1) If the Gini index is 1, they have taken all your money by definition.
2) They are not creating wealth, they are extracting it from the the population at large. Those who actually work, and those who are forced / manipulated by the societal systems in place (and by marketing) to pay them money. Using assets snd resources as leverage to gain more assets and resources is not "creating wealth".
3) If there is no balance point, it does not matter how much wealth they create, the inequality in itself is a much bigger issue. The billionaires get richer and more powerful, and who do they hold power over? The poor. They are taking my (and presumably yours) time and opportunity, limiting the careers I can have, limiting what free society can politically decide to do. Most obviously in terms of climate change, but also in terms of health care, welfare, social mobility, free time, etc.
> They are not creating wealth, they are extracting it from the the population at large.
For an obvious example, trillionaire "extracted" the wealth from the population? For another one, compare the aggregate wealth today with the aggregate wealth from a century ago (or two centuries ago!). How do explain the enormous increase? Who was it extracted from?
> The billionaires get richer and more powerful
Bill Gates cannot put you in jail. Nor can Bezos, Musk, Zuckerburg, etc. Nor can they send you a bill and demand payment.
> They are taking my (and presumably yours) time
Nope.
> and opportunity,
Nope. If opportunity is limited, it is the government regulations and taxes that limit it.
> limiting the careers I can have,
Nope. You're free to start your own business and embark on any (legal) career you want to.
> limiting what free society can politically decide to do.
Nope. We still have free elections.
> Most obviously in terms of climate change,
Billionaires do not do climate change.
> but also in terms of health care, welfare,
That's been handed over to the government, not billionaires.
> social mobility,
America still has plenty of rags to riches people. See Taylor Swift, for example. Did she "extract" her billions, too? To be fair, she hasn't extracted a penny from me.
> free time, etc.
When I started my career 50 years ago, all I did was work. First in college (lots of studying), my first job was 50 hrs a week for years, then I started my own side businesses, etc., work work work. It was all my choice, though. Nobody made me.
BTW, Americans work a lot less than they did 200 years ago, when there were zero billionaires. There didn't use to be a concept of "retirement".
Hey again, Walter, we always seem to find eachother in these comment threads.
The Soviet Union didn't create wealth? It put a man in space before the USA - that took "wealth" by some definition of the word, perhaps just not "personal wealth."
In order to prevent famine, the Soviets decided to allow farmers a portion of land where they could sell what they grew. It kept the country from collapsing. Every historical attempt at collective farms collapsed from starvation or was propped up by government money.
I don't understand why people are still engaging with Walter on economics. He only ever posts the same things again and again: hot takes after taking econ 101.
If people have rights, then they are unequal. If they have no rights, they are equal.