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+--- Thread: What if we redistributed wealth in the US evenly? (/showthread.php?tid=197175)
What if we redistributed wealth in the US evenly? - wowzer - 10-29-2016
Not that I would advocate doing this (as it destroys the tenet of meritocracy)...
I've done a quick check...it appears that the US net worth is about $86.8 trillion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_in_the_United_States
The national debt is $19.8 trillion
http://www.usgovernmentdebt.us
The net between the two is $67 trillion.
There are 325 million americans.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demography_of_the_United_States
If we divide all wealth evenly (regardless of age): $206,000
There are 124 million households.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/183635/number-of-households-in-the-us/
If we divide all wealth equally amongst households: $540,000
Of course, the term household assumes that you file a tax return (I believe)...but that's not bad. When I was a child, I was told that if we divided all wealth equally, everyone would 'own' about $30,000. Maybe things have changed since the 1970's?
Just any interesting exercise...
Re: What if we redistributed wealth in the US evenly? - DeusxMac - 10-29-2016
Also assumes "net worth" is fungible. It's not.
Re: What if we redistributed wealth in the US evenly? - davester - 10-29-2016
Might need to adjust the giveaway for age. $540k isn't enough for most households to be able to retire on and if you give $540,000 to a young family the interest will make them immensely wealthy when they get to retirement age.