20 July 2012

Median Wealth And Those Wealthy Canadians



This chart on Median Wealth is making the rounds, from an article in the Washington Post based on a recent report on global wealth from Credit Suisse.

Please note that this is median wealth, not total and not per capita.

Americans' first reactions seem to be, 1. Australia is in a housing bubble and they'll get theirs, and 2. we're less well off than Canada?!   No one likes to see their little brother doing better than they are.

I think Australia is in the China bubble overall, and there may be some decline in the cards there.

But since this is median wealth, a more useful comparison would be to look at the difference between median and average for each country, to get a better idea of how each nation's public policy decisions have been affecting total wealth distribution, and additionally compare that to growth vector.

Perhaps if I get amibitious I will do it. Here is the original Credit Suisse report.

Here is the original article that sourced this chart from the Washington Post. Are Canadians Richer Than Americans?


The only change I made to this chart from the Washington Post was to redo the names in a larger font, for those who are not adept at reading the original micro-print.