[michaelangerman]

Here is one example...

5. Niger: Wealth per Adult: $1,017 Niger is the largest nation in West Africa, but more than 80% of its land area is in the Sahara Desert, so it is prone to drought and famine. The GDP as of 2017 was $9.87 billion, but the wealth per adult remained low despite economic reforms.

Reference:

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/managing-wealth/112916...

[catalogia]

Mansa Musa is said to have been so wealthy he crashed the economy of Egypt by giving away gold. Extremely wealthy people is not a new phenomenon. Maybe monarchs don't count because they're so wealthy they own entire countries outright? It seems to me that makes them more wealthy, not less.

[throwawaygh]

> Mansa Musa

That's a bit of a confusing thing, though, because he was also the emperor. (OT: I often wonder if his story is well-known in tech circles because of the end date of his reign.)

[catalogia]

> That's a bit of a confusing thing, though, because he was also the emperor.

That's kind of my point though; owning an empire is an extreme form of wealth, well beyond what any of the American tech billionaires have.

[saddlerustle]

To keep that in perspective, the GDP of Niger (population 22 million) is about the annual budget of San Francisco (population 900 thousand).

Is comparing very poor countries to individuals from very rich countries a relevant framing? Global wealth disparities aren't a new phenomenon (and global wealth inequality is decreasing!)

[sytelus]

Usually these comparisons are not very fair because it’s done by currency exchange rate conversion. For example, a person with mere $800 per month income in India can have superior life style than minimum wage worker in USA.