The thing is..owning capital isnt what it used to be with jewels piling up. Credit allows debt backed by that physical collateral to be used for someones tractor to be built. These people may be 'worth' a lot of money but their wealth is actually more diversified and illiquid than the average person's capital. I think its an important distinction because we can easily lose sight when we don't realize that one person's wealth isn't a zero sum loss for the rest of us. In a credit debt economy, we still lose but not binary..more like a percentage. Their money is out there doing work, helping other people. They can call it back eventually..but if someone is so rich they never actually recall their 'floating' assets, is it economically scientific to consider those assets equal to cash under a mattress? I feel like we need a new measure for almost perpetually floating assets so we dont consider ownership as relevant.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/jan/16/w...