by Charles Hugh Smith
Of Two Minds
It’s not that hard to forecast a populist revolt against the parasitic class that’s grown obscenely wealthy as a direct result of Fed policies.
Under the tender care of the Federal Reserve, America’s wealth inequality has skyrocketed to new heights of obscenity as America’s billionaires feasted off the Fed’s recent stock market rally. By some accounts, billionaire Jeff Bezos added $24 billion to his personal wealth in the past week or two as the Fed’s master game plan–push stocks higher, no matter what–has further enriched the few who own most of America’s wealth.
To get a handle on the wealth of the stock market’s billionaires, please scroll through this site: Wealth, shown to scale (via Maoxian). You’ll find that America’s private tech fortunes dwarf entire nations’ GDP (gross domestic product).
The driver of this fantastic concentration of private wealth is the stock market, the vast majority of which is owned by the top 10% (85%). Within this top 10%, the ownership of stocks, junk bonds, business equity and rental real estate is highly concentrated: the top 5% own roughly two-third’s of America’s private-sector wealth, the top 1% own 40% and the top 0.1% own 20%. (see chart below)