Never heard of the "Rich mans Panic" of 1906? I'm not saying that only the mega rich were affected. What I'm saying is that the crash of 2000 hit the rich in particular(except for, naturally, the new unemployed), because a greater percentage of their wealth is in equities. For instance, according to Forbes, the 400 richest Americans lost $283 Billion in 2000, and $67 Billion in 2001 (though Forbes also lists the loss as $80 billion in 2001 - probably counting the losses of those who's net worth dropped so much, they fell out of the 400).
This amounts to an average loss of $875 million per person (in the Forbes 400) over 2 years. This means that the total wealth of the Forbes 400 fell 28% over 2 years - not counting 2002, and individuals who dropped out.
How much does it take to make the Forbes 400? In order to be rich enough to make the Forbes 400, in 2002, one needed to have a wealth in excess of $600 million.
I would also like to point out, that while millions more people are unemployed, the percentage of unemployed (so far) is well below that seen after other market crashes (1930's >25%or 1970's >10%). |
