Inequality amongst the wealthiest and its link with economic growth

Abstract

In this article, we correlate the key features of the distribution of wealth of the 500 wealthiest individuals in the Netherlands with economic growth and stock market returns for the period 1998 to 2009. We show that each year the distribution obeys a power law and that the key parameter measures the degree of inequality. Our main finding is that more inequality amongst the wealthiest is associated with higher economic growth.

Keywords:

• wealth
• inequality

JEL Classification:

• I00
• I30