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MarketWatch First Take

Sept. 15, 2009, 10:11 a.m. EDT · Recommend ·

Poorer but no wiser

Commentary: America falls behind in the global wealth wars

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U.S. wealth shrinks faster than Europe's

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By MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- A year after the Lehman Bros. collapse and subsequent credit crisis comes new confirmation that America is falling behind.

A report by the Boston Consulting Group finds that the U.S. is no longer home to the greatest chunk of the world's wealth. That honor now belongs to Europe. See related story.

Of course, it's not like anybody is really getting ahead. Global wealth fell nearly 12% in the past year to $92.4 trillion. It's just that America's share is falling faster than Europe's, where total wealth declined a mere 5.8%.

And it could just be a case of America having a higher "beta" than the rest of the world. In which case, even though wealth gets destroyed faster in the U.S., it also is created more quickly there.

One had better hope so, given that the effect on the U.S. tax base over the past year has been pretty devastating, especially at a time when the country's need of big earners has never been greater.

- Tom Bemis, assistant managing editor.

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Comments (25)

j1mmy 34 minutes ago

+7 Votes (7 Up / 0 Dn)
 
 
Still better than expected. We are still richer than Africa for the time being. Rally on!!
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purache 34 minutes ago

+1 Vote (1 Up / 0 Dn)
 
 
"Sic transit gloria mundi"........
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avatar 17 minutes ago

0 Votes
 
 
"sic transit gloria americanus"
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marioc30 32 minutes ago

+2 Votes (2 Up / 0 Dn)
 
 
In the not too distant future, they are going to compare us to Zimbabwe
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SavCD 31 minutes ago

+2 Votes (4 Up / 2 Dn)
 
 
Obama is in the process of eliminating wealth in the U.S. at the rate of 3-8% per year. Instead of putting our scare resources into export related jobs and investments, we are liquidating investments and putting the money into new, free benefit programs. He is even giving away cell phones! What a guy.
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IH8REPUBLICANS 23 minutes ago

-5 Votes (1 Up / 6 Dn)
 
 
Where are you getting this bullsh#t? Stop making things up and posting it like you know what the h#ll you are talking about!
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SavCD 16 minutes ago

+2 Votes (2 Up / 0 Dn)
 
 
So what do you think Obama is goinjg to create export related jobs. We were short 600,000 jobs last month, (employment declined by 466,000 and we need 125,000 jobs per month to take care of new entrants) and all I heard was his focus on taking and pumpinjg more money into free services, or rewards for abusers of the system. You most have heard otherwise. what did you hear?

The 466,000 job reduction number is from the BLS database, and the 125,000 number is all over the web in case you need a reference.

Is there some reason you think cussing on the web is "cool" or effective as a debating technique? Is it that you have nothing to say?
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comnios 15 minutes ago

0 Votes
 
 
for your information, Europe ALREADY has these programs :)

It is why the wealth there is not disappearing as fast.

At least there is one here that sees clearly the direction to take...
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SavCD 10 minutes ago

+2 Votes (2 Up / 0 Dn)
 
 
It is because under the EU agreements, they would not tolerate an Obama as a leader with wild spending. They have limits on spending as a % of GDP, and we would be on probation or on our way out of the EU for being reckless. They also tax for what they spend, they don't plan on having China pay their bills.
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CaptainGort 14 minutes ago

-3 Votes (0 Up / 3 Dn)
 
 
Another @#$%&! with vacuum beteen his ears roboticly repeating what his @#$%&! fringe masters
have programmed him/her to chant...over and over. Yeah, blame everything on Obama, the state of the moon, Bin Laden, Fidel Castro, whatever ...
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SavCD 10 minutes ago

+2 Votes (2 Up / 0 Dn)
 
 
It sounds like you know something.......
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SavCD 8 minutes ago

+2 Votes (2 Up / 0 Dn)
 
 
I agree that one of us has fringe masters.....
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comnios 5 minutes ago

-1 Vote (0 Up / 1 Dn)
 
 
You are not wrong. But at the same time the UE is limiting power of corporation. Unions there are also stronger then in US.

But the big difference is in the mentality of people, Europeans, unlike American, are not setting up their standard of living on debt...and greed is not one of our virtue
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SavCD 5 seconds ago

0 Votes
 
 
Comnios,

Thanks for the comment. I agree with you. The EU also when they create a program does not create a program with no funding source. The culture is conservative. They don't spend on the basis of what people decide are their "needs" and create lots of programs that lower productivity and taxes.
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Roger511 31 minutes ago

+5 Votes (5 Up / 0 Dn)
 
 
Of course. We continue to hand away our wealth hand over fist to any country that will take it...Mexico, China, India, etc etc. All it's doing is reducing our standard of living, while doing very little to raise theirs.

I'll gladly pay more for a tshirt or pair of pants if it means employing one of my fellow Americans. Protectionist? Yeah, that's me...it's only common sense.

It's only "protectionist" when the US wants to do it...it's good business when any other nation of the world wants to protect themselves.
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IH8REPUBLICANS 22 minutes ago

-1 Vote (1 Up / 2 Dn)
 
 
I wholeheartedly agree.
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Aductor 22 minutes ago

Even (1 Up / 1 Dn)
 
 
I'm not so sure that free trade is the problem, but rather over cinsumption, lack of long term investments and a general hubris among the public that being American will protect you from the laws of economics.
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comnios 13 minutes ago

0 Votes
 
 
not sure free trade is the issue?

what does it take to make your dead brain restartto function? time to open your eyes and stop to be blinded by greed
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lisa30 16 minutes ago

+1 Vote (1 Up / 0 Dn)
 
 
no surprise here
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stinkypup 15 minutes ago

+1 Vote (1 Up / 0 Dn)
 
 
ARROGANCE from the left the right the middle the bulls the bears and financial shelter seekers. Honestly, the WELLS FARGO V.P. who used the Laguna Beach Front house for her own purposes while it was on sale is reflective of the "WE HAVE, YOU DON'T" mentality that still exists with some of the U.S. banking and stock trading system. I SAID SOME...NOT ALL. But really....how stupid can you be. This does not invoke any confidence in Wells Fargo senior management or the banking industry as a whole.
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GreenspansHell 14 minutes ago

+1 Vote (1 Up / 0 Dn)
 
 
Makes sense given that Bush was our point man during the last eight years, and not theirs.

"I supported free markets during my Presidency, but free markets let me down."
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CaptainGort 13 minutes ago

-2 Votes (1 Up / 3 Dn)
 
 
This century will belong to the slant eyed race. They think long term.
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SavCD 4 minutes ago

-1 Vote (0 Up / 1 Dn)
 
 
This century will belong to those who plan long term, who focus on locking up raw materials, who are conservative with their money and do not spend public money wildly, and who invest in the jobs of the future and FORGET the past. The past is over. China has jumped 20 years foreard in the last 5 compared to the U.S.
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comnios 49 seconds ago

0 Votes
 
 
Spending public money is not the issue. HOW you spend it is.

Spending public money to offer better care, better education, better transportation system is always better that spending public money for creating and fighting wars or spend on military endlessly...
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TerryC. 7 minutes ago

+1 Vote (1 Up / 0 Dn)
 
 
"One had better hope so, given that the effect on the U.S. tax base over the past year has been pretty devastating, especially at a time when the country's need of big earners has never been greater. "

It's getting pretty bad when writers start thinking. Now if he can elaborate on this, he can create new "old news."
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