Aug 1, 2014
Monty says finally, statistics regarding the changes in net worth have made the mainstream media. These statistics, as reported in the NY Times, are horrific, as are the implications for the future of the country.
Net worth may be the best single measure of a country’s well-being. Median net worth is a reasonable marker for the standard of living. Medians (or averages) are not good measures to capture what is happening at the lowest or highest ends. (More about that below.)
In the simplest terms, net worth is the value of a person’s assets minus his liabilities. If this measure is growing, a person is becoming better off. If it is shrinking then that person is becoming worse off, at least in terms of wealth.