distribution of wealth

Examples of distribution of wealth in the following topics:

• Distribution of Wealth and Income

  • The distribution of wealth and income reveals inequalities among and within countries and the ways in which wealth is redistributed.
  • The distribution of wealth is a comparison of the wealth of various members or groups in a society.
  • There are many ways in which the distribution of wealth can be analyzed.
  • As with general wealth distribution, land is also distributed unequally.
  • Various forms of socialism, an economic system in which the state exerts significant control over wealth distribution, attempt to diminish the unequal distribution of wealth and the conflicts that arise from it.

• Growing Gap Between Rich and Poor

  • Economic inequality (also known as the gap between rich and poor) consists of disparities in the distribution of wealth and income.
  • Thus, national prosperity does not always correspond to individual prosperity, due to inequality in the internal distribution of wealth.
  • Economic inequality (also known as the gap between rich and poor, income inequality, wealth disparity, or wealth and income differences) consists of disparities in the distribution of wealth (accumulated assets) and income.
  • The Gini coefficient is a statistical measure of the dispersal of wealth or income.
  • A Gini coefficient of one indicates that all of a group's wealth is held by one individual.

• Income Distribution

  • The functional distribution of income describes the allocation of income among the factors of production.
  • The distribution of income among the members of society, individuals and families, is called the personal distribution of income.
  • The personal distribution of income describes the allocation of income among economic agents.
  • It should be noted that the distribution of wealth and income are two related but different problems.
  • A Lorenz curve can be used to show either the distribution of income or wealth and can be applied to the world, a country or a sub category of individuals (the military, lawyers, or ...).

• Income Distribution

  • Occupy Wall Street's mantra, "We are the 99%" points to what protesters see as starkly unequal distribution of income and wealth between the top 1% of earners and the rest of the population.
  • While most social scientists see multiple tiers of income distribution within the bottom 99% of earners, the top 1% does hold a disproportionately high percentage of assets.
  • Still, much of the richest Americans' accumulated wealth is in the form of stocks and real estate.
  • This graph illustrates the unequal distribution of income between groups with different levels of educational attainment.
  • Education is an indicator of class position, meaning that unequal distribution of income by education points to inequality between the classes.

• Distribution Effects of Inflation

  • Unexpectedly high inflation tends to transfer wealth from creditors to debtors and from the rich to the poor.
  • When inflation is expected, it has few distribution effects between borrowers and lenders.
  • Since it benefits debtors and hurts creditors, in practice unexpected inflation is often a transfer of wealth from the rich to the poor .
  • The lower purchasing power of money erodes the value of currency, and inflation reduces the real interest rate earned on bonds.
  • Part of the reason that lenders charge interest is to recoup the cost of inflation over time.

• State-Centered Theories

  • According to state-centered theories of inequality, the government should regulate the distribution of resources to protect workers.
  • Laissez-faire policy led to corporate monopolies and a vast gap between the wealth of capitalist business owners and wage laborers.
  • Communism operates on the principle that resources should be completely equally distributed, on the basis that every person has a natural right to food, shelter, and generally an equal share of a society's wealth.
  • Distribution of output would be based on the principle of individual contribution.
  • Accordingly, these theories propose that states should enact policies to prevent exploitation and promote the equal distribution of goods and wages.

• Global Stratification and Inequality

  • Material resources are not distributed equally to people of all economic statuses.
  • Together with SES, these shape the unequal distribution of resources, opportunities, and privileges among individuals.
  • A global structure, or a macro-level phenomenon, produces unequal distribution of resources for people living in various nations.
  • This graph illustrates the percentage of all US wealth held by the top 1% of the population.
  • This percentage has shifted over time, but has consistently been a significant portion of total US wealth, indicating that wealth is not equally distributed between all US citizens.

• Wealth

  • Wealth is commonly measured in terms of net worth, which is the sum of all assets, including home equity, minus all liabilities.
  • While income is often seen as a type of wealth in colloquial language use, wealth and income are two substantially different measures of economic prosperity.
  • Home ownership is one of the main sources of wealth among families in the United States.
  • In 2007 the richest 1% of the American population owned 34.6% of the country's total wealth, and the next 19% owned 50.5%.
  • Thus, the top 20% of Americans owned 85% of the country's wealth and the bottom 80% of the population owned 15%.

• Economic measures

  • GDP and GDP per capita are widely used indicators of a country's wealth.
  • The Gini coefficient (also known as the Gini index or Gini ratio) is a measure of statistical dispersion intended to represent the income distribution of a nation's residents.
  • The Gini coefficient measures the inequality among values of a frequency distribution.
  • However, a value greater than one may occur if some persons represent negative contribution to the total (e.g., have negative income or wealth).
  • The Gini coefficient was originally proposed as a measure of inequality of income or wealth.

• The Benefits of Socialism

  • Advantages of nationalization include: the ability of the state to direct investment in key industries, distribute state profits from nationalized industries for the overall national good, direct producers to social rather than market goals, and better control the industries both by and for the workers.
  • Redistribution of wealth, through tax and spending policies that aim to reduce economic inequalities.
  • Social democracies typically employ various forms of progressive taxation regarding wage and business income, wealth, inheritance, capital gains and property.
  • In theory, based on public benefits, socialism has the greatest goal of common wealth;
  • Demonstrate how the nationalization of key industries, redistribution of wealth, social security schemes and minimum wages are beneficial in socialist economies