More than 11% of the world’s more than 2,000 billionaires have run for election or become politicians, according to a study highlighting the growing power and influence of the super-wealthy.

While billionaires have had mixed success at the ballot box in the U.S., billionaires around the world have a “strong track record” of winning elections and “lean to the Right ideologically,” said the study, which is by three professors at Northwestern University.

“Billionaire politicians are a shockingly common phenomenon,” the study said. “The concentration of massive wealth in the hands of a tiny elite has understandably caused many observers to worry that the ‘super-rich have super-sized political influence.’”

  • killeronthecorner@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    They didn’t forget it, they discarded it when they realised a docile middle class will vote against their own self interests almost indefinitely.

    • masquenox@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      They didn’t forget it, they discarded it when they realised a docile middle class will vote against their own self interests almost indefinitely as long as nobody in power gives them the option of voting in their own interests.

      FTFY - it’s the only true “western” contribution to statecraft.