World's Wealthiest Now Richer Than Before the Great Recession

[amborin]

World's Wealthiest People Now Richer than Before the Credit Crunch

by Jill Treanor

We are not all in this together. The UK economy is flat, the US is weak and the Greek debt crisis,
according to some commentators, is threatening another Lehman Brothers-style meltdown. But a new
report shows the world's wealthiest people are getting more prosperous – and more numerous – by the day.


The globe's richest have now recouped the losses they suffered after the 2008 banking crisis.
They are richer than ever, and there are more of them – nearly 11 million – than before the
recession struck. (Image Credit: AP)) The globe's richest have now recouped the losses they
suffered after the 2008 banking crisis. They are richer than ever, and there are more of them –
nearly 11 million – than before the recession struck.
In the world of the well-heeled, the rich are referred to as "high net worth individuals" (HNWIs)
and defined as people who have more than $1m (£620,000) of free cash.

According to the annual world wealth report by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini, the wealth of HNWIs
around the world reached $42.7tn (£26.5tn) in 2010, rising nearly 10% in a year and surpassing
the peak of $40.7tn reached in 2007, even as austerity budgets were implemented by many governments
in the developed world.
The report also measures a category of "ultra-high net worth individuals" –
those with at least $30m rattling around, looking for a home. The number of
individuals in this super-rich bracket climbed 10% to a total of 103,000,
and the total value of their investments jumped by 11.5% to $15tn, demonstrating
that even among the rich, the richest get richer quicker. Altogether they represent
less than 1% of the world's HNWIs – but they speak for 36% of HNWI's total wealth.

snip

Generally, HNWIs are most concentrated in the US, Japan and Germany:
53% of the world's most wealthy live in one of those three countries,
but it is Asian-Pacific countries where the ranks of the rich are swelling
fastest. For the first time last year the region surpassed Europe in terms of HNWI individuals.

snip

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/06/22-11

[MichiganVote]

1. The under tax bill is overdue. Pay your fucking fair share like the rest of us.

[ej510]

2. We need the elite to get it all every penny.

:sarcasm:

[Octafish]

3. Kick to the top o' the heap...

Wish I'd seen this when posted originally, amborin!

To know I'm on the same wavelength as you is an honor.