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Report: U.S. Wealth Grows By $31.5 Trillion During Obama Presidency

(Andrew Burton/Getty Images File Photo)
(Andrew Burton/Getty Images File Photo)

President Barack Obama’s tenure hasn’t done much for the Democratic Party given the shellacking at the polls last week, but it’s coincided with a huge surge in wealth.  

According to Credit Suisse’s annual report on wealth, the net worth of United States households has soared $31.5 trillion since the 2008 economic collapse to $83.7 trillion.  

The average net worth for the United States is $348,000 per adult, according to the report — a new all-time high.  

There are now 14 million millionaires in the United States out of 35 million worldwide.  

But the median net worth is just $53,000 per adult, suggesting most people aren’t seeing the benefits in their own pocketbooks. Last week, The Economist highlighted another recent report showing wealth inequality surging in the United States  to the highest levels since the Great Depression. (CQ Roll Call is owned by The Economist Group.)  

Although Obama talks a lot about income inequality alongside policies like raising the minimum wage, he also has occasionally bragged on the “trillions” of wealth restored on his watch , but that hasn’t done his dismal poll ratings any favors.  

Soaring private wealth also has come as federal debt — now $17.9 trillion — has jumped more than $7 trillion under Obama. Deficits have shrunk to less than half of what they were in his first year in office, though they are expected to start rising again later this decade as interest rates rise and the Baby Boom generation retires.  


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