Plutonomy: The Rich Get Richer

Although this post focuses on material produced in 2006 it serves as a good introduction to the subcategory of income and wealth inequality. In the first decade of this century Citigroup Global Markets Inc.’s Group Research wrote several reports dealing with “plutonomy.” They use this phrase to describe the thesis that “the rich [referring here to the top 1% of income and asset holders, or in some cases to the top 10%] are the dominant drivers of demand in many economies throughout the world (the US, UK, Canada, and Australia). These economies have seen the rich take an increasing share of income and wealth over the last 20 years, to the extent that the rich now dominate income, wealth, and spending in these countries.”

This post summarizes the report “Revisiting Plutonomy: The Rich Getting Richer,” which was produced in March 5, 2006.… Read the rest