Why do the rich get richer?
Thursday, March 1st, 2007Not how, but why–what is the motivation for the fantastically wealthy to continue to accumulate wealth and become even more incredibly wealthy?
Johns Hopkins economist Christopher Carroll has done some interesting research on this question. By his findings, it’s not to be able to spend it (the super-rich accumulate wealth at a rate that boggles the imagination on what you could spend it on), or to pass it on to their children (elderly super-rich people accumulate wealth at the same rates regardless of whether they have children), or to give it away as philanthropy. His ultimate conclusion? For the super wealthy, accumulation of wealth is its own reward.