Post
Topic
Board Economics
Re: 85 people now own 50% of world's wealth
by
threaded
on 27/01/2014, 05:56:42 UTC
ITT: More reporters and posters that don't understand the universality of the Pareto Principle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle

I was just about to post the same thing, but thought to check someone hadn't achieved frost piss. ;-)

I think it need elucidating to some though: Pareto said something along the lines that 80% of his garden peas came from 20% of the pods.  Juran noticed 80% of the wealth was owned by 20% of the population.

Now, you can extend that: of that 20% likewise 20% of those people hold 80% of that wealth too, and similarly in that group too 20% holds 80% of the wealth.  Now you reach a limit as humans are countable.

i.e. it's a simple power law distribution applied to integers.

So, when you read 85 people own 50% of the world's wealth it is nothing more than fun with statistics time.