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Graphic toont de toename van vermogen van de rijkste één procent in het laatste decennium.
GN39705NL

BUSINESS

Amerika’s ultrarijken worden almaar rijker

By Duncan Mil

November 12, 2019 - Amerika’s rijkste één procent heeft geprofiteerd van een stijgende aandelenmarkt, lage rentes en Republikeinse belastingverlaging. Hun vergaarde vermogen blijft net onder dat van de midden- en van hogere middenklasse.

The top one per cent of U.S. households now control more than half of the equity in American public and private companies, according to data from the Federal Reserve. And America’s elite keep getting wealthier.

The richest one-percenters had a household wealth of about $35.4 trillion in the second quarter of 2019, up a staggering $2.9 trillion over the past six months. In contrast, the bottom 50 per cent of the population saw a collective increase in assets of $500 billion over the same period.

Americans in 90th to 99th percentiles control the most significant share of wealth, with $42.6 trillion in assets.

The one-percenters also benefited from President Trump’s 2017 “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” under which the rich, banks and other corporations enjoyed permanent tax cuts to corporate profits, investment income, estate tax, and more.

A recent analysis by The Economist found that some members of the nine-zero club take advantage of what economists call “rent-seeking” -- using cartels and lobbying for rules that generate more profits for their business at the expense of competitors and customers. The Economist identified rent-seeking as typical in mining, defence and construction industries as well as casinos. The study concluded that in the U.S., rent-seeking industries made one in five billionaires and explained a third of total billionaire wealth.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 12/11/2019; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: Associated Press
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