There are different ways to measure wealth. In this case, we’re talking about money and assets.

You can look at income.

You can look at overall wealth, or holdings, or assets.

You can also zero in on cash deposits. 

After all, cash is king when you need it. When the prices of goods and services go up. When you have to feed your kids and get them school supplies. When opportunities arise and you hope to level up your own state of financial security.

A massive move happened from 2019 to 2022, according to official data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis, via their FRED data system.

When we look at all of the cash deposits held by individuals in the US., we see something extraordinary. Knowing that it happened is one thing. Explaining it is another.

I’m also going to zoom way out and give some #’s over the years. I isolated these for 10 year periods, starting in 1989, then 1999, then 2009, then 2019, then the end of 2022 since that’s the last batch of data. And of course it gives us a pre-and-post forced shutdown/lockdown view.

Looking into this was inspired by the work of James Eagle, who creates excellent visuals of econ and market topics, usually in graphics and video form. I encourage you to follow him on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

So first, the #’s. And if you’d like references to the charts I’ll put those in the description section. They are screen shots from James Eagle’s work.

1989

Top 1% held 7.6%

Next 9% held 44.5%

Middle 40% held 34.5%

Bottom 50% held 13.3%

1999

Top 1% held 20%

Next 9% held 28.5%

Middle 40% held 38.8%

Bottom 50% held 12.2%

1999 was when the major world protests around the WTO, or World Trade Organization, like the Occupy movement, about the 99% and 1% began. These protests were mainly situated around Seattle. It was also the beginning of more pronounced divisive, identity politics that would carry through to today. Said differently, there are many economic issues, commonalities, shared by a large # of people in this country. It is the divergence of social views, and the focus on them, the exacerbation of these differences that keeps stoking division.

2009

Top 1% held 18.5%

Next 9% held 30%

Middle 40% held 40%

Bottom 50% held 11%

2019

Top 1% held close to 19%

Next 9% held 36%

The middle 40% held 35%

And the bottom 50% held 10%

2022

Top 1% hold 30.5%

Next 9% hold 35.5%

Middle 40% holds 27.5%

Bottom 50% holds 6.5%

(more in episode) (link to article w/graphs included)