Wealth and Power in America: Social Class, Income Distribution, Finance and the American Dream
Wealth in the United States is commonly measured in terms of net worth, which is the sum of all assets, including home equity, minus all liabilities. More on the topic:
For example, a household in possession of an $800,000 house, $5,000 in mutual funds, $30,000 in cars, $20,000 worth of stock in their own company, and a $45,000 IRA would have assets totaling $900,000. Assuming that this household would have a $250,000 mortgage, $40,000 in car loans, and $10,000 in credit card debt, its debts would total $300,000. Subtracting the debts from the worth of this household's assets (900,000 - $300,000 = $600,000), this household would have a net worth of $600,000. Net worth can vary with fluctuations in value of the underlying assets.
The wealth—more specifically, the median net worth—of households in the United States is varied with relation to race, education, geographic location and gender. As one would expect, households with greater income feature the highest net worths, though high income cannot be taken as an always accurate indicator of net worth. Overall the number of wealthier households is on the rise, with baby boomers hitting the highs of their careers. In addition, wealth is unevenly distributed, with the wealthiest 25% of US households owning 87% of the wealth in the United States, which was $54.2 trillion in 2009.
When observing the changes in the wealth among American households, one can note an increase in wealthier individuals and a decrease in the number of poor households, while net worth increased most substantially in semi-wealthy and wealthy households. Overall the percentage of households with a negative net worth (more debt than assets) declined from 9.5% in 1989 to 4.1% in 2001.
The percentage of net worths ranging from $500,000 to one million doubled while the percentage of millionaires tripled. From 1995 to 2004, there was tremendous growth among household wealth, as it nearly doubled from $21.9 trillion to $43.6 trillion, but the wealthiest quartile of the economic distribution made up 89% of this growth. During this time frame, wealth became increasingly unequal, and the wealthiest 25% became even wealthier.
According to US Census Bureau statistics this Upward shift is most likely the result of a booming housing market which caused homeowners to experience tremendous increases in home equity. Life-cycles have also attributed to the rising wealth among Americans. With more and more baby-boomers reaching the climax of their careers and the middle aged population making up a larger segment of the population now than ever before, more and more households have achieved comfortable levels of wealth. Zhu Xiao Di (2004) notes that household wealth usually peaks around families headed by people in their 50s, and as a result, the baby boomer generation reached this age range at the time of the analysis.
List of defunct department stores of the United States | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
00:00:20 1 Department stores merged with Federated and May
00:07:34 2 Other department stores
00:07:44 2.1 Alabama
00:09:09 2.2 Alaska
00:09:23 2.3 Arizona
00:10:04 2.4 Arkansas
00:10:39 2.5 California
00:20:50 2.6 Colorado
00:21:54 2.7 Connecticut
00:24:16 2.8 Delaware
00:25:07 2.9 District of Columbia
00:25:48 2.10 Florida
00:27:58 2.11 Georgia
00:30:20 2.12 Hawaii
00:30:31 2.13 Idaho
00:31:39 2.14 Illinois
00:36:08 2.15 Indiana
00:39:51 2.16 Iowa
00:40:47 2.17 Kansas
00:41:36 2.18 Kentucky
00:43:29 2.19 Louisiana
00:45:37 2.20 Maine
00:46:59 2.21 Maryland
00:48:43 2.22 Massachusetts
00:53:32 2.23 Michigan
00:57:54 2.24 Minnesota
01:00:25 2.25 Mississippi
01:01:23 2.26 Missouri
01:02:57 2.27 Montana
01:03:52 2.28 Nebraska
01:04:51 2.29 New Hampshire
01:05:18 2.30 New Jersey
01:07:15 2.31 New Mexico
01:07:37 2.32 New York
01:14:27 2.33 North Carolina
01:15:26 2.34 North Dakota
01:15:56 2.35 Ohio
01:28:12 2.36 Oklahoma
01:29:18 2.37 Oregon
01:29:44 2.38 Pennsylvania
01:35:19 2.39 Rhode Island
01:35:55 2.40 South Carolina
01:36:48 2.41 South Dakota
01:37:03 2.42 Tennessee
01:38:43 2.43 Texas
01:42:20 2.44 Utah
01:43:19 2.45 Vermont
01:44:09 2.46 Virginia
01:45:14 2.47 Washington
01:47:48 2.48 West Virginia
01:48:53 2.49 Wisconsin
01:50:47 2.50 National and regional
01:54:01 3 See also
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SUMMARY
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This is a list of defunct department stores of the United States, from small-town one-unit stores to mega-chains, which have disappeared over the past 100 years. Many closed, while others were sold or merged with other department stores.