Blog #11 Americans make up half of the world's richest 1%

The article talks about where the riches one present of the world’s population lives.  Not surprisingly half of the world’s richest one percent lives in America (29 million people).  Another 4 Million live in Germany and the rest are scattered threw out Europe, Latin America, and some countries in Asia. If you make $34,000 a year after taxes per person living in your household including children then you qualify as being in the richest one present of the world.   Although many countries are going fast like China, and India with a large portion of their population getting richer they are starting from very low making them still very far from the richest one percent. There middle class citizens would be on food stamps in the United States.  As defined by median income the world’s true middle class live on $1,250 a day. 

This article is a great example to what global income inequality is.  The middle class in America is in the richest one percent of the world.  A homeless man on the streets in America that can get $4 dollars a day by asking people at stop lights for money is making more money than the world’s middle class.  Even the poorest people in America are above the world’s average income standards.  This wealth gap between America and the rest of the world is a result of many things.  Many counties around the world have very low literacy rates; Cheap labor, are run by dictators, and don’t have the infrastructure to make products with their natural materials.  Manny American companies take advantage of these pour counties low labor rates and build wealth off of the poor countries.  

http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/04/news/economy/world_richest/index.htm