tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2556307309509108391.post7770598590913029055..comments2023-02-14T08:32:05.734-04:00Comments on The Economics Anti-Textbook: Why doesn't Forbes publish the real list of the world's richest people?AntiTexterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17975559825072265469noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2556307309509108391.post-54340267103377618522014-07-09T06:36:00.402-03:002014-07-09T06:36:00.402-03:00If I was really rich (>$100B), my assets would ...If I was really rich (>$100B), my assets would be almost untraceable and you wouldn't know my name or even that I was rich.<br /><br />And I'd be working hard to be even richer, because I know how I would spend 50T.<br /><br />If there are more like me than just me, and some of them have succeeded, then assuredly that list must be full of crap.<br /><br />Another very mathematical way to look at it, as I was in Dubai, is this:<br /><br />AIDA is worth $880B<br />Abu Dhabi (most of the UAE) Oil production is worth $230M a day at the old numbers, so $84B a year.<br /><br />Assuming they did not invest a dirham outside of AIDA and that AIDA has been flatlining, that's $3.2T in cash over fourty years, and $880B in AIDA.<br />If you consider very safe investments (5% net of inflation on average), it's more than $10T.<br /><br />The emirates do share the wealth with their natives, but with their very low population, it's not that big of an expense.<br /><br />It's thus very unlikely that the Sheikh Khalifa / family 's assets be under $1T, and from the culture, I would wager that a small number of people can decide to allocate all of that wealth.<br /><br />And that's just one Oil Country.<br />And Western Countries have other resources to abuse, like a few hundred million highly qualified slaves.<br />And the US has oil as well, some of which is in Iraq or other countries.<br /><br />To me it's certain that there are about a hundred people out there with >$1T in assets, out of sight of the common fool who thinks $1M is a lot of money.L.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13854830988737781320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2556307309509108391.post-60649037408500004352011-03-02T12:23:05.375-04:002011-03-02T12:23:05.375-04:00Of course our govt knows who's money is where....Of course our govt knows who's money is where.<br />Remember several years back when the US threatened to black ball any bank (no matter where it was incorporated) who transferred any money on behalf of North Korea or it's leaders.<br />The mere threat of being blocked from the US banking network was enough to leave the Kim regime so strapped for cash that they panicked when a bank in Macao refused to let them access a few hundred million dollars.<br />The US govt (via the Fed and other banking regulators) can stop the flow of anybody's money at any time. They use the power selectively because using it too often would require that they make good on their threats -- which is often inconvenient.CoffeeIsLifehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10385724765126631738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2556307309509108391.post-18886821904616126392011-02-07T19:32:08.653-04:002011-02-07T19:32:08.653-04:00Indeed, Brian. I recently saw a figure of $100m/ye...Indeed, Brian. I recently saw a figure of $100m/year for Celine Dion, but it seems likely that that's total sales, not income, to judge by this piece published by Forbes which states that her Vega salary was about $45m., so that's probably a better estimate of income.<br /><br />http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/53/07celebrities_Celine-Dion_IR24.html<br /><br />In 2007 they claimed her net worth was about $250 million.<br /><br />http://www.forbes.com/2007/01/17/richest-women-entertainment-tech-media-cz_lg_richwomen07_0118womenstars_slide_6.html?thisSpeed=undefined<br /><br />But their 'methodology' here also seems to suggest that they just add in record sales, but surely they estimate her share of those!?<br /><br />RHAntiTexterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17975559825072265469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2556307309509108391.post-38667705017044885272011-02-07T10:54:17.473-04:002011-02-07T10:54:17.473-04:00Hi Rod,
Great post. I just checked out your blog f...Hi Rod,<br />Great post. I just checked out your blog for the first time this weekend.<br /><br />There are also lists of incomes, including celebrity incomes, again by Forbes if memory serves me right. Have you ever looked into them?<br /><br />My impression is that the celebrity incomes are inflated. They are, particularly in the case of those in music, like gross sales. <br /><br />(One way to check the plausibility of the income numbers is to compare them to the wealth estimates for the same performer -- I did this for Celine Dion, for example, and the wealth estimates are incredibly low if the income numbers were actually income in the usual sense of the term.) <br /><br />If this is the case, the lists confuse the issue of who the really rich are.Brian MacLeanhttp://www.economics.laurentian.ca/Laurentian/Home/Departments/Economics/MacLean.htm?Laurentian_Lang=en-CAnoreply@blogger.com