Top 1% holds 50% of fortunes; Young become ‘unlucky'
By Park Hyong-ki
The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, so it seems.
And there are fewer and fewer stories of rags to riches to be told that can inspire the younger generation around the world, including in Korea.
As the global top 1 percent further accumulates their wealth through their financial and nonfinancial assets, less opportunities await the next generation, according to investment bank Credit Suisse's global wealth report.
Wealth is measured by the value of financial assets, plus real assets particularly housing minus debt.
Even though the young are more educated than their parents, the former have been unfortunate.
They were hit hard by the global financial crisis of 2008, faced with difficulties in finding jobs and paying back their student loans. Tighter mortgage rules have made their lives harder in the aftermath of the crisis.
The report called them the "unlucky" generation.
"Those with low wealth tend to be disproportionately found among the younger age groups, who have had little chance to accumulate assets," it said.
"They are doing less well than their parents."
Meanwhile, the top 1 percent built their wealth to account for 50.1 percent of the total worldwide this year, up from 45.5 percent about a decade ago.
The aggregate global wealth increased to $280 trillion in 2017, up 6.4 percent a year earlier, thanks to increased value in equities and houses.
The number of millionaires increased 2.3 million to 36 million this year.
About 43 percent of those millionaires are living in the United States.
Korea has 686,000 millionaires, according to the report.
There are 2,300 superrich Koreans with individual net worth above $50 million. North America has 75,000 superrich accounting for 51 percent of the total.
Their wealth accumulation suggests they have fully recovered from the crisis, but at the same time, redistribution has not been working at all.
About 3.5 billion people, or 70 percent of all adults worldwide, own less than $10,000.
Global inequality has increased, drawing a gloomy outlook.
"Confidence in the future has been eroded, and there is a growing sense that the economic recovery is shallow, and has not reached all layers of society," the report said.
"Our projections suggest more pessimistic scenarios for the immediate years ahead."
Korea offers a darker look as most of the rich built their wealth through inheritance.
More than 80 of 100 rich became billionaires by inheriting fortunes from their parents. They are mostly second-generation chaebol, according to Jang Ha-sung's "Capitalism in Korea." Jang is the presidential chief of staff for policy.
But in the U.S., 78 who became rich were self-made entrepreneurs, someone like Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.
By Park Hyong-ki
The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, so it seems.
And there are fewer and fewer stories of rags to riches to be told that can inspire the younger generation around the world, including in Korea.
As the global top 1 percent further accumulates their wealth through their financial and nonfinancial assets, less opportunities await the next generation, according to investment bank Credit Suisse's global wealth report.
Wealth is measured by the value of financial assets, plus real assets particularly housing minus debt.
Even though the young are more educated than their parents, the former have been unfortunate.
They were hit hard by the global financial crisis of 2008, faced with difficulties in finding jobs and paying back their student loans. Tighter mortgage rules have made their lives harder in the aftermath of the crisis.
The report called them the "unlucky" generation.
"Those with low wealth tend to be disproportionately found among the younger age groups, who have had little chance to accumulate assets," it said.
"They are doing less well than their parents."
Meanwhile, the top 1 percent built their wealth to account for 50.1 percent of the total worldwide this year, up from 45.5 percent about a decade ago.
The aggregate global wealth increased to $280 trillion in 2017, up 6.4 percent a year earlier, thanks to increased value in equities and houses.
The number of millionaires increased 2.3 million to 36 million this year.
About 43 percent of those millionaires are living in the United States.
Korea has 686,000 millionaires, according to the report.
There are 2,300 superrich Koreans with individual net worth above $50 million. North America has 75,000 superrich accounting for 51 percent of the total.
Their wealth accumulation suggests they have fully recovered from the crisis, but at the same time, redistribution has not been working at all.
About 3.5 billion people, or 70 percent of all adults worldwide, own less than $10,000.
Global inequality has increased, drawing a gloomy outlook.
"Confidence in the future has been eroded, and there is a growing sense that the economic recovery is shallow, and has not reached all layers of society," the report said.
"Our projections suggest more pessimistic scenarios for the immediate years ahead."
Korea offers a darker look as most of the rich built their wealth through inheritance.
More than 80 of 100 rich became billionaires by inheriting fortunes from their parents. They are mostly second-generation chaebol, according to Jang Ha-sung's "Capitalism in Korea." Jang is the presidential chief of staff for policy.
But in the U.S., 78 who became rich were self-made entrepreneurs, someone like Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.
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