Stop press: the rich get richer
The London Independent on May 17 reported that the world's richest people are richer than was thought and are getting a lot richer every day.
According to the World Wealth Report by investment bank Merrill Lynch and management consultant Gemini Consulting, the wealth held by the planet's 6 million millionaires grew 12% last year to US$21,600 billion, notwithstanding financial turmoil in various parts of the world. The report projects that the filthy rich will be worth a cool $32,700 billion by 2004.
The study also found that those rolling in money have even more to roll in than was previously estimated — more than $2000 billion extra according to new data that reveals that wealth in the US and Germany is concentrated in even fewer hands than was supposed.