The 1%

How many times do we hear that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer?

Countries where the rich have done best for themselves, where the top 1% now hold more than 40% of the nation’s wealth, are:
 Brazil, China, India, Russia, South Africa and Sweden.

The second tier, where the top 1% hold between 30% and 40%, comprises:

 Austria, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Norway, Poland, Singapore and the USA.

Countries where the top 1% hold between 20% and 30% are:

 Australia, Canada, Colombia, France, Greece, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.

Only in Hungary, Belgium and Japan, among the 36 countries for which data is available, do the mega rich hold less than 20% of all wealth.

Of the 28 countries for which Credit Suisse has data going back five years, 14 have seen the top 1% increase their share over that period. In order of gain, they are:

China (up 15.0%), Sweden (11.3%), Finland (11.2%), Denmark (10.6%), Singapore (9.1%), Chile and Germany (both up 5.0%), Ireland (3.9%), South Africa (3.5%), Australia (2.4%), Norway (2.3%), Italy (2.2%) Brazil and the United Kingdom (both 2.1%).

The rich keep getting richer because we keep voting for them