What do these stats mean?

[DialecticMaterialist]

One group of government stats says that the top 90-99 percent of the population owns about 40 percent of the nation's wea;th, and the top 1 percent owns about 30 percent.


http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/oss/oss2/papers/wgt95.pdf

(Page 22.)


Basically then the top 10 percent in the above, own 70 percent of the nation's wealth.




The other suggests a very different picture. It suggests that the top 20 percent own about 50 percent of the wealth.


http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/income99/99tablef.html



These statistics seem contradictory. Can anyone here make sense of them?

 

[Michael Redman]

My first thought is that the value of all the wealth must be an estimate, and, I would guess, not a very accurate one. Also, is that the percentage of all the wealth in the country, or the wealth owned by people, or what? Many Americans have wealth overseas, and the government has a great deal of wealth. Is that considered? What kinds of assets are considered? Probably real property, but what about intangible property? Valuable rights?

These statements are too simplistic to give an accurate picture.

 

[aerocontrols]

These statistics seem contradictory. Can anyone here make sense of them?

The first set of stats is for wealth. The second set is for income.

 

[DialecticMaterialist]

The first set of stats is for wealth. The second set is for income.

Thank you aeros, that makes sense. Should have saw that myself.

 

[aerocontrols]

Thank you aeros, that makes sense. Should have saw that myself.

No problem. I've beat my head against a wall on this question before myself.