Are rich people actually worthy of their wealth?

[Justin]

In a free market society, everyone gets paid the value of their labor and capital. But I've often wondered, are the ultra rich really worth billions of dollars? What have they done that allows them to have so much money?

Was it their genius strategy? Did they do something illegal to become that rich? Did the government help them get there? What allows the ultra rich to be ultra rich?

[Cloudcity CC]

Depends on the individual...

[blackcat2016]

some are, most aren't

[Elaine]

Most have worked hard through college to get degrees that pay well, so yes they deserve what they get. Some are wealthy because they are born into it. Most are smart and know how to invest their money. If you work hard and are smart in financing you too could be wealthy.

[brucec83]

Most inherited money. Some have worked hard and earned money. Some have essentially stolen their money. Some have been lucky. Some have built on that inheritance, but got a big jump-start through family connections.

Aristocracy and inheritance is not new. Large scale capital formation can occur through a variety of mechanisms besides private ownership. In addition to money, citizenship is inherited, connections can be inherited. Warren Buffet said that if he had been born in Bangla Desh, he probably couldn't have become rich.

Whether they are worth it involves a value judgment. A Canadian once told me that it was obscene for a US doctor I know to make $5 million a year. I asked him about Hockey Players and he said that was different.

The ability to pass wealth to decendants is an incentive. It says nothing about the worth of the beneficiaries. A tax policy which favors accumulation rather than re-distribution of wealth is a choice. But highly stratified social classes make a society inherently unstable.

[Itsa Secret]

For some it's hard work and for others it's the lucky sperm bank.

[AxelMTA]

Considering that most people are born into the same social class that they live and die in, no. Most rich people earned their money the old fashioned way: they inherited it.

[poutine]

I have no idea--you'll have to ask Conrad Black!!!

[internetgirl08]

good question. idk.

[angelwith4faces]

I think it depends on how rich you are talking about, and how many. The highest class is mainly inherited wealth - but you can often trace this inherited wealth to a single man who did not come from the upper class. Bill Gates is the latest example. But he has set himself and his family up forever.

There are 'rich' people - really upper class, maybe 75% that work hard, get degrees. But these people are poor compared to the 400 billionaires.

But even then, you have to realize that the 'free market society' model you are talking about says that prices are based on cost, and that cost is based on the extra value, but that model cannot explain where these 'costs' come from. That is, prices are determined by costs, and costs are determined by prices, and it is a completely circular, indeterminate model. That is why you need some outside forces like history, custom, culture to determine original wages and capital ownership. Once I have something to trade, then I can trade it efficiently in the market based upon how much of it I have and how much others have and want to trade.