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How Billionaires Are Damaging the Economy | WIRED

60% of Americans polled think billionaires like Elon Musk are good for the economy, but the economic data reveals something very different. “These people become a black hole for the economy,” says economist Gary Stevenson. WIRED spoke with Gary as well as Princeton economist Atif Mian to debunk some commonly held beliefs about this nation’s…

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60% of Americans polled think billionaires like Elon Musk are good for the economy, but the economic data reveals something very different. “These people become a black hole for the economy,” says economist Gary Stevenson.

WIRED spoke with Gary as well as Princeton economist Atif Mian to debunk some commonly held beliefs about this nation’s ultra rich.

For more Gary Stevenson videos click here:

Director: Lisandro Perez-Rey
Director of Photography: Cole Evelev
Editor: Chris Davies
Experts: Atif Mian and Gary Stevenson

Line Producer: Joseph Buscemi
Associate Producer: Samantha Vélez
Production Manager: Eric Martinez
Production Coordinator: Fernando Davila

Post Production Supervisor: Alexa Deutsch
Post Production Coordinator: Ian Bryant
Supervising Editor: Doug Larsen
Assistant Editor: Justin Symonds

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86 Comments

  1. Cameron Owens

    December 14, 2022 at 9:33 pm

    Musk is a greedy child. Horrible for the economy

  2. Jack Hanson

    December 14, 2022 at 9:36 pm

    Wierd is a wired is a pretty mainstream YouTube channel Why would they let them post this

  3. Gangster one

    December 14, 2022 at 9:45 pm

    Musk…..

  4. gonschor7dleven

    December 14, 2022 at 10:02 pm

    Their solution is high taxation; fine, let’s go down that rabbit hole. That just gives the government more money, which is far more inefficient at channeling money back into the economy. The real solution is to worry less about the billionaires and why our government isn’t passing laws that benefit every day Americans, like free early child care and tax breaks.

  5. Christopher Hower

    December 14, 2022 at 10:02 pm

    Having been around and worked for a few very rich people including multi millionaires, I can say that these people are some of the cheapest people you will ever meet. The richer they get the more of a miser they turn into. They would try to save pennies on things that made no difference to a deal and spent enormous amounts of time on saving a few bucks, while blowing tones of money on other things. They would save money on people’s salary for example. Yeah very rich people don’t spend money like normal people and it’s not great.

    • Dejay Clayton

      December 15, 2022 at 12:58 am

      Yep, this rings true with most multi-millionaires I’ve encountered. It’s almost like they read “The Millionaire Next Door” and were then told that if they didn’t remain ultra-stingy, they would lose all their wealth immediately.

  6. budgiefriend

    December 14, 2022 at 10:13 pm

    To be civilized is to master more than ones inner beast

  7. budgiefriend

    December 14, 2022 at 10:14 pm

    Theses gluttons have lost their civility.

  8. budgiefriend

    December 14, 2022 at 10:27 pm

    Please share this video far and wide. For all Humanity’s sake.

  9. Architrex

    December 14, 2022 at 10:48 pm

    There is no such thing as a good billionaire. They shouldn’t exist. Period.

  10. Akira Igarashi

    December 14, 2022 at 10:51 pm

    They have way too much wealth

  11. Adam Brown

    December 14, 2022 at 10:53 pm

    Wired? More like based!

  12. MTG Infinity

    December 14, 2022 at 11:04 pm

    Somebody watched Adam Conover’s video

  13. François Laverdure

    December 14, 2022 at 11:16 pm

    For years I’ve been saying that we now have more kings and queens than there has ever been in history. The only difference is that instead of owning a country, they own most of the expensive stuff in the country.

  14. Free Kashyyyk

    December 14, 2022 at 11:32 pm

    We been knew

  15. Friend-Me-Not

    December 14, 2022 at 11:33 pm

    Not gonna lie, I thought billionaires were actually benefiting the economy in every way, shape or form until I clicked on this video

    • Dejay Clayton

      December 15, 2022 at 1:06 am

      Billionaires don’t stay billionaires by benefitting the economy. They do so by gaming every system and rule they can. After all, it’s trivial for a billionaire to hire a hundred lawyers, politicians, and accountants! How many of those can *you* afford?

  16. 💰 Make $750 Per Day

    December 14, 2022 at 11:34 pm

    *”If you want to achieve greatness stop asking for permission.”* _

  17. Bryan Pascual

    December 15, 2022 at 12:04 am

    staying out of debt and having positive net worth should be everyone’s dream. going for 1%… well, that’s a different story

  18. Peste Negro

    December 15, 2022 at 12:08 am

    Imma ask you again to make a “Marxism in 5 levels” and I hope this time you guys actually take it seriously (cheers and solidarity to all working class ppl across the globe, we are huge and we must flock together ASAP Ê(^.-) WE SHALL WIN!!)

  19. R O

    December 15, 2022 at 12:21 am

    Yo lets see how LEFT YouTube and Google are…because this is LEFT TALK ALL THE WAY … Free Speech

  20. R O

    December 15, 2022 at 12:27 am

    ELON HAS INVESTED INTO HUMANITY MORE THAN ANYONE I KNOW IN MY LIVING TIME… HE HAS 100’S OF BILLIONS SURE, BUT HE SPENDS ENOUGH….HE BLAST ROCKETS, YOU HAVE TO PAY TO DO THAT….THIS VIDEO IS HARD LEFT TALK, WIRED IS LIKE OLD SCHOOL CNN…..I WATCH IT TO SEE WHAT THE NEW AGE APES ARE CONSUMING….WAKE UP PEOPLE, THIS IS INNCOCENT PROPAGANDA

  21. Cedric Quilal-lan

    December 15, 2022 at 12:33 am

    🤡

  22. Wood&Stock

    December 15, 2022 at 12:35 am

    VAZA BOZO! 🏳‍🌈

  23. Dejay Clayton

    December 15, 2022 at 12:48 am

    This video should have been entitled, “Things that an observant teenager could predict about capitalism”

  24. SpaghettiMitch

    December 15, 2022 at 1:08 am

    Taxation is theft

  25. Pierre Tadrus

    December 15, 2022 at 1:24 am

    Based take I hope.

  26. The Wizard

    December 15, 2022 at 10:00 am

    A rise in interest rates in the US is already intensifying conflicts in Iran and elsewhere around the world.

    Economic poverty is often the decisive seed of conflict and strife.

    Since we cannot give people equality of outcome, we must at least do our best to ensure equality of opportunity.

    I think the US interest rate hike is an irresponsible and reckless step that trampled on the hopes of ordinary people.

    So, unless the US Federal Reserve changes its stance as soon as possible, international disputes are highly likely to intensify in the future.

    Even if the United States is criticized by the world for causing international conflict, it will be difficult for the United States to have any more legitimacy or justification.

    It is expected that the possibility of international conflicts and disputes will increase significantly due to the actions and decisions of the US Federal Reserve around the world.

    This is a disaster.#

  27. Squish Squash

    December 15, 2022 at 10:24 am

    Two words:
    Bilderberg Group.

    Look it up, it pretty much shows that they control pretty much everything.

  28. Robert Kesselring

    December 15, 2022 at 10:30 am

    A lot of claims, but no sources… I wonder why. /s

  29. Telenelat elin

    December 15, 2022 at 10:41 am

    It’s really quite simple I feel. Money is information. Information to direct the economy to meet the needs of the people. When the people have the money they know what they want and they direct the economy to meet their needs. When the billionaires have all the money, even if they direct the economy to meet what they PERCEIVE to be the needs of the people, they’re still not going to know well as each individual 🤷‍♂️
    I’m not calling for anything dramatic, just pointing out the problem of inequality as I see it

  30. Dan Playful

    December 15, 2022 at 11:24 am

    We need wealth tax and invest those into climate change mitigation, reproductive health and food production.

  31. KV Arm

    December 15, 2022 at 11:27 am

    They kind of deserve what they have. Most of us only see what is the outcome of their hardwork, but unable to recognize the hardship they encountered at the start of their career. For a second, we should recognize their contributions we are enjoying today.

  32. ady608

    December 15, 2022 at 11:48 am

    Well, billionaires do create wealth and jobs, obviously, Microsoft and all of the tech companies and all of the people they employed and all of the technology entrepreneurs before them are why you’re watching this video in the first place and not out subsistence farming. Perhaps heirs to billionaires who are billionaires themselves may not ‘deserve’ what they got, they were just lucky enough to have billionaire parents. If you’re mad about them, are you also mad about lottery winners? Who are these experts they wasted time interviewing? They don’t seem to understand anything about economics.

    • ady608

      December 15, 2022 at 11:58 am

      Oh, it makes sense, they’re interviewing these experts to say silly things because that drives engagement which makes them more money and it’s hard to become a billionaire making YouTube videos

    • ady608

      December 15, 2022 at 12:02 pm

      And did you know you could donate like $5 to help a bunch of kids not get malaria? I mean, have you done it?

  33. Andremacgregor

    December 15, 2022 at 2:25 pm

    Yesterday I was watching CNN NEWS, Binance CEO was talking about how investors and traders can make millions. And he recommended an expert called Charles schwab please can someone tell me more about his trading services..?

  34. dickfacepeterson

    December 15, 2022 at 3:02 pm

    the fixed pie fallacy

  35. GarysEconomics

    December 15, 2022 at 3:35 pm

    Nice to be involved with this! Plenty more information on the rich and the economy on my channel!

    • Max Gee

      December 15, 2022 at 8:18 pm

      Nice exposure here! Getting the word out!

  36. nwg

    December 15, 2022 at 3:41 pm

    60%???? no chance

  37. Sunny Mon

    December 15, 2022 at 3:43 pm

    4:28 What’s with Zuckerberg’s uncanny head movements here.

  38. Connor Myers

    December 15, 2022 at 4:14 pm

    I love the grounded reality of this channel!! Despite the recession, I’m so happy withdrawing my $94k profits out of my investment with a platform in town•

    • Connor Hammond

      December 15, 2022 at 7:31 pm

      She’s active on WHK APK
      ⬇️

    • Connor Hammond

      December 15, 2022 at 7:31 pm

      She’s active with this ╪❶❻⓿❷❼❽⓿❼❻❽❹ currently

    • James d George

      December 15, 2022 at 8:09 pm

      Same here, I hold Mrs Carmen in high esteem because of the weekly profit am receiving trading with her strategies

    • Arnold Judge

      December 15, 2022 at 8:17 pm

      I just got myself a new Tesla model car just few weeks back after started trading with Mrs Carmen Alise.

    • Fredrick j kelly

      December 15, 2022 at 8:26 pm

      Aww😊 I texted your broker and she responded, I’m so happy guys thanks 🙏 for this vital info

  39. dave sargent

    December 15, 2022 at 4:26 pm

    The redlining of the 60’s and 70’s helped white people, only white people.

  40. 💰 Make $750 Per Day

    December 15, 2022 at 4:46 pm

    *”Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.”* -Les Brown

  41. Appelsappie

    December 15, 2022 at 5:06 pm

    This video is so painfully wrong.

    The economic issues that we face are made and caused by poor monetary and fiscal policies. Wealth aggregation of the superrich is a byproduct of these policies.

    If you want to blame anyone, blame the demagogue politicians you keep voting for

  42. frogstrap

    December 15, 2022 at 6:13 pm

    As long as capital has control over the state then nothing will ever change, why would it? Capitalism cannot be ‘reformed’ it must be smashed.

  43. Ruben Greenshadow

    December 15, 2022 at 6:39 pm

    When it is jobs for the undereducated that you get rid of you are setting up for revolutions and huge jumps in crime. What kind of person wants to get rid of jobs for this group by turning to robotics? A deeply stupid person, that’s who. And 60 persent of people think multibillionaires are a good thing? Well, I just hope that this 60 percent all invest in the stock market since that is the way most wealthy perple make the biggest part of their money – off investments by small investors.

    • Dm Me Now On (TeIegram) @OfficiaI_wired

      December 15, 2022 at 7:36 pm

      You have been selected among my few giveaway winners, endeavor to Reach out to claim your prize. Congratulations ❄️☃️🎄

  44. pxlmvr7

    December 15, 2022 at 7:12 pm

    This is one of the stupidest videos ever. Billionaires don’t have that big of an effect on the economy that is $14 *TRILLION* dollars! This current Biden government spends *$2.5 BILLION dollars every DAY!” It is the *government* that causes the most issues with the economy, such as *inflation.* Government wastes sooooo much money and spends us into soooooo much *DEBT* that the economy is barely hanging on by a thread! So how would confiscated money for high earners and throwing it into the government debt hole going to help the economy?? This is pure nonsense! The stats on the 1950s through 70s is nonsense because there were massive loopholes in the tax code that people would use to pay less than the 90+% that the government tried to confiscate.

    This is nothing but more class warfare propaganda by socialists and Marxists . SMH .

  45. The Neurotic Nerd

    December 15, 2022 at 8:19 pm

    To think this was a good channel for accurate information.

  46. The Neurotic Nerd

    December 15, 2022 at 8:20 pm

    Their billions are not in savings… smh

  47. The Neurotic Nerd

    December 15, 2022 at 8:22 pm

    Please do proper and full research next time.

  48. mike johnston Bob

    December 15, 2022 at 8:54 pm

    WTF? This channel’s based?

  49. Carl Marshall

    December 15, 2022 at 11:30 pm

    Glad to see Gary Stevenson getting more recognition

  50. Shawn

    December 15, 2022 at 11:55 pm

    Organize communities, unionize workers. Great video.

  51. harrison

    December 16, 2022 at 1:57 am

    based

  52. 747Heavy Boeing

    December 16, 2022 at 2:46 am

    The Biden administration is.
    So why was the economy great shape when billionare Trump was President ??
    Also, we were energy independent.

    • Tsar Bomba

      December 19, 2022 at 6:15 am

      Trump inherited Obama era economy and screwed it up by dropping the ball with covid, also trump did 7.8 *trillion $* more national debt.
      Also USA wasn’t energy independent during #45 and that’s a fact!

  53. Hal Kun

    December 16, 2022 at 3:29 am

    When people complain thinking poor people try to cheat the system when there are RICH people doing the same thing.

  54. Jeff J

    December 16, 2022 at 6:52 am

    The video associated with this narrative – is ALL OVER the board. If you are going to tell a story, make it flow and deliver clean video. Good grief. What a mess.

  55. Chris Gilbert

    December 16, 2022 at 12:55 pm

    It persists because like you said, they have fooled 60 percent of Americans that they are a good thing. Trump got in on less. We have the same over here in the UK. The stupid idolising the rich, it will never change.

  56. Tomáš Svárovský

    December 16, 2022 at 5:46 pm

    I stopped buying Wired ~10 years ago. My justification was that it was three good articles a month and that was not worth ~$10 to me at the time. Wired now moves firmly into territory where it provides negative value. This is not only full on Marxist stuff but completely uninformed. Whole time they talk about “the data” never providing any. The economic arguments are on level of 10 years old. Wired, you are done.

  57. Fahad Alharbi

    December 16, 2022 at 8:34 pm

    Wow, now WIRD that stupid and are new Tankies center, well… Venezuela did exact that and more. Now their women are their first export .. got it….go figure

  58. Leo Bellantoni

    December 16, 2022 at 8:40 pm

    So, the plot at 1:55. What are the units on the vertical axis? Which geographic area is this “data” applicable to? What kinds of investments do or do not count as an “investment” for this chart? How reliable is the underlying data? This presentation is so stupid, you can’t even tell if it’s right or wrong.

  59. Nikunj Goyal

    December 17, 2022 at 4:23 am

    why does it feel like a communist rant with a lot of made up statistics

  60. alarsenal10

    December 17, 2022 at 1:05 pm

    At some point we’re just gonna get tired of their greed and eat them alive.

  61. Will Finley

    December 17, 2022 at 4:11 pm

    Don’t allow the tax loopholes and tax them 75% also encourage 99% plan but not to there own charities

  62. longnewton1

    December 17, 2022 at 6:36 pm

    Well said, a few people having excessive wealth has no benefit to the economy. More Small and medium sized companies is what will create jobs. And, effective global wealth taxes is the best way to fund the green transformation we need to deal with climate change. About 86 billionaires currently have as much wealth as the poorest 50% of the worlds population. This is obscene!

    • Ben Chesterman

      December 18, 2022 at 8:48 am

      Franchise are small & medium business

  63. Georgia L

    December 18, 2022 at 1:21 am

    Think Scrooge mc duck

  64. Ben Chesterman

    December 18, 2022 at 8:48 am

    The government is destroying private sector

  65. Ben Chesterman

    December 18, 2022 at 8:50 am

    Government the reason less business starting up , end goal communism

  66. Ben Chesterman

    December 18, 2022 at 8:52 am

    Musk paid most taxes moron

  67. Ben Chesterman

    December 18, 2022 at 8:53 am

    It government that shrunk the middle , it capitalism that built the middle class not the government

  68. Roque Santos Junior

    December 18, 2022 at 12:04 pm

    Oh no, this again.

    Get lost people…. Government screws with the Economy. Ex: Joe Biden.

  69. Gravity Shark

    December 19, 2022 at 12:20 am

    They weren’t already?

  70. dankduelz peruvian

    December 19, 2022 at 10:59 am

    How Capitalism is Damaging the World* This has nothing to do with Billionaires

    • Bruh7/Kamarovsky_KCM

      December 19, 2022 at 9:44 pm

      I mean, billionaires are a symptom of capitalism, so it’s definitely not just them that are at fault, but they still certainly do uphold that broken corrupt system.

  71. George Lee

    December 19, 2022 at 5:11 pm

    Fungible numbers that are meaningless, yeah slowdown of the economy turns the united states into a thirds world country.

  72. KILLKID

    December 20, 2022 at 12:38 am

    Not making a stand either way but just saying, if you’re convinced by this video you are financially illiterate.

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