[lbo-talk] Questions

Doug Henwood dhenwood at panix.com
Mon May 12 18:26:44 PDT 2003


Alexandre Fenelon wrote:


>1-How much of wealth (in USA, but also in other industrialized countries)
>is the result of inheritance? I think Doug already quoted something like
>70%?

I reviewed the available evidence in Wall Street (and there's not much), and in the U.S. it looks like 50-75% is the result of direct inheritance or the appreciation of inherited funds. But it's very hard to tell, since the best source of info is estate tax returns, and, as the saying goes, estate taxes are almost voluntary. (I.e., anyone who can afford a good laywer can evade them.)

Doug



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