Inevitably super rich

Sometimes it feels like a foregone conclusion that most of the money ends up with a small percentage of people. Alvin Chang, for The Pudding, describes the Yard-sale model, which shows how such a skew in distribution inevitably happens even when an individual’s chances seems fair.

This is a fun one. It’s got illustrations, simulations, and interaction to show you how the (simplified) model works and applies to your life.

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Animated line chart to show the rich paying less taxes

David Leonhardt, for The New York Times, discusses the relatively low tax rates for the country’s 400 wealthiest households. The accompanying animated line chart by Stuart A. Thompson shows how the rates have been dropping over the years, which are now “below the rates for almost everyone else.” Oh.

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A quiz to see if you’re rich

In a compare-your-preconceptions-against-reality quiz, The Upshot asks, “Are you rich?” Enter your nearest metro area, income, and what you consider to be rich. See where you actually land.

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