Imagine any given government’s financial kitty had run dry, and the richest person in that country stepped in to help out.

How long would the country be able to run, giving its daily expenditure, using that person’s wealth?

Well, Bloomberg wanted to find out and, taking up the challenge, worked out how long the wealthiest person in each country would be able to keep the country going if they were to pay the daily government costs:

[Bloomberg] took 49 countries with various political regimes and expenditure types and the richest individuals of each of these nations. We then compared their net worth as of end-December 2017 to the daily cost of running each government.

By the way, only four out of the 49 on the list are women: in Angola, Australia, Chile and the Netherlands.

Here’s a quick look at where each country stands on the timeline:

As you can see South Africa, along with Algeria and Egypt, could be kept afloat for 24 days.

The index works by comparing the “net worth of each country’s wealthiest person to his/her government’s spending” The Bloomberg Billionaires Index and the International Monetary Fund’s estimates of government spending were used as the building blocks:

Cyprus’s richest man, John Fredriksen, could keep his government running for 441 days. With projected 2018 expenditures of $23.6 million, a small population and therefore smaller costs on social security and welfare, advantageous tax policies and an economy centered around tourism and services, Cyprus would benefit the longest from Fredriksen’s $10 billion fortune.

In comparison, the most expensive governments to run are Japan, Poland, the US and China, where Jack Ma, the world’s 16th richest person with $47.8 billion, could save the Communist Party for four days. Jeff Bezos wouldn’t fare much better, even with $99 billion. With the highest government spending on the Robin Hood Index, the world’s richest man would only help the US government for five days, as much as Hugh Grosvenor in the UK and Dieter Schwarz in Germany.

It’s safe to say that most of the Western nations on the list could not survive for very long, even with the help of their wealthiest citizen.

See the 2018 Robin Hood Index below:

So much information for a Monday.

Might have to go for a lie down.

[source:moneyweb]