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Kasz216 on 12 June 2012
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oldschoolfool said:
Kasz216 said:

A)Here's the thing. I haven't done EXTENSIVE research on it, but the little research I've done has lead me to a fairly big conclusion.

"The rich only get richer when the economy is expanding."

It's worth noting, that although to the average person the whole "Top 1%" or whatever you want to call it look pretty static it actually varies WIDELY."

I'd cite 2008 where the gini coefficient actually SHRUNK during the crisis.

The rich primarily get richer by "outrunning" not "stealing".

So it doesn't really seem like an issue.

B) Honestly, the Rich haven't even been getting much richer recently to be honest. While the Gini Coefficent has rised since the 90's. It's risen for income of households, but NOT income of individuals.

What's created the great increase in wealth lately has mostly been an increasing trend for money to marry money. Not a real compound interest effect. Once women get "full" representation in the workforce at proper levels, the Gini coefficient likely may stabilize.

 

I don't understand smart talk??? lol

Well to put it more simply. 

A) A lot of people mistakenly think life is like a pizza.  Where for every slice a rich person eats a poor person is deprived.

In reality, life is like an MMORPG.  The amount of "gold and expierence" that exist in the world continues to grow.  The rich get richer by earning more and being better suited to earn more.  However the poor aren't disadvantaged.

Like an MMO your basics.... "Shop" prices stay fairly constant to what your low level and casual players make, while your high end stuff "Epic loot, stuff only sold at auctions" tends to increase much more rapidly in cost.

 

B) The Gini coefficent is what is used to figure out how unequal wealth distribution is in a country.

The one that's commonly reported is household.  For example, My girlfriend and I's earnings, vs our married neighbors earnings, vs our single friends earnings etc.

While the OTHER way of doing so is INDIVIDUALs.,   So, my girlfirend vs me, vs that husband, vs that wife, vs that single guy.

The second one is what would measure "The rich getting richer" and isn't growing... the Gini coefficent is actually growing because of women's empowerment in the workforce.   As an example.

 

Say this is the 50's.   You're making the 2012 equivelent of $250,000.    Your wife is making likely, nothing.  So your Household and Individual Gini coefficent is 250,000.

 

Now say it's 2012.  You're making $250,000.  You end up marrying the woman who works at the firm with you.  (In the 50's, there would of been no women there.)   Your Individual gini coefficent is $250,000,  Your household gini coefficent is now $500,000.

The rich aren't getting richer(on average) by the matthew effect or anything if this was the case Individual gini coefficent would be rising at at least half the pace of household. Instead it's actually shrunk a bit since the 90's. 

It's raising because there are now self made rich women, and they want to marry rich men.  Often men Richer ten them due to the sexism that still exists in society since they, and sometimes the man who marries them wouldn't feel like  "A man" being married to a female bread winner.

 

Once women get full representation in the workforce, gini coefficent caused by this should peak.  Then shrink as the stigma of being married to a woman who earns more/man who earns less shrinks.