Inequality virus

During whose presidency did the one percent do better – Obama or Trump? The recovery of their losses was more rapid under Trump. However, despite the big tax break they gained under Trump, Obama appears to be the winner.

Their gain in nominal wealth from the start of Trump’s regime to the third quarter of 2020 comes to $7.1 trillion. During the similar period of Obama’s presidency, the gain in their wealth came to $4.76 trillion. While the dollar gain under Trump is greater, Obama is the winner in the percentage gain, 30.7 percent to 24.4 percent. However, Obama had an advantage in that the starting point was low due to the great recession.

A fairer approach could be to look at a similar period in Obama’s second term. From the first quarter of 2013 until the third quarter of 2016, the gain of the one percent came to $6.57 trillion. The quantity of wealth gain when, adjusting for inflation using 2 percent/year, is roughly the same dollar amount as the gain under Trump. However, the percentage gain in the one percent’s wealth in this period under Obama is 30.3 percent, almost 6 percent greater than the gain during a comparable amount of time of Trump being in office.

Additionally, the shareof the nation’s total wealth held by the one percent generally rose throughout Obama’s time in office starting at 27.2 percent in the first quarter of 2009 and ending at 31.1 percent when he left office. By contrast, the share of their wealth during Trump’s time through the third quarter of 2020 reached a high point of 31.3 percent in the first quarter of 2018 declining to 30 percent in the first quarter of 2020 until rising to 31 percent in the third quarter, never exceeding the highest point of 31.4 percent during both mid-quarters in 2016 when Obama was president. Trump deserves some credit for it never falling below 30 percent!

As of Dec 23, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, in 2020, Warren Buffet is alone as a loser of wealth among the wealthiest 10 people in the world. Poor Warren is now worth $84.6 billion having to deal with losses for the year so far of $4.62 billion. Life can be tough.

There have been even bigger losers in 2020 among the super-rich. Amancio Ortega, described as a Spanish retailer, has experienced a loss of $9.41 billion. Right-winger Charles Koch, whose wealth places him at number 20, has lost some $5.85 billion.

Excerpted: ‘The Wealth Inequality Virus is Surging’

Counterpunch.org