In 2013 300 richest people added 524 billion $ to their total net worth becoming 3.7 trillion $

The richest people on the planet got even richer in 2013, adding $524 billion to their collective net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the world’s 300 wealthiest individuals.

The aggregate net worth of the world’s top billionaires stood at $3.7 trillion at the market close on Dec. 31, according to the ranking.

www.bloomberg.com...

Am I the only one seeing something wrong in the current economic system? It is expected that these fortunes will keep on growing in 2014, well see, but still... That amount alone, not even talking about the 3.7 billion, would keep some smaller nations running for decades. The economy is far from being recovered from 2008, the unemployment rates are still low, as well as for the middle class things are getting harder and harder. Yet, the wealth keeps growing for the top.

Whatever people might say, in my eyes, no person in the world is worth more than hundred millions, especially when such thing as poverty still exists in the world...

And there is me with less than £900 to my name, cruel sick world

this short speech from Nick Hanauer (he himself, being a billionaire) at a TED convention, sums it up quickly and to the point....www.youtube.com...

skyblueworld
And there is me with less than £900 to my name, cruel sick world

Join the club mate. It's grinds my gears when I see these adverts on tv asking us to donate money to some country or some charity (not that's it's bad thing). But there are people like myself who work a Monday to Saturday job and I have to look forward to every payday just to have money.

Then you hear about the rich with millions and billions who fly around in their private jets sipping champagne. Call it jealousy is agree I'd love to live a life with no money trouble.

Another thing that bugs me (again could be jealousy) is when you read that someone has won 100 odd million on a lottery. Think they should cap lottery wins and give the rest of the money to a good cause. I mean seriously what can a normal person do with 100 odd million £/$

Ah never mind just a jealous rant

Thanks for that well timed addition. Bravo Zulu. Regards, J

reply to post by ThePeaceMaker


Yes I fully agree, I seen an advert today with Ewan McGregor appealing for £3 a month to help towards clean drinking water. He earns roughly $5,000,000 per movie. He and his fellow Hollywood friends could wipe out all this without the poor's help.

reply to post by Cabin


Sorry but some people look at this the wrong way do they have that in cash NO , it's the same when people on here complain when a company makes x million in a year profit, you have to look at what turnover was used to make that profit.

For example supermarket chains may make 100's of millions in profit but the actual PERCENTAGE of profit may be 4% or lower!

I have friends who run businesses that make 30-45% profit!!! they are not billionaires a couple are millionaires the others VERY comfortable.

So who is greedier ?

reply to post by skyblueworld


Yup agree with you too. Speaking of films/actors I was at the cinema the other day, prior to the film we were bombarded with aid charities and cancer research adverts. Ok the adverts are fine I have no problem with asking for help but here we just normal humans struggling to earn a wage and to feed ourselves yet you have the rich out there with waaaaaay to much money sitting in some offshore tax free bank account.

Some point this year I read that Cheryl Cole (a British singer) has sued somebody in America because she was asked to leave the American X factor (I think). She got over a million dollars and I sat there and thought. This woman has made millions in music, tv shows and make up adverts .. Why the hell does she need another odd million

2nd rant over

reply to post by wmd_2008


I agree with the point about big business, although you also have to take a look at their business models. Especially, in retail the whole business models are dependent on keeping the lowest possible prices, which enable profit, all of that on the expense of the employees of the company as well as the employees of the producing companies. Often that comes on the expense of the environment as well.

Someone calculated that in order for McDonalds pay every employee 15$/h, it would mean a 17% price addition to products. Not too much in my eyes. Something similar would also apply to Walmart or some other huge company, who uses similar tactics. 10-20% rise would mean every employee gaining livable salary. I personally would rather consume less and pricier products from a company who goes for the win-win situation, rather than getting the extreme amounts of cheap stuff on the expense of the employees of the retail as well as the producers employees in China or some other cheap producing nations.

I would not even say the companies are at fault there, as the system itself enables such actions. As long as the laws enable such actions, nothing will change as masses go for the cheaper prices, and employee costs are easy way to lower the prices to earn additional income for the company.

I do not care how much someone overprices their product. If there are people buying, use the prices to maximise the profit (not in inelastic demand niche though, like healthcare). As long as all this does not come on the expense of somebody else, whether it is the employees, environment, your business partners(companies whom you deal with), that is okay. Although as far as I look, it incredibly hard to find companies, who act according to such values. Most seem to care only about profit and customers amount, which enables profit, not their own employees or other previously mentioned factors.

wmd_2008
reply to post by Cabin

 

Sorry but some people look at this the wrong way do they have that in cash NO , it's the same when people on here complain when a company makes x million in a year profit, you have to look at what turnover was used to make that profit.

For example supermarket chains may make 100's of millions in profit but the actual PERCENTAGE of profit may be 4% or lower!

I have friends who run businesses that make 30-45% profit!!! they are not billionaires a couple are millionaires the others VERY comfortable.

So who is greedier ?

This is a different kettle of fish.

We're speaking about people who make millions every week in their sleep. That's where the moneys disappearing to, billionaires bank accounts.

I salute your mates. They are trying to make a living and it sounds like they are doing a good job, however the '300 richest people' whom accumulate 3.7 trillion are different people altogether.

You say they don't have the money in cash, so? Neither does the chairman of the company I work for but I'll tell you something he's bloody loaded. Does he need any more money? No.

reply to post by ThePeaceMaker


Expecting some fairness in the world shouldn't be regarded as jealousy. I'm not jealous of these 300 individuals, I'm sure many aren't as happy as you would think such wealth would bring. I do believe that its obscene and morally wrong for such few people to amass such wealth, when there are people starving to death all around the world.

I tell ya... News stories like this make ya want to go Occupy something, huh?

Here here for the 99% of us being played for fools by that very rarified 1% of the obscenely wealthy.

@Wmd_2008

For the record, the man I work for at a different site is also a millionaire. Several times over, as I understand it. He's the most down to earth person you'd want to get to know and you'd never guess he IS wealthy unless you saw pics of his properties or he just told ya. That isn't obscenely wealthy. That is the American Dream given form.

The people who count their wealth at levels which exceed the GDP of multiple nations, combined? That is where I start calling 1% classes... That's where the very concept of money has lost meaning as we understand it.

Wrabbit2000
I tell ya... News stories like this make ya want to go Occupy something, huh?

Here here for the 99% of us being played for fools by that very rarified 1% of the obscenely wealthy.

@Wmd_2008

For the record, the man I work for at a different site is also a millionaire. Several times over, as I understand it. He's the most down to earth person you'd want to get to know and you'd never guess he IS wealthy unless you saw pics of his properties or he just told ya. That isn't obscenely wealthy. That is the American Dream given form.

The people who count their wealth at levels which exceed the GDP of multiple nations, combined? That is where I start calling 1% classes... That's where the very concept of money has lost meaning as we understand it.

edit on 4-1-2014 by Wrabbit2000 because: (no reason given)

Do you HONESTLY think a billionaires wealth is CASH ? It's assets thats why when stocks go up or down these people can see 100's of millions put on or taken from there so called wealth!!!

We're talking net worth here.
This comes out to a 14% increase for 1 year.
Most peoples net worth stay around the same, gained a percent or 2 or actually fell further behind.
This is money they are sucking out the system, out of circulation where it can actually stimulate the economy.
Obviously it's not the poor or working class who are gaining - the economy is flagging because we can't afford to be consuming.
This is still a staggering statistic -
Probably the largest gain for the wealthy in a single year.

reply to post by Asktheanimals


Agreed ATA... I'd be more shocked if I hadn't seen a preview of this a few months ago when I'd looked up Bloomberg for net worth. A couple years ago he'd been in the high 20's for Billions in personal value. When last I checked, he was rated over 30 billion. Multiple billions to have jumped in just a couple years is something else.

I guess they're playing the magic of compounding interest ..and at those numbers for a base? Good Lord...the advancement and math involved gets absurd over a short time span.

The whole idea of a 'limit' to wealth is the very antithesis of American values. Still, like Charlie Sheen's character asked in the Original Wall Street movie......how many yachts are enough? How much is too much?