Since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), US households in aggregate have come a long way in strengthening their balance sheets, with liabilities relative to disposable income trending down to more sustainable levels.
In tandem, household assets have surged as the value of financial assets and housing has increased. With the decline in liabilities and the rise in assets, overall net worth has risen briskly and now exceeds pre-crisis levels at around 650% of disposable income. Six ways economies can tackle the wealth divide But lurking under the surface of this data is a thorny issue of inequality across households. Each household in the top 1% of the wealth distribution has, on average, $25m of assets, including nearly $10m of equities. The next 9% of the distribution holds an average of $3.5m e...
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