Which era in history best mirrors our own?

[Kirby101]

Gates and Bezps look like pikers next to their 19th century counterparts. Rockefeller and Carnegie between them had over a half of a trillion dollars when adjusted for inflation.

I have seen more like $200 - $300 billion. But income inequity and the amount of wealth in the hands of the top 1% is similar to that time.



I know this is income, I am looking for chart that also shows wealth.

[maninthemacintosh1606]

Again, the top billionaires today don't compare to the richest from the 19th century in real dollars. It's not even close. Now if all those anti-monopoly laws and acts since then weren't in place, then today's richest would be comparable to the Robber Barons of old, if not richer.

It's not about individual wealth. With greater monopolisation you reach the dominance of financial capital (as opposed to industrial capital), which sees greater disparity; the people with the greatest individual wealth aren't comparable to owners of industrial capital, but corporate wealth and financial institutions (and their boards of directors) hold the vast majority of all wealth whilst the vast majority of people. The disparity should be understood as operating between class divisions rather than between individuals per se.
On the financialisation-monopolisation point, there's a good book by V. I. Lenin called 'Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism' that's worth reading.

[maninthemacintosh1606]

I have seen more like $200 - $300 billion. But income inequity and the amount of wealth in the hands of the top 1% is similar to that time.



I know this is income, I am looking for chart that also shows wealth.

When you say wealth do you mean net worth?