The three years of wealth data from 2007 to 2010 just provides an extreme example of how the economic fortunes of Walmart’s owners have diverged from those of typical American households.So while the 2007–2010 crisis was killing you, Walton family wealth rose mightily.
Concretely, between 2007 and 2010, while median family wealth fell by 38.8 percent, the wealth of the Walton family members rose from $73.3 billion to $89.5 billion (note that the 2007 wealth number is slightly larger than was reported at the time—to provide an inflation-adjusted comparison, I converted the 2007 wealth value of $69.7 billion to 2010 dollars using the consumer price index (the CPI-U-RS, to be specific)).
In 2007, it was reported that the Walton family wealth was as large as the bottom 35 million families in the wealth distribution combined, or 30.5 percent of all American families.
And in 2010, as the Walton’s wealth has risen and most other Americans’ wealth declined, it is now the case that the Walton family wealth is as large as the bottom 48.8 million families in the wealth distribution (constituting 41.5 percent of all American families) combined.
In relative terms:
- 2007 Walton wealth = Bottom 35 million families (30% of all U.S. families)
- 2010 Walton wealth = Bottom 49 million families (41% of all U.S. families)
I agree, actually. Opposing wealth and aristocracy is somehow foreign, even ... well, French.
And serving up the wealth of the country on a plate is definitely American. It's how we roll since Reagan taught us the way:
Source here (that blip in the 1970s is the oil crisis–created bear market).
So yes, handing the country to the very very rich is very American indeed. Until we stop.
GP
To follow or send links: @Gaius_Publius
