I don’t buy this inequality theme as hurting others or holding them back. It’s pure envy stoked by left wing politicians.
Yes, too much concentrated power is not good, but that’s a separate problem from wealth or income inequality.
Billionaires make their money in a variety of ways, but there are some common themes.
- Starting and growing businesses. Many billionaires have become wealthy by starting their own businesses and growing them into large and successful companies. This is a very challenging path, but it can also be very rewarding. Some examples of billionaires who have made their fortunes through entrepreneurship include Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Bill Gates (Microsoft), and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Elon Musk (Tesla), etc.
- Investing in other businesses. Some billionaires have made their fortunes by investing in other people’s businesses. This can be a good way to support entrepreneurs and to generate a return on your investment. Some examples of billionaires who have made their fortunes through investing include Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway) and Carl Icahn.
- Inheriting wealth. Some billionaires have inherited their wealth from family members. This is a less common path to becoming a billionaire, but it is still a significant factor. Some examples of billionaires who have inherited their wealth include Alice Walton (Walmart) and François Pinault (Kering). However, while the current generation may inherit, someone before them generated the wealth as indicated above.
It is important to note that there is no one-size-fits-all answer to the question of how billionaires make their money.
The best path to wealth will vary depending on your individual skills, talents, and resources.
Only a tiny fraction of the world’s population has a net worth of $1 billion or more. However, if you are willing to work hard and be patient, you can achieve your financial goals, regardless of what they are.
I am not a billionaire or a multimillionaire, but in my 80 years I have accumulated wealth. I started working after high school as a mail boy in a large corporation. Shortly after starting work I began using the company’s stock purchase plan and never stopped. I reinvested all the dividends. Years later I gave my children them some of the shares to help them get started.
Today my accumulated shares pay a good total annual dividend – still reinvested.
That is how you build wealth, a little at a time over a long period of time and it is available to anyone relative to their means, and determination- unless of course you start an entire new industry and create thousands of jobs and in the process help other people to become millionaires.
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
Envy
“The good news is that poverty in America is negligible, with only 2.5 percent of Americans living below the federal poverty line. In today’s America, the sole bar to joining the middle class is your willingness to work. This is substantiated by a recent 200-page volume of groundbreaking research backed up by 50 pages of footnotes.”
The bad news is… That’s all bullshit, as Bill Barr would say. The author of the article calls it gaslighting.
https://www.thenation.com/article/economy/republicans-gaslighting-poverty-gramm/
“The authors conclude from this that government transfers are keeping people poor, and if they only overcame their “idleness” (yes, they really use this Dickensian term), poor people could readily find employment and enter into prosperity.”
…………
“However, if you are willing to work hard and be patient, you can achieve your financial goals, regardless of what they are.”
I just don’t believe that, as a general rule. Ms. Kearney, in one of her papers, shows that college graduates lifetime earnings are twice that of non graduates. Problem solved, more college?
But “on the other hand”, if the number of college graduates increased by ten percent, the average lifetime earnings of all college graduates would –decrease– (good old supply and demand). And the pay for non graduates would increase. Same reason. There are only so many positions which require college education.
……..
So, back to the first ” thenation” article, blaming the victim and their idleness. It could very well be that the class envy goes the other way; why are we rewarding lower paid workers for –not– pulling themselves out of poverty?
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FWIW, M.Kearney (“The Two-Parent Privilege: Sept 22 QUINNSCOMMENTARY)
Melissa S. Kearney
@kearney_melissa
·
Sep 5, 2018
To econ/policy undergrads: assume a tax is levied on the hiring of workers who receive govt income support.
(a) What will this do to # of such workers hired?
(b) What will this do to rate at which low-inc workers apply for benefits?
(Ans: ⬇️ and ⬇️)
She was referring to Bernie Sanders StopBEZOS act, (2018) It would establish a 100 percent tax on government benefits received by workers at companies with at least 500 employees…
“In other words, the taxpayers of this country would no longer be subsidizing the wealthiest people in this country who are paying their workers inadequate wages,” Sanders said
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Who cares about Bill Gates?
It’s the other extreme that is a problem. If a household doesn’t earn enough to survive (and multiply), that economy is unsustainable.
According to GAO, 70 percent of Medicaid and SNAP recipients are full time workers. It’s a free market failure. And you and I are the beneficiaries.
GAO:
“Most working adults in the programs worked for private sector employers concentrated in certain industries, including restaurants, department stores, and grocery stores. …less than 10 percent worked for public sector employers, such as state governments, the U.S. Postal Service, or public universities…”
What happens if we just cut them off cold turkey? My costs go up, and/or shareholders earnings go down, every time I shop in a department store. I’m kind of OK with that, if you had a smoother transition than the cold turkey thing, but we need these people. We rely on them. We should pay them enough to survive. And prosper. And reproduce.
Where is that money going to come from? Some from me. And, more, proportionally, from Bill Gates. And RDQuinn??
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