Every year, more rich are added to the world’s population.
Disillusioned with life in the suburbs, many homeowners are choosing cities.
The U.S. lost 129,000 millionaire households in 2011, largely as a result of poor performance in the stock market.
Those in the highest echelon of income earners — the 1 percenters — are speeding past the rest of the population when it comes to rebuilding wealth after the recession of 2007 to 2009.
A study by E. Morris Cox Professor of Economics at Berkeley Emmanuel Saez, “Striking it Richer: The Evolution of Top Incomes in the United States,” shows that in 2009 to 2010, the 1 percenters captured an astounding 93 percent of income growth. The stock market, which has doubled in three years, is responsible for most of the gains of the wealthy since the recession, while the majority of Americans are still suffering from a sluggish housing market and jobs recovery.
Even if it’s debatable by demographers, the number seems almost incomprehensible: 7 billion people now inhabit the earth, creating opportunity for innovation and economic growth while causing concern about the sustainability of finite resources. The population has more than doubled from 3 billion in 1960, and the United Nations anticipates that it will surpass 9 billion