Snapshots of the US Wealth Distribution

Forbes magazine has just published its annual list of the 400 wealthiest Americans, who this year hold a total of $8 trillion in wealth. It’s a gobsmacking amount of money, but we also live in a world where trillions are not unheard of. Here are a few thoughts and perspectives. The promised Social Security benefits under current law exceed the projected inflows of revenue by about $29 trillion over the next 75 years, according to the actuaries. The promised Medicare benefits under current law exceed the projected inflows of revenue by about $60 trillion over the next 75 years. So if the US government somehow had an extra $8 trillion to play with, it could address either about one-quarter of the Social Security underfunding or about one-eighth of Medicare underfunding–but not both. My first point here is just that while US wealth held by the wealthiest is enormous, it is not an unlimited amount; indeed, the existing promises already made by just these two programs are much larger.…