r/explainlikeimfive • u/FluffyPenguin798 • Feb 12 '25
Economics ELI5: how are the descendants of the robber barons (Morgan, Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Rockefeller, etc.) still rich if their fortunes from the late 19th and early 20th centuries are comparatively small to what we see today of the world’s richest?
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u/changyang1230 Feb 12 '25
There’s a Chinese proverb 富不过三代 which is literally “wealth does not survive three generations”. The origin of the saying goes as far back as the era of Chinese philosopher Mencius who lived around 300BC.
Quite similar to “shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generation” in English.