their children, with whom it just continues to grow. As Piketty revealed, the rate of the return on capital on wealth is greater than the growth of the economy as a whole. So the wealthy and their offspring continue to get fatter wallets unless something disruptive like a war or high taxes on those at the top get in the way.
Take the heirs of Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart. None of them have founded Wal-Mart, says Klein. None of them were created equal either. The six of them have more than $140 billion of wealth. That makes those six people wealthier than the bottom 40 percent of Americans combined.
Income inequality, Klein says, actually comes with an upside, as talent or risk or hard work can pay off with higher wages. Wealth inequality, on the other hand, often comes from just being born with a silver spoon in your mouth.
And all that wealth gets passed on to their children, with whom it just continues to grow. As Piketty revealed, the rate of the return on capital on wealth is greater than the growth of the economy as a whole. So the wealthy and their offspring continue to get fatter wallets unless something disruptive like a war or high taxes on those at the top get in the way.
Take the heirs of Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart. None of them have founded Wal-Mart, says Klein. None of them were created equal either. The six of them have more than $140 billion of wealth. That makes those six people wealthier than the bottom 40 percent of Americans combined.
Income inequality, Klein says, actually comes with an upside, as talent or risk or hard work can pay off with higher wages. Wealth inequality, on the other hand, often comes from just being born with a silver spoon in your mouth.
MORE (INCLUDING VIDEO) HERE: http://wonkynewsnerd.com/wal-mart-heirs-got-wealth/
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
3 replies, 750 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (2)
ReplyReply to this post
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
How the Wal-Mart heirs got their wealth (Original Post)
LuckyTheDog
May 2014
OP
House of Roberts
(5,171 posts)1. Aw, you gave it away with the word 'heir' in the title!
Next time be more careful.
LuckyTheDog
(6,837 posts)2. But being an heir is just part of it
Their wealth continues to grow at a fast rate after that.
Initech
(100,076 posts)3. The wealth addicted are destroying our economy. The Waltons are among the wealth addicted.