wealth inequality

Chart-worshipers, part-swappers, and inequality

The whispers on Wall Street lately have been the feared "double-dip".
There is a much louder chorus of people proclaiming that we are only looking at a "slow-down". Of course they were the same people who were telling us as recently as April that we were in a "V-shaped" recovery.

Generally speaking, Liz Ann Sonders agrees.
"I'm amazed people still say it's not a 'V'-shaped recovery, which to means they're simply not looking at the charts," says Charles Schwab's chief investment strategist...

Ah, yes. The charts. I have several issues with people who say things like this.

Rich Get Richer While Americans Lose Their Jobs, Houses, Savings and Income

While millions of Americans lost their jobs, their homes, their savings, their retirement....the rich got richer. That's right, during 2009, millionaires increased by 17.1%.

The world’s population of high net worth individuals (HNWIs) grew 17.1% to 10.0 million in 2009.The world’s population of high net worth individuals (HNWIs) returned to 10 million in 2009, increasing by 17.1% over 2008.
HNWI financial wealth increased 18.9% from 2008 levels to $39 trillion. After losing 24.0% in 2008, Ultra-HNWIs saw wealth rebound 21.5% in 2009.Ultra-HNWIs increased their wealth by 21.5% in 2009. In terms of the total Global HNWI population remains highly concentrated with the U.S, Japan and Germany accounting for 53.5% of the world’s HNWI population, down slightly from 2008.

North America specifically, the rich got richer by 17%.

In North America, the ranks of the rich rose 17 percent and their wealth grew 18 percent to $10.7 trillion.

The United States was home to the most millionaires in 2009 -- 2.87 million -- followed by Japan with 1.65 million, Germany with 861,000, and China with 477,000.

Switzerland had the highest concentration of millionaires: nearly 35 for every 1,000 adults.