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Nations to the upper right tend to have low wealth inequality and nations to the lower left tend to have high wealth inequality.
Ideally, a nation should have large wealth/capita, large GDP/capita, and small wealth Gini. The nations that stand out in this regard are Norway, Australia, and Japan.
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The wealth Gini is more sensitive to millionaires than billionaires. A nation can have a low wealth Gini and also be billionaire heavy.
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The world's undisputed economic superpower is the USA, in terms of wealth/capita, millionaires, and billionaires.
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The Gini index characterizes the equality of a distribution. If everyone has the same wealth then the Gini index is 0 and if all the wealth is possessed by one person then the Gini index is 1.
In the above plot the Gini index is defined as
Area of the grey reagion = A Area of the blue region = B Gini index = G = A/(A+B)
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<0table width="100%">
Percentile Wealth Fracion of total wealth
M$
1 10400000 .35
2 7000000
3 4500000
4 2600000
5 2200000 .62
10 1187000 .73
20 499000 .85
Billion $
Jeff Bezos 131 Amazon
Bill Gates 96 Microsoft
Warren Buffett 83 Berkshire Hathaway
Larry Ellison 62 Oracle
Mark Zuckerberg 62 Facebook
Larry Page 60 Alphabet
Charles Koch 50 Koch Industries
David Koch 50 Koch Industries
Sergey Brin 50 Alphabet
Michael Bloomberg 49 Bloomberg LP
Jim Walton 45 Walmart
S. Walton 44 Walmart
Alice Walton 44 Walmart
Steve Balmer 41 Microsoft, LA Clippers
Sheldon Adelson 35 Las Vegas Sands Corp
Rupert Murdoch >10 Fox News
Michael Dell >10 Dell
Elon Musk >10 Tesla
Carl Icahn >10
Charles Schwab >10
George Lucas >4
George Soros >4
Steve Spielberg >4
Gordon Moore >4
Ross Perot >4
Bob Kraft >4
Tom Steyer
John Arnold
Donald Trump
Mark Cuban
California 165 Michigan 10 Missouri 6 New York 118 Pennsylvania 10 Virginia 5 Texas 56 Colorado 10 Florida 58 Tennessee 10 Massachusetts 17 Wyoming 9 Illinois 17 Wisconsin 9 Connecticut 17 Arizona 9 Georgia 13 New Jersey 8 Washington 12 Maryland 8 Nevada 11 Ohio 6
Billion $
Apple 780
Alphabet 749
Microsoft 736
Amazon 728
Berkshire H. 450
Facebook 376
Johnson & J. 346
JPMorgan Chase 325
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Trillion $
World wealth total 400
World stock markets 80
Gold, world reserves 10.9
World paper currencies 7
World cryptocurrencies 2.0
Silver, world reserves .01
Land
Buildings
Vehicles
Stock, New York 22.9
Stock, NASDAQ 10.9
Stock, Japan 5.7
Stock, London 4.6
Stock, Shanghai 4.0
Stock, Hong Kong 3.9
Stock, Euronext 3.9
Stock, Toronto 3.3
Stock, Shenzhen 2.5
Stock, Bombay 2.1
Stock, India National 2.0
Stock, Deutsche Borse 1.86
Stock, Switzerland 1.53
Stock, South Korea 1.46
Stock, NASDAQ Nordic 1.37
Stock, Australia 1.33
Stock, Taiwan .97
Stock, Brazil .94
Gold 10.9 60000 $/kg
Silver .044 .044 605 $/kg
Currency, USA 1.98
Currency, Europe 1.38
Currency, China 1.15
Currency, Japan 1.0
Currency, India .425
Currency, Russia .158
Currency, UK .104
Currency, Switz. .090
Currency, S. Korea .086
Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin 1.09
Cryptocurrency, Ethereum .210
Cryptocurrency, Binance .047
Cryptocurrency, Tether .041
Cryptocurrency, Cardano .038
Cryptocurrency, Polkadot .034
Cryptocurrency, XRP .025
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Who got the most bang for the buck?
Asimov sponsors the "Asimov Debates" at the American Museum of Natural History, and they draw a crowd of thousands. The debates cover exotic topics in science.
The Queen of England and 007 have a symbiotic relationship. The Queen has the money and 007 can get stuff done. It's a credit to the Queen that she bigly bankrolls 007. It's also a credit to the queen that 007 works for her. 007 doesn't work for just anyone.
Political offices are often purchased, and the money tends to go to oligarchs instead of the worthy. For example, money tends to flow to media executives. Senator Herb Kohl of Wisconsin set an example by donating lavishly to the University of Wisconsin and was rewarded with a senate seat.
The average spending required to win political office is:
Winner U.S. Total
Million $ Million $
U.S. President 1200 2400
U.S. Senate 25 2500
U.S. House 2 2000
State Governor 10 1000
State Senate .2 400
State House .08 700
This tells you how much to demand for each office.
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For a philanthropist, we can ask: What fraction of your wealth did you give away? as well as the worthiness of the recipients. In the era before the French Revolution, the French aristocracy was arrogant, much like the modern Democratic party. It bit them in the ass.
The French aristocracy had an opportunity. They were rich and they could have spent their money wisely, in a way that gains goodwill from the people. They could have spent their money on a batsuit and a batmobile, and they didn't. Lame!
A modern billionaire could use his money to build an Iron Man suit and be a superhero.
What should billionaires spend money on? Think there might be a conspiracy? The oligarchy is bourgeouis with their 1700 private jets at Davos. There is an epidemic of bourgeois, including the oligarchy, Taxing the rich doesn't work. They're good at hiding money. Instead coax them to spend money on your community. Treat them like celebrities if they do. Billionaire shaming. There are good billionaires and bad billionaires. Good billionaires turbocharge communities and bad billionaires poison them. A community should coax good billionaires to move in and be villigant in excluding bad billionaires. A wise billionaire could use his money to become a celebrity and be beloved by the community.
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Prince Ranier of Monaco chose a hollywood wife, and he chose wisely. Prince Harry chose poorly.
The French Aristocracy of the 18th century was arrogant and it cost them their heads.
The British Monarchy gracefully instituted a smooth transition to democracy, and they got to keep their heads.
The American aristocracy of the 21st century is arrogant.
Robespierre created a world of guillotines, and Robespierre got guillotined.
George Carlin: The oligarchs own this place. It's a big club, and you aren't in it.
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Academic competitions
A measure of the quality of a rich person is the quality of the jobs he produces. Elon Musk creates great engineering jobs whereas the Waltons and Wal Mart create low-end jobs.
Dog park
Car Wine Yacht
Tax breaks can be given for worthy causes, for examle a science megaproject. Some examples might be:
Higgs factory collider, a circular electron collider Electron linear collider Telescopoe for asteroid fining Radio telescopes and the search for intelligent life Gravitational wave observatory
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The wealthy tend to migrate in the direction of low tax, and this is happening in the United States.
Billionaires are a good thing to have around.
California 165 Michigan 10 Missouri 6 New York 118 Pennsylvania 10 Virginia 5 Texas 56 Colorado 10 Florida 58 Tennessee 10 Massachusetts 17 Wyoming 9 Illinois 17 Wisconsin 9 Connecticut 17 Arizona 9 Georgia 13 New Jersey 8 Washington 12 Maryland 8 Nevada 11 Ohio 6
Billionaires tend to cluster in cities.
New York City 98 Palm Beach 10 Oklahoma City 3 San Francisco 41 Boston 10 Racine 3 Los Angeles 27 Seattle 8 Omaha 3 Dallas 17 Las Vegas 7 Cleveland 3 Atlanta 13 Phoenix 6 Potomac MD 3 Houston 12 Naples 5 Brookline, MA 3 Greenwich 11 Jackson 4 Cary, NC 3 Chicago 11 Denver 4 Philadelphia 3
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Billion $
Jeff Bezos 131 Amazon
Bill Gates 96 Microsoft
Warren Buffett 83 Berkshire Hathaway
Larry Ellison 62 Oracle
Mark Zuckerberg 62 Facebook
Larry Page 60 Alphabet
Charles Koch 50 Koch Industries
David Koch 50 Koch Industries
Sergey Brin 50 Alphabet
Michael Bloomberg 49 Bloomberg LP
Jim Walton 45 Walmart
S. Walton 44 Walmart
Alice Walton 44 Walmart
Steve Balmer 41 Microsoft, LA Clippers
Sheldon Adelson 35 Las Vegas Sands Corp
Rupert Murdoch >10 Fox News
Michael Dell >10 Dell
Elon Musk >10 Tesla
Carl Icahn >10
Charles Schwab >10
George Lucas >4
George Soros >4
Steve Spielberg >4
Gordon Moore >4
Ross Perot >4
Bob Kraft >4
Tom Steyer
John Arnold
Donald Trump
Mark Cuban
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Percentile Wealth Fracion of total wealth
M$
1 10400000 .35
2 7000000
3 4500000
4 2600000
5 2200000 .62
10 1187000 .73
20 499000 .85
Billion $
Apple 780
Alphabet 749
Microsoft 736
Amazon 728
Berkshire H. 450
Facebook 376
Johnson & J. 346
JPMorgan Chase 325
China dominates the production of most elements, with South Africa in second place. America dominates for only beryllium, rhenium, and thorium. The plot shows the fraction of world production for each element.
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Macrometals are the metals mined by greatest mass. The macrometal superpowers are China, South Africa, Australia, Russia, India, and Canada. America has feeble production. The following plot shows each nation's fraction of world production for each metal. Data is from USGS 2018.
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The plot shows the most endangered elements and where they are produced. Many come from conflict zones or from hostile nations. Most come from China.
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The endangered elements are:
Element Source Use Cobalt DR Congo Lithium-ion batteries, steel alloy Lithium Australia, Chile Lithium-ion batteries Rare-earths China All of the electronics industry, especially solar cells and magnets Germanium China Fiber optics Tin China Solder and bronze Tungsten China Superhard materials in the form of tungsten carbide Scandium China, Ukraine, Russia Aluminum alloy Phosphorus China, Israel, Canada Fertilizer Potassium China, Israel, Canada Fertilizer
There isn't enough lithium and cobalt to build an electric car for everyone in the world.
The ultimite limit to how much food we can grow is from fertilizer, and this hinges on phosphorus and potassium. Biomass power is vast, hence phosphorus and potassium are critically important.
Most endangered elements are endangered because they're produced primarily in China.
Elements that are important but not endangered include:
Platinum Canada South Africa Catalyst Palladium Canada South Africa Catalyst Rhodium Canada South Africa Catalyst Rhenium Chile USA Peru Poland Aircraft turbines Osmium Superhard metal Iridium Superhard metal Molybdenum Strong metal Beryllium USA Strong lightweight metal Tantalum Australia Brazil Canada Capacitors and is produced in Australia, Brazil, and Canada. Nickel Worldwide Steel alloy. Turbines Caesium Canada Drilling lubricant in the form of caesium formate Gold USA Canada Australia Currency Silver Mexico Peru Solar cells Copper Chile Peru USA Aus Chi Power wires Gallium Worldwide Extracted from aluminum ore Uranium Worldwide Nuclear energy Thorium Worldwide Nuclear energy
The following plot shows world production for each element. Endangered elements tend to be near the bottom.
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The embodied energy of an element is the energy required to extract the element from ore, in Joules/kg. Most of the price of elements is from energy. For steel, the energy comes from coal smelting and for most of the other elements the energy comes from electricity.
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Energy is used in every stage of industry. It's used in the production of primary materials, such as elements, chemicals, plastics, and lumber. It's used again to manufacture things with the primary materials.
The plot shows how much energy the world expends per year for primary materials.
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Platinum group metals are rare because they are dense and they tend to sink to the Earth's core. They are mostly mined from metal asteroid craters such as the Sudbury crater in Canada and the Vrodefort Crater in South Africa. Metallic asteroids are rich in platinum group elements because they used to be part of the core of a planet.
Siderophile: Iron-living. Tends to sink to the core along with the iron.
Lithophile: Rock-loving. Tends to become included in rock and escapes sinking
to the core.
Chalcophile: Ore-loving. Tends to combine with oxygen and sulfur and escapes sinking
to the core.
Atmophile: Is a gas at room temperature and tends to escape the crust into the
atmosphere.
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A 300 meter metallic asteroid has 30 billion dollars of platinum group elements, equal to world annual production.
-178918.jpg) |
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The rare Earth elements are the ones in the row from Lanthanum to Lutetium and they tend to occur together in minerals. They are vital to electronics and 95% of the world's supply comes from the Bayan Obo deposit in China. Uranium and thorium are often found in rare Earth ore.
The Californa Mountain Pass mine closed in 2002. In 2010 China restricted rare Earth exports, prompting subsidies from the U.S. Government to reopen the mine. Mining resumed in 2015 and then ceased in 2016 when the mining corporation went bankrupt.
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GDP
Distribution of Wealth
Billionaires
Millionaires
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