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Opinion
Barry Ritholtz

How Wealthy Is Everyone Who Isn't Rich?

Not very, though incomes for many people are rising.
Things are actually getting better.

Things are actually getting better.

Source: Auscape/UIG/Getty Images

We seem to really enjoy contemplating the money and lifestyles of the top 0.01 percent. The wealthiest Americans garner immense mind-share in the imaginations of the rest of the populace. We incessantly track the incomes of hedge-fund managers and other finance stars, the heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune and other $100 billion families. Don't forget the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and the Forbes 400 and the wealthiest New Yorkers. 

We are in short fascinated with other people's wealth.