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> What is the denominator on the fraction that generated the percentage?

100. That's what "per cent" means, percentages are a way of comparing ratios without needing to worry about scaling both numbers. The % sign is shorthand for /100 .

As for the citation im not the op but it was the 400 richest families and it was the white house itself https://www.whitehouse.gov/cea/written-materials/2021/09/23/...



No.

The numerator is theoretically their tax bill.

The denominator is not 100. It should be their income - but that's complicated to count.


The silliness aside, the answer is in the link:

> For the denominator, we use changes in the reported wealth of the Forbes 400 to estimate the income of the 400 wealthiest families.


So in other words it's completely bogus, at the very least due to unrealized capital gains, and probably thru few more fudge factors like what is "reported" wealth?


It does seem disingenuous to use a percentage, when the error bars are likely an order of magnitude either side of the stated figure.




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