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Originally posted by Brahman And how many billionaires are there today?

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His net worth when adjusted for inflation would put him in the top twenty modern-day billionaires; however, when adjusted for the size of the United States economy in his day, his net worth would dwarf that of any of today's billionaires. In 2001 , it was estimated that in contemporary money Rockefeller would be worth $200 billion. Jay Gould once said a man of John D. Rockefeller's immense business knowledge was born once every 500 years.

With that being said, there were other people during his day who would be considered billionaires today, once their net worth is adjusted for inflation.

Andrew Carnegie, to name another.

PS - I hear there are trillionaires living in Zimbabwe!

Last edited by DOOMBOT on Sep-17-2009 at 02:21

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Originally posted by DOOMBOT With that being said, there were other people during his day who would be considered billionaires today, once their net worth is adjusted for inflation. Andrew Carnegie, to name another. PS - I hear there are trillionaires living in Zimbabwe!

Still waiting for that 19th century was our best growth economic century stat. There are far more billionaires now than there were then.

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Originally posted by Brahman Still waiting for that 19th century was our best growth economic century stat. There are far more billionaires now than there were then.

As I stated in the first page of this thread, see The Industrial Revolution in the US.

As for having, "far more billionaires now than there were then", I don't know how you can be confidant in anything you say anymore after you quickly got proven wrong with the billionaire claim that you made. You also don't seem to understand what "adjusted for inflation" means either. Like I said, there are trillionaires living in Zimbabwe. Do we have any of those in the US? Maybe we should learn a thing or two from them, according to what you seem to be trying to say.

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Originally posted by Brahman The stock market reacts the fastest to economic data than anything else. When the economy slumps, the stock market reacts first. When the economy starts to recover, it reacts first.

In regards to this comment, why the heck did the DOW not react to the massive increase of foreclosures starting in 2006? It took over 2 years before it fell!

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Originally posted by Brahman Still waiting for that 19th century was our best growth economic century stat. There are far more billionaires now than there were then.

I don't know the numbers, but I don't find it hard to believe that the 19th century saw the most rapid period of economic growth. Remember, we were starting off from a much lower level at that time. We had very little infrastructure or capital in place, so naturally when you start at the bottom your gains are going to be huge in terms of percentage.

More wealth in dollar terms was certainly created in the 20th century..but wealth does not = growth. It's natural that developing nations converting from agrarian societies to industrial ones will have far bigger gains percentage-wise than established behomoths like the USA today. It's a lot harder for a $13 trillion economy to grow 10% than it is for a $13 billion economy to do it.

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Originally posted by DOOMBOT As I stated in the first page of this thread, see The Industrial Revolution in the US.

That's not a stat.

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As for having, "far more billionaires now than there were then", I don't know how you can be confidant in anything you say anymore after you quickly got proven wrong with the billionaire claim that you made.

Rockefeller became a billionaire in 1916, not the 19th century.

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You also don't seem to understand what "adjusted for inflation" means either.

You don't seem to understand that the compounding equation means industrial output was exponentially higher in the 20th century than during the 19th century.

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Like I said, there are trillionaires living in Zimbabwe. Do we have any of those in the US? Maybe we should learn a thing or two from them, according to what you seem to be trying to say.

Zimbabwe's inflation has nothing to do with this discussion. Completely different topic and an extreme case used in a bad analogy. What do you think I'm trying to say?

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Originally posted by DOOMBOT In regards to this comment, why the heck did the DOW not react to the massive increase of foreclosures starting in 2006? It took over 2 years before it fell!

I never said the stock market reacts immediately, I said it reacts faster than any other indicator of economic performance. The market began falling in 2007, so it was not even 1 year.

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Originally posted by Capitalizt I don't know the numbers, but I don't find it hard to believe that the 19th century saw the most rapid period of economic growth. Remember, we were starting off from a much lower level at that time. We had very little infrastructure or capital in place, so naturally when you start at the bottom your gains are going to be huge in terms of percentage. More wealth in dollar terms was certainly created in the 20th century..but wealth does not = growth. It's natural that developing nations converting from agrarian societies to industrial ones will have far bigger gains percentage-wise than established behomoths like the USA today. It's a lot harder for a $13 trillion economy to grow 10% than it is for a $13 billion economy to do it.

The industrial revolution was a period of high growth, but not greater than the growth experienced during the second industrial revolution (1941-1970) and the information revolution (1980-PRESENT). It was exponentially higher.

We need occrider in here to settle things.

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Originally posted by Brahman Rockefeller became a billionaire in 1916, not the 19th century.

I'm pretty confidant that if you adjust his net worth in the 19th century and adjust it for inflation he would have been considered a billionaire today.

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What do you think I'm trying to say?

Beats the hell out of me! Good night.

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Originally posted by DOOMBOT I'm pretty confidant that if you adjust his net worth in the 19th century and adjust it to inflation he would have been considered a billionaire today. Beats the hell out of me! Good night.

Just wanted to know where you got your stats from.

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Originally posted by Brahman Just wanted to know where you got your stats from.

Well thats common sense, class 6 stuff, no citation needed.

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