Tuesday, March 26, 2013

How to become a millionaire

In 1979 and 1992, the Roper Organization did surveys that contained a number of questions about millionaires.  For one, they handed people a card and asked people "which of these fields of work produces the most millionaires."  The results (multiple responses were allowed, so they add to more than 100%).

                                                                                                            
                                                      1979    1992

The professions (law, medicine, architecture, etc.)    32%     46%
Business and industry                                  48%     48%
Government and politics                                27%     35%
Labor unions                                           13%     10%
Agriculture                                             3%      3%
Entertainment                                          44%     51%
Sports                                                 32%     66%
Education                                               1%      3%
Banking and finance                                    30%     30%
Organized crime                                        45%     50%


The biggest change between 1979 and 1992 involves sports, which isn't surprising because salaries did increase in professional sports and this development received a lot of publicity.  The increase in the percent naming government and politics may reflect rising cynicism about politics.  I can't think of a good reason why the professions had a large jump.  People also missed one important development--the increase of high earnings in banking and finance.  But the most remarkable thing to me was that 45-50% of the people named organized crime.  I thought the 1979 figures were some kind of mistake at first, but that's what the numbers said.

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