Robert Nason, an assistant professor of management at Concordia University‘s John Molson School of Business (JMSB), had one thing in mind when he decided to study the wealth of the U.S.’ top one per cent: find out who they are.
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“The one per cent becomes a central figure in public policy, in media narratives and public in general,” Nason said.
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The purpose of the study, which was co-authored with Michael Carney, is to take a closer look at economic equality and how to create effective policies to remedy the gap between the one per cent and the rest of the population.
“There’s this kind of caricature of who the one per cent are and I think having a more authentic perspective is something that’s valuable,” Nason said.
“We found that a lot of the wealth of the one per cent is concentrated in businesses and, to me, that’s a more productive asset than just sitting on cash or gold.”
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Nason added the baby boomer generation has the highest ratio of the population belonging to the one per cent.