In the Xmas Spirit, Let's Talk About Money

The United Nations released the most extensive study to date on the distribution of wealth in the world. And surprise! -- the top 2 % of people in the world own over half of the world's wealth. That would be about 120 million people, which sounds like a lot, but there's over 6 billion jostling for elbow room. You can read the summary or download the complete study at United Nations University.

The per capita wealth of the USA is $144,000. That is not a typo. Think of how much money a rich person has to be making so as to end up with that figure. Think of how many people live on welfare or less.

The report summary includes the following:

Surprisingly, household debt is relatively unimportant in poor countries. As the authors of the study point out: ‘While many poor people in poor countries are in debt, their debts are relatively small in total. This is mainly due to the absence of financial institutions that allow households to incur large mortgage and consumer debts, as is increasingly the situation in rich countries’

The authors go on to note that ‘many people in high-income countries have negative net worth and—somewhat paradoxically—are among the poorest people in the world in terms of household wealth.’

Which actually seems commonsensical when you think about it. And seems easy enough to solve: stop spending money on shit when you don't actually have money! But don't tell that to the guy who just got approved for a $50,000 limit on his credit card. If he has it, he'll spend it.

Obviously, I'm not a fan of the wealth discrepancy. Any ideas on how to stop the cannibalistic steam engine we call Capitalism?