Assets of wealthy US people increased by 114 trillion yen - the gap between rich and poor is further widened with the new corona

CNN.co.jp reported the following:

 Business

米富裕層の資産、１１４兆円増　新型コロナで貧富の格差さらに拡大

2021.01.27 Wed posted at 13:13 JST

ニューヨーク（ＣＮＮ Ｂｕｓｉｎｅｓｓ） 新型コロナウイルスの感染拡大が続く米国で、数百万人が貧困に陥る一方で、富裕層の資産が急増している。

米政策研究所（ＩＰＳ）と税の公正推進団体ＡＴＦが２６日に発表した報告書によると、米国で資産１０億ドル超の億万長者の資産は昨年３月中旬以来、合計で１兆１０００億ドル（約１１４兆円）増（約４０％増）となった。

富裕層は昨年春からの損失を取り戻しただけでなく、資産を大幅に増やしている。これは主に株価の高騰によるもので、米電気自動車大手テスラのイーロン・マスク最高経営責任者（ＣＥＯ）だけでも、テスラ株の急騰に支えられて資産が１５５０億ドル増えた。

世界保健機関（ＷＨＯ）が新型コロナウイルスの世界的なパンデミック（世界的大流行）を宣言した１週間後の昨年３月１８日以来、資産１０億ドルを超えて億万長者の仲間入りをした富裕層は４６人に上る。

パンデミックの影響で、米国の格差は一層の拡大が続く。資産が急増した富裕層とは対照的に、貧困層は金銭的苦境に陥っている。その多くはパンデミックの最前線にいて、仕事を失ったり賃金をカットされたりしている。

米国の億万長者６６０人の資産は合計で４兆１０００億ドルに達し、米国の人口の下位５０％が保有する資産合計の３分の２以上となっている。

米シカゴ大学などの推計によると、米国では２０２０年後半の半年の間に、８００万人以上が貧困に陥った。

Translation

New York (CNN Business) - In the United States, where the epidemic of the new coronavirus continued to spread, millions of people were in poverty while the asset of the wealthy group was skyrocketing.

According to a report released on the 26th by the US Policy Research Institute (IPS) together with a tax fair promotion organization ATF, billionaires with over $ 1 billion in assets in the United States had an increase in wealth totaling 100 million (about 114 trillion yen or about a 40 % increase) since mid-March last year.

The wealthy group had not only regained their losses since last spring, but had also significantly increased their wealth. This was primarily due to soaring stock prices, with Tesla's CEO Elon Musk alone gaining $ 155 billion in assets, supported by a surge in Tesla shares.

Wealthy people who owned over $ 1 billion in asset would be counted into the billionaire group. Since March 18th last year, a week after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global pandemic of the new coronavirus, 46 people joined the group.

Due to the pandemic, inequality in the United States would continue to widen. In contrast to the wealthy people whose asset skyrocketed, the poor were in financial distress. Many were at the forefront of pandemics, losing jobs and cutting wages.

The total wealth of the 660 billionaires in the United States was $ 4.1 trillion, more than two-thirds of the total wealth held by the bottom 50% of the US population.

According to estimates by the University of Chicago and others, more than 8 million people in the United States fell into poverty during the second half of 2020.

              So, while it is a fact that that in the United States, millions of people are in poverty while the wealth of the wealthy group is skyrocketing, I am wondering how the wealth increase of the former could directly or indirectly affect or relate to the latter. In a capitalistic economy, the wealthy people are subject to higher taxation as one of the many ways to balance the inequality of wealth distribution.