Page:Walter Renton Ingalls - Current Economic Affairs (1924).pdf/169

Rh I have arbitrarily defined as “the rich.” I shall assume that they owned 75 per cent of the industrial property, 75 per cent of the stocks of goods, rather more than that proportion of the gold and silver; that they owned all of the foreign credits other than national; that they owned automobiles, furniture, clothing, etc., to the average value of $5,000 each; that they owned all of the urban houses that are rented, all of the other urban real estate, all of the state, county and municipal bonds, all of the mortgages on houses and farms, and one half of the government bonds, less only what is attributable to the savings banks and life insurance companies. We may then summarize as follows:

It is certain that the rich 2 per cent of the people do not own all of the stocks and bonds of industrial enterprises and it is highly improbable that they owned all of the rented urban real estate or all of the shops, hotels and other commercial buildings. But even if they did so their ownership of the national wealth at the end of 1920 would be not more than 46 per cent.