Michael Roberts: The top 1% own 45% of all global personal wealth; the bottom 50% own less than 1% // Global Economic Volatility and Socio Political Reactions

By Dilip -
The top 1% own 45% of global personal wealth; 10% own 82%; the bottom 50% less than 1%
The annual Credit Suisse (CS) report on global wealth has just been released. This report remains the most comprehensive and explanatory analysis of global wealth (not income) and inequality of wealth. Every year the CS global wealth report analyses the household wealth of 5.1 billion people across the globe. Household wealth is made up of the financial assets (stocks, bonds, cash, pension funds) and property (houses etc) owned. And the report measures this net of debt. The report’s authors are James Davies, Rodrigo Lluberas and Anthony Shorrocks...

Global wealth grew during the past year by 2.6% to USD 360 trillion and wealth per adult reached a new record high of USD 70,850, 1.2% above the level of mid-2018 with Swit-zerland topping the biggest gains in wealth per adult this year. The US, China, and Europe contributed the most towards global wealth growth with USD 3.8 trillion, USD 1.9 trillion and USD 1.1 trillion respectively. As in every year it has been published, the report reveals the extreme inequality of personal wealth globally. The bottom half of adults in the world accounted for less than 1% of total global wealth in mid-2019, while the richest decile (the top 10% of adults) possessed 82% of global wealth and the top percentile (1%) owned nearly half (45%) of all household assets.
Wealth inequality is lower within individual countries: typical values would be 35% for the share of the top 1% and 65% for the share of the top 10%. But these levels are still much higher than the corresponding figures for income inequality, or any other broad-based welfare indicator....read more:
http://www.cadtm.org/The-top-1-own-45-of-all-global-personal-wealth-10-own-82-the-bottom-50-own-less

 Global Economic Volatility and Socio Political Reactions
Trade and currency wars, financial volatility and economic turbulence are now the most important features of the world economy. The elements of a new international financial crisis are in place. Although we do not know when it will break out, it is unavoidable, and its impact on world economy will be as significant as the 1880s-90s, 1930s-40s and more recent 2008-09 meltdowns. Worse, far fewer of the global capacities of the latter period – rapid lowering of interest rates, printing of money to buy up state debt (‘Quantitative Easing’), and sufficient fiscal space for bailouts – are available to global crisis managers. And most troubling, many more of the proto-fascistic political characteristics reminiscent of the 1930s are looming, especially in the new contextualisations of the Global South.

Part 1 South African Special Economic Zones : History of Limited Successes
Part 2 Global Economic Volatility and Socio Political Reactions
Part 3 The China Factor
Part 4 Africa’s Renewed Crises of Unbalanced Trade, Disinvestment, Debt
Part 5 Local South African Economic Conditions
Part 6 New Threats, New Resistances and New Alternatives
The contributing economic factors include... read more:
http://www.cadtm.org/Global-Economic-Volatility-and-Socio-Political-Reactions

see also
Duflo and Banerjee: If we’re serious about changing the world, we need a better economics
Think our governments can no longer control capitalism? You’ve been duped
The desperate inequality behind global tax dodging. By Gabriel Zucman
Juliette Garside - Paradise Papers leak reveals secrets of the world elite's hidden wealth
Giles Fraser - The truth about capitalism is out as Marx’s magic cap starts to slip
How could we cope if capitalism failed? Ask 26 Greek factory workers
Another review of Adults in the Room, by Yanis Varoufakis - PAUL TYSON

Seumas Milne - The crucifixion of Greece is killing the European project // Greek debt crisis: 'Who will trust Germany after this?' asks Paul Krugman
Heather Stewart - Beyond Greece, the world is filled with debt crises
George Monbiot - Greece is the latest battleground in the financial elite’s war on democracy / Aditya Chakrabortty - The euro must learns to embrace democracy
The death of neoliberalism and the crisis in western politics by Martin Jacques
George Monbiot - Growth: the destructive god ...

George Monbiot: Ayn Rand - A Manifesto for psychopaths..

 George Monbiot - Neoliberalism – the ideology ...
George Monbiot - Growth: the destructive god ...
George Monbiot: Ayn Rand - A Manifesto for psychopaths..
Books reviewed: Twenty-first century capitalism
Sven Beckert - Slavery and Capitalism
When liberal capitalist societies fail, nations turn to glory, nobility and war
Trump to Johnson, nationalists are on the rise, backed by billionaire oligarchs
The Economist Behind the One Percent’s Stealth Takeover of America. By Lynn Parramore
Andrew Calcutt: The surprising origins of ‘post-truth’: how it was spawned by the liberal left
A pre-history of post-truth, East and West. By MARCI SHORE
Michiko Kakutani - The death of truth: how we gave up on facts and ended up with Trump
Farewell to reality



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