WASHINTON: The 50 richest Americans now hold almost as much wealth as half of the US, as Covid-19 transforms the economy in ways that have disproportionately rewarded a small class of billionaires. New data from the US Federal Reserve, a comprehensive look at US wealth through the first half of 2020, show stark disparities by race, age and class. While the top 1 percent of Americans have a combined net worth of $34.2 trillion, the poorest 50 per cent – about 165 million people – hold just $2.08tn, or 1.9 per cent of all household wealth. The 50 richest people in the country, meanwhile, are worth almost $2tn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, up $339 billion from the beginning of 2020. Covid-19 has exacerbated inequality in the US, with job losses falling heavily on low-wage service workers and the virus disproportionately infecting and killing people of colour. Meanwhile, many upper-middle class professionals are working from home, watching their retirement accounts rise in value after the US Treasury and Fed pumped stimulus into the economy and markets. TLTP
