This seems like an important corrective to the numbers in that attention-grabbing headline: Stop adding up the wealth of the poor In brief, this is the man at the bottom of those Three Billion Poor; he probably wears, or wore, a Rolex. So the numbers are mostly an artifact; I don't mean to say anything to diminish the poignancy of the plight of the world's poor.
SadKerviel.jpg
Yes, inequality is a complicated enough issue without attention grabbing headlines that detract from the real numbers. Anyone who has a good middle class job, but who happens to be underwater on their mortgage may contribute a negative number to the "wealth of the poorest" people. That doesn't mean that person is worse off than the single mother who makes $15,000/year, but who doesn't have any serious debt liabilities.