The richest 5 percent had 24 times the wealth of the median household in 2013 — up substantially from 16.5 times as much in 2007, according to a study by University of Michigan researchers.
Substantial gains in the stock market have enabled richer Americans to regain much of their wealth. Stock prices had plunged by nearly half during the recession but have recovered all their losses and set new highs. And roughly 10 percent of households own 80 percent of stocks.
By contrast, middle-class Americans remain further behind because whatever wealth they have is derived mainly from home equity. Home prices have only partially recovered from the housing bust. In the first quarter of this year, 18.8 percent of homeowners with a mortgage still owed more on their homes than they were worth, according to real estate data provider Zillow. An additional 18.1 percent have so little equity that it wouldn't be enough to cover closing costs and make a down payment, Zillow calculates.
Just imagine if one of those evil, wealth-loving Republicans had been President!
And roughly 10 percent of households own 80 percent of stocks.
ReplyDeleteI'd really like to know more about that statistic.
Is that "of stocks owned directly by individuals"?
Because I find it hard to believe that a supermajority of all shares on the market are owned directly by individuals at all, rather than by index funds and retirement funds and the like.
(And if the "80%" ownership includes "through retirement or index funds" why should anyone care?)
I suspect that you are right -- the 80% almost certainly includes mutual funds, much of it through mutual funds and index funds.
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