Key Points

  • The wealth of the top 1% hit a record $44.6 trillion at the end of the fourth quarter.
  • All of the gains came from stock holdings thanks to an end-of-year rally.
  • Economists say the rising stock market is giving an added boost to consumer spending through what is known as the “wealth effect.”

The wealth of the top 1% hit a record $44.6 trillion at the end of the fourth quarter, as an end-of-year stock rally lifted their portfolios, according to new data from the Federal Reserve.

The total net worth of the top 1%, defined by the Fed as those with wealth over $11 million, increased by $2 trillion in the fourth quarter. All of the gains came from their stock holdings. The value of corporate equities and mutual fund shares held by the top 1% surged to $19.7 trillion from $17.65 trillion the previous quarter.

While their real estate values went up slightly, the value of their privately held businesses declined, essentially canceling out all other gains outside of stocks.

  • SamsonSeinfelder@feddit.de
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    8 months ago

    We have to take back that wealth. Right this is the reason why we have not the lifes we deserve. That are the funds that were siphoned off from our society. The people created this worth. Not some guys at the top.

    • aStonedSanta@lemm.ee
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      8 months ago

      Correct. This is the stolen education of our future generations. This is the stolen lunch’s of our children. When does America wake up? I guess it takes physically seeing it happen. We are gonna be so down trodden before someone steps up it seems.

      • Ragnarok314159@sopuli.xyz
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        8 months ago

        No, don’t you see the real issues are trans people and some other random social problem Fox News tells conservatives to get in an uproar about.

        Why we can’t have nice things.

  • Snot Flickerman
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    8 months ago

    Economists say the rising stock market is giving an added boost to consumer spending through what is known as the “wealth effect.” When consumers and investors see their stock holdings soar, they feel more confident spending and taking more risk.

    I somehow suspect that this thing about the wealth effect is total and utter bullshit.

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        What’s crazy is the reason people believe in it, is total coincidence.

        Bill Clinton thought it was a good idea and republicans just implemented it wrong, and then when he was president the dotcom boom happened and everyone gave credit to Clinton’s policy. It stopped being a conversation on if it worked, and became how best to implement it.

        Like when Biden did the “child predators” bill, it wasn’t harsh punishments that got crime under control, it was the normal effect of banning leaded gasoline 20 years earlier. But we’re left with two “tough on crime” options even though that approach just doesn’t work.

        In both cases it’s reminiscent of cargo cults, a good thing happened, so we just repeat what we were doing when it happened and expect the good thing again.

        But with how long political careers are and how slow science moves, by the time we can prove it, they’ve built huge careers off the false assumption they had something to do with it. For them to admit they’ve been wrong, they have to realize they spent decades doing the wrong thing and while they had good intentions they’ve been causing harm.

        That’s a big ask for anyone, but especially for someone whose over 60.

        So they ignore all evidence and double down even harder

        • Snot Flickerman
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          8 months ago

          That’s a big ask for anyone, but especially for someone whose over 60.

          Interesting that you reference Bill Clinton, because he is actually on record on realizing some stuff he did was the wrong choice. Specifically the idea of treating food as commodities and not a human right. Not that that invalidates your point, just an interesting note.

          “Food is not a commodity like others,” Clinton said. “We should go back to a policy of maximum food self-sufficiency. It is crazy for us to think we can develop countries around the world without increasing their ability to feed themselves.”

          Clinton was 61 years old in 2008.

          • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            Uhhh…

            I mean it’s good he’s admitted to some mistakes.

            But I really don’t see how African food subsidies applies to domestic economic policy…

            • Snot Flickerman
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              8 months ago

              Uhhh…

              The US drives how the world economy works, and literally bullies other countries into how it wants it to be. We exported “trickle down economics” and other bullshit ideas to the whole world, and Clinton’s Presidency had its hands in all of that. The reason we were able to export such policy is because it seemed like it was working domestically and worldwide, so the Clinton administration was driving a lot of what happened in worldwide economics as well as domestic economics because of the same cargo cult.

              I really was only pointing out that he managed to make statements about it after 60. I actually think it’s easier for these folks to admit it as they get older. See: every US Republican who turns around to criticize the party after they retire from politics.

              • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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                8 months ago

                He just said it was a bad idea to hamstring African food production as a requirement for them getting aid…

                That was a terrible decision, and he has admitted that.

                But it has zero to do with trickle down economics, and was in no way what he built his career/legacy after.

                Like, did you just Google “Bill Clinton apologized” and grabbed the first link that want about blowjobs?

        • ABCDE@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          whose over 60.

          Who’s. Whose is for possessive, like: whose beer is this? It’s the guy whose car is outside.

    • catloaf@lemm.ee
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      8 months ago

      I don’t think that is a meaningful metric. The least wealthy 50% should be spending money on necessities like food and housing. If someone without thousands of dollars in discretionary cash said “I’m going to start investing” I’d call them a fucking idiot.

    • Cyborganism@lemmy.ca
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      8 months ago

      They mean spend on more stocks. Which makes the economy grow. Not spend on goods and services.

  • gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    We just shouldn’t allow individuals to have over a billion dollars, just 100% tax on anything over a billion when combined assets exceed that number. Both because there’s no good reason for any one person to have that much money and because as pathetic as American campaign finance laws are it’s a legit national security risk for someone to have that kind of money to throw at their pet causes.

  • Suavevillain@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    It should be trickling down any second now. Meanwhile, the Kellogg’s CEO is telling people to eat cereal for dinner because they are poor.

    • JargonWagon@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Source

      “Let them eat Corn Flakes” appears to be Kellogg’s CEO Gary Pilnick’s advice to cash-strapped shoppers who are spending the highest portion of their income on food than at any point in the last 30 years.

      In an interview with CNBC last week, WK Kellogg CEO Pilnick said the company was advertising cereal for dinner to consumers looking for more affordable options. “Give chicken the night off,” the ad’s cheery tagline reads.

      “The cereal category has always been quite affordable, and it tends to be a great destination when consumers are under pressure,” Pilnick said. “If you think about the cost of cereal for a family versus what they might otherwise do, that’s going to be much more affordable.”

      That same guy, further known as “Asshat”, made more than $4M in 2023. What a fuckin asshole.

      I wonder what his advice would be on other topics.
      “Man, I wish I could buy a house so that I have a stable living condition and a roof over my head.”
      Asshat: “A cardboard box on the street seems to be trendy way to be thrifty and obtain all you’re asking for! I sell them, give me money!”

      Next time he complains about something, we should give him similar advice.
      Asshat: “Man, I wish I could own a yacht like the other rich guys in my golf club.”
      Us: “This rowboat seems to be trendy way to be thrifty and obtain all you’re asking for! I sell them, give me money!”

  • tsonfeir@lemm.ee
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    8 months ago

    44 trillion would end world… problems.

    Let’s END… the… problem.

    🍽️ the 🤑

  • theangryseal@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    And here I am terrified to spend a penny.

    Maybe the billionaires will buy each other’s shit and we can all just die already and let them play with resources without us.

    I don’t know what I’m trying to say. Going to bed for my back to back 16 hour shifts over the next two days.

    Good night fellow poors.

    • ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca
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      8 months ago

      Be the change you want to see in the world

      But it won’t accomplish much, we have terrorism (or freedom fighters depending on your side) as is and the ruling class isn’t swayed

      • melpomenesclevage@lemm.ee
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        8 months ago

        “Terrorism” is a nonsense word. State terror forces who exist to brutalize and terrorize populations into stillness so much like the fucking grave are never terrorists. If I post myself consentually making out with another adult I find hot, I’d be one in like fifteen time zones.

        Its nonsense, and if we want to go to the ‘real’ definition of terrorism; using violence to scare people into your agenda; that’s literally all a state is.

        Not raking an intentional editorial position on any kind of violence here; just that innocence is no protection, and truth is no defense.

        • ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca
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          8 months ago

          Terrorism is the use of force to achieve a political objective by a group of people not internationally recognized as a state

                • ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca
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                  8 months ago

                  I already answered that the first time you said it

                  Because when the states came up with the rules they decided to give them exclusions

                  For states the general equivalent is war crime and the resolution is that the common person that belongs to the group isn’t punished as much as the leaders or people who commit those actions

    • Bipta@kbin.social
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      8 months ago

      It’s too late. We need to be even more aggressive now to correct the egregious imbalance.

    • aStonedSanta@lemm.ee
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      8 months ago

      Sadly that wouldn’t have an impact on this. This is just unrealized stock wealth until it’s actually sold afaik. I think we shouldn’t allow people to take out loans on their stock holdings though. Or however it is people like Elon and such get their low risk loans to play with while keeping their money in the market.

      • dragontamer@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        The market adjusts.

        When Elon was forced to buy Twitter, all those loans came due as Elon Musk had to sell TSLA stock to pay for capital gains, then sell TSLA stock to bring down his margin and stay good, then finally sell TSLA stock to pay for Twitter.

        There’s no free lunch anywhere. Elon Musk is the kind of guy who takes insane risks (and honestly, its beginning to look like its all collapsing). Yes, USA has a lot of opporunity and we provide a lot of loans for dumbasses to hurt themselves, but that’s a good thing in the great scheme of things. Eventually, it always collapses. It does take 10 to 20 years sometimes for the bad effects to build up though.

        Or however it is people like Elon and such get their low risk loans to play with while keeping their money in the market.

        That was interest-rate policy. Today loans are 10%+ for such effects. Our mistake was keeping rates too low for so long. But that’s different than our tax policy.

  • lennybird@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    … But it’s the poor mother pulling herself up by the bootstraps, making the perilous journey north to work comparatively-shit jobs to help give her kids a brighter future that is apparently the problem to righties — who, by the way — we all benefit from their cheap labor in the first place…

    $20 spent to a person making 100,000/year…

    … Is the same as a single-billionaire spending $200,000.