Top .5% Controls 35% of Nation’s Wealth : Assets of ‘Super-Rich’ Soar 38% in 20 Years, Democrats Claim

America’s “super-rich” have increased their grip on the nation’s wealth over the past 20 years, giving them their biggest slice ever of the economic pie, according to a new Democratic study.

The nation’s wealthiest 420,000 households--the top one-half of 1% of households--saw their share of the wealth grow by 38% between 1963 and 1983, said the study released by the congressional Joint Economic Committee.

That elite bracket of Americans controlled 35% of the country’s wealth, said the study, which is based on surveys by the Federal Reserve System. In 1963, the same group held slightly more than 25%.

The 1983 level of concentration exceeded the previous high level, which occurred in 1929 just before the Depression, said Rep. David R. Obey (D-Wis.), the committee chairman. The level then was 32%.

While the study was released by the full committee, it was prepared by the Democratic majority and not endorsed by Republicans, said Mike Freeman, press secretary to Sen. James Abdnor of South Dakota, the Republican vice chairman of the House-Senate panel.

Obey called the study “proof that the rich get richer.” It “makes sheer mincemeat of the notion that this country needs more incentives for rich folks.”

Obey charged that Reagan Administration initiatives to lower tax rates and provide tax incentives for financial activities limited mostly to the wealthy will perpetuate the trend toward increased concentration of wealth.

“A continuation of that trend erodes the basic confidence of the American public in our entire system,” he said. “It increases cynicism, and adds to the us-versus-them attitude about all institutions, economic and governmental. It’s the worst possible thing that can happen in a democratic society.”

Each of the richest households, which the study dubbed the super-rich, held at least $2.5 million in assets, and the average was $8.9 million. The next one half of 1%, the “very rich,” held assets averaging $1.7 million. The next 9% of households averaged $419,000 in assets, and everyone else--the other 90% of Americans--averaged just under $40,000.