Questions tagged [wealth]
The wealth tag has no usage guidance.
46
questions
2
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1answer
34 views
How did Pareto came up with Pareto Distribution of wealth law?
I am not an economist but a mathematics student. I heard about the Pareto law - the mathematical modelling of the distribution of wealth, how did Pareto come up with this law? technically speaking ...
0
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1answer
16 views
How did the authors of the (Credit Suisse) Global Wealth Databook calculate the Gini coefficient?
how are you doing? I read the Global Wealth Reports from Credit Suisse and I wondered how the authors calculated the Gini coefficient. For example, on page 84 of this databook from 2010, how did they ...
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0answers
20 views
Lorenz curve extension to 3d?
While thinking about Lorenz curves and economic inequality I wondered if you can extend Lorenz curves to Lorenz surfaces by revolving a Lorenz curve about the line of perfect equality.
Would such a ...
4
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3answers
202 views
Would a fair distribution of wealth from the super rich increase the purchasing power/life quality of the average person?
I will start by saying that I do not have any background in finance and that the following question might be very much naive, but it has been bugging me for a while now. The general narrative seems to ...
-1
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2answers
45 views
Does a more even distribution of wealth result in lower taxation?
A proportion of government spending is associated with welfare. There are also many factors related to poverty that may result in higher government spending (e.g. poor health, crime, etc.).
Does it ...
0
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2answers
102 views
Does the concept of Capitalism increase the net wealth?
I am currently going through a video by Peter Schiff from the occupy Wallstreet period where he is talking with the protestors at the time. I'm pretty early in the video and Mr. Schiff makes the ...
5
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1answer
511 views
How does John Stuart Mill distinguish between “wealth” and “riches”?
JS Mill in his Principles (1848):
But though air is not wealth, mankind are much richer by obtaining it gratis, since the time and labour which would otherwise be required for supplying the most ...
1
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1answer
45 views
If we estimated the value of all the assets in the world and compared it with the estimated total wealth of individuals, would the results be similar?
Say we estimated the value of all assets (money, stocks, bonds, property, etc.) in the world.
Next we estimate the wealth of all the individuals in the world.
Would the two resulting values be ...
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3answers
141 views
Bananas and oranges in communist countries
This is a question I wanted to ask for a long time. If you check the GDP or East Germany in 1989 and compare it to that of banana-producing countries you can see:
...
2
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2answers
88 views
Do rich people on average have the vast majority of their wealth invested or they have lots of liquid cash/no productive properties?
I often read about really rich people with billions of dollars, and I'd like to know if they have, for example, just a big part of their wealth in shares of their company or they have lots of wealth ...
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1answer
43 views
Where is the split in the wealth gap? [closed]
I've been curious where the split in the wealth gap has been over time, and if it was possible to graph it.
Put another way, at what net worth is the number of those worth more shrinking in ...
0
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1answer
46 views
Income/Wealth Inequality; Why does it matter?
I have attempted to answer this question on my own through reading books, blog, and other economic pieces of literature but they all fail to articulate why wealth or income disparities matter. Now ...
2
votes
1answer
89 views
Pareto distribution and Lorenz curve
I am currently studying Pareto distributions and their relation to Lorenz curves but I am having a hard time understanding the concept. If I am understanding correctly, Lorenz curve describes the ...
0
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1answer
28 views
Why do the gross return of wealth and wealth move in opposite direction?
I have a short question:
Why does the gross return of wealth decrease as wealth increases?
Why do the gross return of wealth and wealth move in opposite direction?
$$R=1+(a/w^2)$$ where a is non-...
0
votes
1answer
29 views
Are there any effective research efforts into combating wealth inequality?
There seems to be no "correct" answer in combating wealth inequality; however, we should attempt to use different methods to combat inequality in cities, then counties, then states, then countries.
...
3
votes
2answers
72 views
Is a 6% wealth tax a sustainable source of income?
Elizabeth Warren is planning to pay for various things with a 6% wealth tax on those with fortunes in excess of $1B USD. Now, right or wrong, this seems to be an awfully big annual scoop from a ...
0
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0answers
31 views
Data for income distributions
Knowing the average income per capita or the median income is a rather poor economical indicator of a country, even when given in PPP\$. Knowing the (dimension-less) Gini index is somehow better, but ...
1
vote
3answers
84 views
How long can I live in the United States with my German monthly income?
I see different (more or less abstract resp. specific) approaches to compare wealth (of individuals, regions, and countries):
by living standards
by living expenses
by incomes/salaries
by purchasing ...
1
vote
2answers
100 views
How does the pie get larger?
I understand the concept of creation of wealth through trade, innovation, labor and capital. New value is being added to the economy. Let's imagine for a second that there are no central banks and the ...
2
votes
1answer
83 views
What is the difference between a power law exponent and the Pareto exponent?
I use the poweRlaw package in R to fit a power law to my data. I am trying to figure out what is the value of the Pareto exponent.
Assume the probability mass function is defined by:
$$
p(x) = \...
1
vote
1answer
50 views
Social mobility and income inequality
I once read an argument by the libertarian economist Thomas Sowell against the conventional wisdom that rising income is bad because most statistics which show rising income inequality do not account ...
2
votes
2answers
109 views
Assumption of sufficient wealth in quasi-linear preferences
Whenever we talk about quasi-linear preferences, we assume that the consumer is sufficiently wealthy. As far as I understand is that we need that assumption in order to obtain an interior solution.
...
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3answers
207 views
Is poverty a mathematical necessity?
I recently saw a meme, and the content was something like:
In the near future, a meteor will 'hit' the Earth, and there will be
gold rain, and hence everyone will be rich
The ridiculous thing ...
0
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0answers
20 views
Question about the effect on economic productivity due to a hypothetical wealth distribution requirement
Assume a sovereign state that functions like a joint stock corporation does: it will be comprised of shareholders and its "stateshares" will have a market value since they are tradeable. Now assume ...
0
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1answer
78 views
What's the difference between equity capital and market capitalization?
Is there any difference between the equity capital and the market capitalization of a company (or a bank)?
If yes then what's the difference?
0
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1answer
24 views
What's the combined wealth of the US banks?
How much is the amount of money of the US banks?
In terms of:
assets
their own money (the banks make profits and they can keep the profits for further investments)
The question is only about the ...
2
votes
2answers
73 views
Is there a term for the personal wealth that is not used to generate income?
A rich person can own companies, shares, houses used for renting etc. that are worth billions of $US. That is the wealth that is generating income. I would call it income-generating wealth or income+...
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0answers
25 views
What are the definitions of the terms value, wealth, and utility in economics?
Are there any definitions for the following three terms that are widely agreed upon in economics?
Value
Wealth
Utility
In particular, are these terms identical? If not, what differentiates them?
I ...
3
votes
2answers
93 views
Statistical distribution of wages and wealth
How are wages distributed globally? Wages do not follow a normal distribution, do they? Is wealth distributed in the same way or differently?
0
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1answer
102 views
How do we determine if wealth will be created or destroyed (and how much) when we want to provide (quasi)public goods?
It seems quite simple under framework of free market, when there are no taxes or subsidies,price celling or price floors, etc, that can mess up the market: if there is profit (or will be, according to ...
0
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1answer
148 views
Wealth Creation: Where does the money come from?
I'm trying to better understand wealth creation– let's use trade as an example.
I've bought a cup for \$2 and sold it for \$10. We've "created some new wealth" there– but without a net increase in ...
2
votes
1answer
237 views
The relationship between indirect utility and expenditure functions
I am trying to understand the fact that $e(p, v(p,y)) = y$. There is a proof in the text Advanced Microeconomic Theory (Jehle and Reny) that states the following:
Because $u(·)$ is strictly ...
1
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2answers
59 views
Should mean wages increase with inflation?
Should mean wages increase with inflation?
If not, why? Has this profound consequences in the redistribution of wealth?
(not an expert in economics...I apologise is the question is too naif)
2
votes
4answers
162 views
Is wealth inequality actually a problem
I have been searching around online, but cannot really find an answer to my question.
I can find a lot of material covering wealth inequality and how it has developed over time, but haven’t found any ...
2
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4answers
345 views
Printing money to redistribute wealth
A fictional country has 100 people. The total printed money is $2000. Ten rich people own half of it ($100 each), the remaining ...
0
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1answer
71 views
Why have trickle-down economics failed to trickle down to the middle-class and poor in recent years?
Trickle-down economics, also referred to as trickle-down theory, is an economic theory that advocates reducing taxes on businesses and the wealthy in society as a means to stimulate business ...
0
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1answer
57 views
How much the wealth inequality increased in the USA in the last decades?
Are there any studies trying to measure the increase of the wealth inequality in the USA?
Say for example how much it increased, comparing with 1990. Or compared with any other moment in time after ...
5
votes
1answer
7k views
How is wealth created? [duplicate]
The production of 'goods and services' and 'innovation' is the usual answer. I feel that doesn't really answer the question.
These things can be traded for wealth but they don't generate new wealth. ...
2
votes
2answers
461 views
Did the idea of “making money” originate in the United States?
I am currently reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and I came across an interesting paragraph related to Economics and American History.
If you ask me to name the proudest distinction of Americans, ...
1
vote
1answer
36 views
Estimating national intangible wealth
I seem to recall reading about the following research regarding "national intangible wealth" (IIRC):
For each country, compute the GDP.
Convert the GDP to "total national capital" using an interest ...
2
votes
1answer
74 views
Effects of finding infinite gold reserve
Suppose an infinite reserve of gold was found. What would be the consequences to the economy in general. Would it have major negative effects?
1
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2answers
85 views
if the richest 85 people give away all their money?
I once heard a fact that the richest 85 people are as wealthy as half the world's population put together. My question is, what does that mean?
Does it mean that there is some feasible method in ...
5
votes
4answers
388 views
How is money created?
This might seem like a really simple question, but I am really troubled by it on a macro scale. The money has to come from somewhere. Someone might start up a business that creates things or takes ...
0
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1answer
184 views
Meaning of innovation in the wealth creation process
Is there a formal definition or measure of wealth that captures the notion that with improving technology "life gets better"?
A stupid example of what I mean would be the invention of the iPhone. I ...
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3answers
136 views
How to tax the robots?
The Socialist candidate for the upcoming presidential elections Benoit Hamon says he wants to roll out the Universal Basic Income in France, to be paid by "taxing the wealth created by robots" (for ...
2
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2answers
228 views
Is worsening wealth inequality intrinsic to Capitalism?
I am but a humble lay person, but I have a question.
I've been thinking about wealth inequality and the structure of capitalism. It seems to me that the pay rate for workers accumulates in a linear ...
