Quora Answer: If We Divided All Wealth Equally among Everybody, How Much Would We Each Have?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “If we took everybody’s wealth’, and divided it equally, what would we each have?”

If the world’s wealth were divided evenly, you would be worth nothing.  This is because wealth is relative between those who have and those who have not.  For you to have wealth means that you have something that others desire, creating demand, which is what the value of your assets is based on.  If everyone single person had the exact same amount of assets, there is no longer any demand for anything, and the concept of material wealth would be meaningless.