The Rich Still Got Richer

If I told you that a couple of hundred people had the same net worth as the entire bottom half of a country, you'd call that country a third world hellhole, more than likely.  You'd ask how it got that way and rail against European Socialism or Communism or decry a evil dictator whose fascism is ruining the place and say that what they needed was free-market capitalism like America.

Then I'd tell you I was talking about America.

Despite a hideous economy, the 400 richest Americans increased their net worth by an average of 8% according to Forbes Magazine.

The super-rich got even wealthier this year, despite the stumbling economy.

Forbes magazine released its annual list of the 400 richest Americans on Wednesday, and their combined net worth climbed 8% this year, to $1.37 trillion. Wealth rose for 217 members of the list, while 85 saw a decline.

Bill Gates is yet again the richest man in America. The founder of Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, is first on the Forbes list with an estimated fortune of $54 billion, up from $50 billion in 2009. He's followed by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who is worth $45 billion.

Larry Ellison, chief executive of Oracle, stood at No. 3 with $20 billion.

Christy Walton took the No. 4 spot, while members of her family -- whose fortune comes from Wal-Mart -- took spots 7 through 9.

Charles and David Koch, of private energy conglomerate Koch Industries, tied for No. 5 at $21.5 billion each. Both men saw their wealth skyrocket by $5.5 billion from 2009.

Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York City, rounded out the list at No. 10 with $18 billion.

So going back to my Pareto distribution economy post from earlier this week, it's sobering to find out that the top 0.00013% of America controls some 2.5% of the wealth of the entire country.

That's still two and a half times the combined net worth of the bottom half of the American people, some 155 million of us are worth the same as about the top 155 people on this list.  The bottom 50% of the country accounts for 1% of the country's total combined net worth of roughly 55 trillion dollars.

Land of the free, home of the brave...