George Will has an interesting editorial this morning that focuses on the work of an economist from Citigroup named Ajay Kapur. Will entitles it "A Lexus in Every Garage," which hearkens back to the campaign theme of Hoover in the 1920s ("A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage!"). Kapur is arguing that statistics about the average consumer are misleading: he says there isn't an average consumer. And some of the statistics he cites are shocking... at least to me.
The nation's wealthiest 1% own more than 1/2 of the nation's stocks.
This same wealthiest 1% controls more wealth ($16
trillion) than 90% of the population does.
The wealthiest 20% are responsible for 60% of the consumption in the U.S.
There are 9.5 millionaires worldwide.
There's such a thing as a "bling index," which has risen more than 300% since 2002. Citigroup has a similar group of stocks that it invests in called the 'Plutonomy Basket' which features the ritziest of shops where people with money shop.
Kapur's point, reflected in the decisions of investors like Citigroup, is that most of us don't really count when it comes to the modern economy. It's the rich who count. And the super rich that count the most.
If you're amongst the wealthy, I suppose you think that the world is just the way it should be. The rest of us are thinking 'something's wrong with this scenario.'
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