Almost All Would Decline

This year's hot economist has proclaimed

rising inequality over the past few decades [in the U.S.] has been quite spectacular

From a historical perspective today's moguls aren't on the leaderboard. The richest Americans in history, as measured by the size of their estates relative to the economy of their time and adjusted to 2013, are:

1. John D. Rockefeller ($253B)
2. Cornelius Vanderbilt ($205B)
3. John Jacob Astor ($138B)
4. Steven Girard ($120B)
5. Richard Mellon ($103B)

Bill Gates ($74B) and Warren Buffett ($64B) are ranked 12th and 14th, respectively.

Ask any middle-class American, however, if he or she, with access to better medical care, the world's knowledge at one's fingertips, and the capability of being in Paris or Tokyo tomorrow, would trade places with John D. Rockefeller.

I daresay that all but the most power-hungry, ego-centric, and status-conscious would decline. © 2014 Stephen Yuen