Top 20% in China are climbing toward US wealth average

[beijingwalker]

Or do you not want to hear alternative arguments, because your whole purpose of creating a thread is to 'feel good'?

I actually believe that 20% is an understatement and I don't feel good about it, many Americans save no money and live in rented houses, basically their personal wealth is nothing while Chinese have a long tradition for saving. But I don't have accurate data and have no desire to spend time researching it. If you are really interested in this research field, find an expert and they could teach you how to do the research, my personal guess is that can't be as simple as you claimed.

You only did your research for the Chinese part, try to do that also about US part and see if they match.

 

[nang2]

The problem with this study is the word "households". Research based on this unit often turns out to have results that are contradictory to the per-capita results. The reason is very simple: the size of each household varies. When you compare a household in one country with another household in a different country, you could be making unjustified comparison.

This mistake is also very often practiced in US, where some like to compare the household income over time without acknowledging the fact that the size of household changes over time.

 

[Mista]

many Americans save no money and live in rented houses, basically their personal wealth is nothing while Chinese have a long tradition for saving.

You're right that many Americans don't save. Their average is high because of the ultra-rich.

Their mean is 7x of their median, representing extreme inequality.
Japan's ratio is 2x.
China's is 4x.

Page 48-50:
http://www.finplanvzw.be/assets/media/documents/Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report 2017.pdf

Japan is still wealthy, lol.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

many Americans save no money and live in rented houses, basically their personal wealth is nothing

Somewhat true...63% own and 37% rent.

I think the issue is many people in the US simply don't have any dread of growing old and becoming poor knowing Social Security will be paying them >$1,000/mo when they retire. The smarter people (not all) also have retirement money deducted from their paychecks.

So while they may not have $1000 in the bank that does not mean they couldn't. It just means knowing there isn't complete doom on the other end of the rainbow allows for ridiculous consumerism. For instance I believe we spend $43B on just pets and their supplies. The average US home has 300,000 items in it. While Americans already have extremely large homes compared to the rest of the world; 1 in 10 rents storage facilities because they don't have enough space.

The single family home lifestyle people typically choose (Note this is not a requirement) is very expensive compared to a multifamily housing complex. We have to pay for all repairs out-of-pocket. This includes the mechanical furnaces/air conditioning water/gas/sewage/electrical systems and building repair. Typically a husband and wife each own a car. If they have teenage kids they probably bought them cars too.

Again the lifestyle people choose is affecting the $1000...not the ability to have $1000.

You're right that many Americans don't save. Their average is high because of the ultra-rich.

It's complicated

 

[Han Patriot]

What? GDP and wealth are two different measures.

How do you measure wealth if it's not by GDP? The accumulated goods and services produced by a country, isn't that wealth?

 

[Mista]

How do you measure wealth if it's not by GDP? The accumulated goods and services produced by a country, isn't that wealth?

...

Wealth is measured by net assets; property value, stocks, cash, bonds etc minus off debs and liabilities.
You can have high GDP (income) but if you don't save or invest, you don't much wealth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_per_adult

 

[Han Patriot]

...

Wealth is measured by net assets; property value, stocks, cash, bonds etc minus off debs and liabilities.
You can have high GDP (income) but if you don't save or invest, you don't much wealth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_per_adult

Well that's at an individual level, how do you measure the wealth of a country I mean? 20% is from which wealth measurement? Certainly it has to be gdp right?

Every autumn, Credit Suisse S.A. publishes its Global Wealth Report Databook.[1] It reports various statistics relevant for calculating net wealth. These figures are influenced by real estate prices, equity market prices, exchange rates, liabilities, debts, adult percentage of the population, human resources, natural resources and capital and technological advancements, which may create new assets or render others worthless in the future.

You are basing the wealth calculation based on a Credit Suisse rating system. The only recognized way to measure wealth internationally is GDP. Are you sure the 20% the article is referring to is based on Credit Suisse rating system? How do you measure human resource and natural resource? GDP measures the oil taken out, not the oil in the ground. This is an arbitrary system of calculation based on their own metrics not an internationally accepted system to measure wealth such as GDP.

 

[Mista]

Well that's at an individual level, how do you measure the wealth of a country I mean? 20% is from which wealth measurement? Certainly it has to be gdp right?



You are basing the wealth calculation based on a Credit Suisse rating system. The only recognized way to measure wealth internationally is GDP. Are you sure the 20% the article is referring to is based on Credit Suisse rating system? How do you measure human resource and natural resource? GDP measures the oil taken out, not the oil in the ground. This is an arbitrary system of calculation based on their own metrics not an internationally accepted system to measure wealth such as GDP.

Here, I quote straight from the Chinese media for you okay?

 

[Han Patriot]

Here, I quote straight from the Chinese media for you okay?

This is just comparison between US and China in terms of wealth distribution, where is this infographic from and was it used in the original article?

 

[Mista]

This is just comparison between US and China in terms of wealth distribution, where is this infographic from and was it used in the original article?

Second link from post 40.

 

[Han Patriot]

Second link from post 40.

OK. But I can't find any reference to credit suisse.

 

[Mista]

OK. But I can't find any reference to credit suisse.

If you want the source from CS, post 8.

 

[Han Patriot]

If you want the source from CS, post 8.

Wow, this Credit Suisse report is ranking us as a 51 trillion in wealth nation, 10 times Indian wealth at 5 trillion.