Recession Knocks 1.5M People Out Of The Millionaire's Club

[babylonsister]

I know this story is painful to all of us. :evilgrin:


Millionaire ranks cut by 19%
The financial crisis knocks 1.5 million people out of the club in 2008. U.S. still home to 28.7% of world's millionaires.

By Ben Rooney, CNNMoney.com staff writer
June 25, 2009: 1:52 PM ET


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The global financial crisis took a heavy toll on the world's wealthiest individuals last year, with the number of millionaires falling by a record amount, according to a report released Thursday.

The number of high net worth individuals, those with assets of $1 million or more, plummeted by a record 19.5% in 2008 to 8.6 million worldwide, a survey by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini showed. In 2007, the millionaire ranks totaled 10.1 million worldwide.

Millionaires saw the value of their investments cut to $32.8 trillion, down 19.5% from $40.7 trillion in 2007, as world stock markets and property values plunged. The "unprecedented" declines wiped out all of the gains from the previous two years, the report said.

"What started as a financial crisis soon expanded into the larger economy, affecting mature and emerging markets alike," the report said. "World equity markets lost a decade of gains."

The number of millionaires in the United States fell 18.5% last year to 2.5 million. But the U.S. remains the single largest home to millionaires, accounting for 28.7% of the global millionaire population, the report said.

more...

http://money.cnn.com/2009/06/25/news/economy/high_net_worth_individuals/index.htm?section=money_news_economy

[Greyhound]

1. Hmm, we have more millionaires (and billionaires) than any other nation on earth.

We also are the only industrialized nation that doesn't have UHC or any societal foundation (safety net), more homeless, and nearly nonexistent worker protections. We work more and harder for less money, yet consume far more than any of our counterparts.

I wonder if there might be some connection?
:sarcasm:

[dgibby]

2. Oh, Muffy, dahling, I just hate it when that happens, don't you?

The next thing you know, they'll be putting dark meat in the chicken salad at the Junior League. Then what? We'll all be forced to buy our clothes at, dare I say it, Wal-Mart. Oh, the shame of it all. What WILL we tell the children when we have to send them to public schools?

[Starbucks Anarchist]

3. Hell, I'd love to be in the thousandaires' club.