The Average Net Worth of the Forbes 2013 Billionaires: Summary of The Regional Analysis

The Linear Law and the property called Entropy

1. Summary
Combined net worth, y [$ billions]
$3,500 $3,000 $2,500 $2,000 $1,500 $1,000 $500 $0 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800

y = 4.221x + 23.15 r2 = 0.9998 USA

Americas

Americas w/o USA

Number of billionaires, x
A graphical representation of the data on the combined net worth (y) for all the billionaires of the Americas (USA, Canada, Mexico and the countries of Latin America, x = 571), USA (x = 442 billionaires), all of the Americas without the USA (x = 129) shows that all the three points fall on a nearly PERFECT straight line, with the mathematical equation y = 4.221x + 23.15, with a linear regression co-efficient r2 = 0.9998. The significance of this finding is discussed here to introduce the property
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called the entropy S possessed by the system of billionaires, in addition to their net worth. The net worth, or wealth, or money is like the property called the energy in physics. Money in economics is just like energy in physics, or vice versa.

****************************************************

Table of Contents
No.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Topic
Summary Posted on my Facebook Page and Forbes.com Introduction First glimpse of the linear law Further evidence for the linear law The manifestation of entropy Giants of Entropy and Statistical Physics Reference list and related articles

Page No.
1 3 5 7 10 16 25 27

The Argentine Billionaires

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Courtesy: http://www.forbes.com/sites/ricardogeromel/2013/03/22/forbesbillionaires-map/

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Posted on my Facebook Page and at Forbes.com (March 31, 2013 ~ 11.38 PM)

Vj Laxmanan

A different approach is taken here to discuss the problem of determining the "average" net worth of billionaires. When the regional net worth data for ALL the Americas, USA, and Latin America is plotted against number of billionaires, we find that the data fall on a straight line, with the mathematical equation y = 4.221x + 23.15, with a linear regression co-efficient r2 = 0.9998. The significance of this finding is discussed here to introduce the property called the entropy S possessed by the system of billionaires, in addition to their net worth. The net worth, or wealth, or money is like the property called the energy in physics. Money in economics is just like energy in physics, or vice versa. The "average" net worth calculation is thus shown to be similar to the "average" energy calculation by Planck, as described in his famous December 1900 paper.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/132910617/The-Average-Net-Worth-of-theForbes-2013-Billionaires http://www.scribd.com/doc/133321333/The-Average-Net-Worth-of-theForbes-2013-Billionaires-and-Summary-of-the-Regional-Analysis *********************************************************************** Posted at Forbes.com on April 1, 2013, ~ 12:04 AM I love the new "mapping of wealth" graphics here. It makes a very nice and useful addition to another one published the week after the Forbes 2013 Billionaires list became available (it was called the "Infographic"). Thanks. After this came out, and the focus on Latin America by Ricardo Geromel, I took a different approach to discuss the problem of determining the "average" net worth of billionaires. When the combined regional net worth data for ALL the Americas, USA, and Latin America is plotted against number of billionaires, we find that the data fall on a straight line, with the mathematical equation y = 4.221x + 23.15, with a linear regression co-efficient r^2 = 0.9998. Here x is the number of billionaires and y their combined net worth . The ratio y/x is the
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average net worth. The significance of the linear law is discussed here to introduce the property called the entropy S possessed by our system of billionaires. Our billionaires have the property called net worth. The system of billionaires also possesses the property called entropy. The net worth, or wealth, or money is like the property called the energy in physics. Money in economics is just like energy in physics, or vice versa. The "average" net worth calculation is thus shown to be similar to the "average" energy calculation by Planck, as described in his famous December 1900 paper. And this is related to another property called "temperature". Understanding of "entropy" and "temperature" will tell us how the our system of billionaires increases its "average" values, i.e., how the net worth will grow. Cheers! http://www.scribd.com/doc/132910617/The-Average-Net-Worth-of-theForbes-2013-Billionaires http://www.scribd.com/doc/133321333/The-Average-Net-Worth-of-theForbes-2013-Billionaires-and-Summary-of-the-Regional-Analysis

2. Introduction
The individual net worth of a billionaire determines his or her rank, see the list below for Ireland (click here), in the Forbes 2013 Billionaire list, see Refs. [1-6] or the Hurun Rich list, Refs. [7,8]. Table 1: Individual Net worths of the five billionaires from Ireland Forbes rank 103 233 613 736 831 Name Pallonji Denis John Martin Dermot Individual net worth Uk 10.5 5.2 2.4 2 1.8 Combined net worth UN = $21.9 B. Average net worth U = UN/N = $4.38B.

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However, as done above, instead of considering ranks, without regard to country, we like to group the billionaires together in different ways: by country of citizenship (Ireland, USA, China, Russia, etc.), or into even bigger groups such as different regions of the world (Latin America, Europe, etc.) or even by the industry in which their wealth is being generated (Telecom for the worlds richest man, Carlos Slim Helu, others in the Forbes list are Automotive, Media, Real Estate, Technology, etc.). We also like to prepared various ordered lists by considering simple y/x ratios, such as the average billionaire net worth by country, Ref. [4-7], or the billionaires per capita, Ref. [9,10]. The combined net worth and the number of billionaires enter into the first ratio (average worth) whereas the population and the number of billionaires enters into the second ratio (per capita). The data for the different regions, as obtained from the Forbes 2013 Billionaires Special Issue, March 25, 2013, has been compiled in Table 2. As seen in Figures 1 to 4, a graphical representation of this data, on a x-y scatter plot, reveals a remarkably simple and linear relation, of the type y = hx + c, between the combined net worth UN and the number of billionaires N when we group billionaires in this fashion, into larger and larger groups. Is this finding of any fundamental significance? Here x is the number of billionaires and y their combined net worth. To answer the question that has been posed here, we will consider the billionaires within a single country, such as Ireland above, and regroup them in various ways (applying the laws of permutations and combinations from elementary statistics, click here). This leads us to some new insights into the nature and the reasons for x-y relations that we observe when the groups we consider get bigger and bigger. The average net worth U = UN/N for all the billionaires of the Americas (which includes USA, Canada, Mexico and all the countries of Latin America) is $4.28 billion. However, if without the fortune of Carlos Slim Helu, the worlds richest man ($73 B), the average for these 128 billionaires (see line item with 129) drops from $4.44 B to $3.9 B as noted in Ref. [4].

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3. First glimpse of the linear law

The remarkably linear relation that is observed, when we consider three of the above data points, all the Americas (571 billionaires), USA taken alone (442 billionaires) and the Americas without the US (129 billionaires), is illustrated in Figure 1.

Table 2: Combined net worth of the worlds billionaires by regions

Region Americas USA Asia-Pacific Europe Middle East/Africa Asia Americas w/o USA Billionaires, N 571 442 386 366 103 361 129 Combined net worth, UN 2444 1872 1160 1550 279 1078 572.38 Average net worth U = UN/N 4.280 4.235 3.005 4.235 2.709 2.986 4.437

Canada 29 92.05 3.17 Mexico 15 148.5 9.9 US, Canada, Mexico 486 2112.55 4.35 Latin America 85 331.45 3.9 Australia 22 73.106 3.32 New Zealand 3 9.15 3.05 Asia (w/o Aussie, NZ) 361 1077.7 2.98 US, Canada, Mexico 486 2112.55 4.35 The combined net worths, UN, for Canada, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand were obtained or deduced from the average billionaire net worths in Refs. [4,5]. The Latin American countries in the list are Brazil (46), Chile (14), Peru (10), Argentina (5), Colombia (5), Venezuela (3), Belize (1) and St. Kitts and Nevis (1) with a total of 85 billionaires. Asia-Pacific in the Forbes list includes Australia and New Zealand. The group Asia above excludes these two countries. Latin America excludes the North American countries of USA, Canada, and Mexico.
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Note that any two points (x1, y1) and (x2, y2) can always be joined by a straight line, with the general equation y = hx + c = h(x x0) where h is the slope of the line, c the intercept made by the line on the vertical axis, the value of y when x goes to zero and x0 = -c/h is the intercept made by the line on the horizontal axis, the value of x when y goes to zero. The slope h and intercept c are obtained easily using the equations given below from middle school algebra. Slope h = (y2 y1)/(x2 x1) Intercept c = y1 hx1 = y2 hx2 ..(1) ..(2)

However, if several points (more than two) appears to fall on, approximately, on a straight line, the slope h and the intercept c are usually determined using the method of least squares, which yields what is also called the best-fit line through the data points; see Refs. [11,12]. The three points here thus lie on an ALMOST PERFECT straight line with the equation y = hx + c = 4.221x +23.15 where the intercept c, made on the vertical axis, c = 23.15 is virtually zero (compared to the y values being considered). The linear regression coefficient is r2 + 0.9998. This is as close as it can get to the PERFECT value of r2 + 1.000 when all points lie EXACTLY on mathematical straight line. Since c 0, the ratio y/x = 4.22 + (23.15/x) is virtually constant for all these three points. The ratio y/x is, of course, the average net worth of the billionaires being considered. As we see from the tables, the average is very close to $4.22B for these three groups with the difference in the second and third decimal place arising from the nonzero c and the term (c/x) which must be added to the slope h to get the average. As noted, two points can always be joined by a straight line, but a third point need not lie on the same straight line. If two points (x1, y1) and (x2 , y2) lie on the straight line y = hx + c, the third point with co-ordinates x3 = (x1 + x2), and y3 = (y1 + y2), obtained by summing and x and y values, like we did here for the USA and the Americas, does NOT fall on the same straight line. This follows from the mathematical properties of a straight line.

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Combined net worth, y [$ billions]

$3,500
$3,000 $2,500 $2,000 $1,500 $1,000 $500 $0 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800

y = 4.221x + 23.15 r2 = 0.9998 USA

Americas

Americas w/o USA

Number of billionaires, x
Figure 1: Graphical representation of the combined net worth data for all the billionaires of the USA (x = 442 billionaires), all the billionaires of the Americas (USA, Canada, Mexico and Latin America, x = 571) and all the Americas without the USA (x = 129). The three points fall on a nearly perfect straight line with the equation y = 4.221x + 23.15 with a linear regression co-efficient r2 = 0.9998. Since y1 = hx1 + c and y2 = hx2 + c, then (y1 + y2) = h(x1 + x2) + 2c. The slope h is the same but the third point is on the parallel with intercept 2c; see also the discussion in Appendix 1. This is what we see here. The nonzero intercept c is quite small. This explains why the regression coefficient is nearly 1.0000. What is amazing is the continued preservation of this almost perfect linear relation that we observe in Figure 1 as more and more points, from different regions and combinations of countries from the different regions are added to the data set. This is illustrated by the graphs prepared in Figure 2 to 4. The figure captions are used to tell the story without any further elaboration.
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Courtesy: The Mapping of Billionaires Wealth by country and industries for the Americas, see http://www.forbes.com/sites/ricardogeromel/2013/03/29/mapping-billionaires-in-theamericas/

Finally, we conclude with a brief discussion of the five Irish billionaires which illustrates the meaning of the property called the entropy of a complex system, as discussed by both Planck (in 1900) and Boltzmann (in 1877). The example described by Boltzmann served as the basis for the simpler example given by Planck in his famous December 1900 paper which is widely believed to mark the birth of modern quantum physics, see Refs. [13-16].

4. Further evidence for the linear law

Two additional data points have been added to graph in Figure 1 to arrive at Figure 3. A new group with a total of 707 billionaires was created by creating new groups which merged the billionaires of the Latin American countries to form larger groups of 10, 15, 20, etc. see Table 3. This is the higher value of x in Figure 3. The second data point added here is the group with 265 billionaires created by taking the difference of 707 and 571 (all Americas in the original Forbes total). These two points again fall practically on the same
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straight line. The linear regression equation, redetermined for all the five points is y = 4.219x + 17.89, a slight difference in the slope h and intercept c compared to their original values. Such regroupings and reanalysis of the data from various groups is often reported in medical journal; just pick up any issue of the prestigious Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) to find such a meta-analysis discussions.

Combined net worth, y [$ billions]

$3,000.0

Americas
$2,500.0

$2,000.0

USA

$1,500.0

Europe Latin America China

$1,000.0

$500.0

$0.0 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700

Number of billionaires, x
Figure 2: Three points have been added to the data set here: the data for Europe (x = 366), Latin America (x = 85) and China (x = 122). China was added since the billionaire count is close to all the Americas without USA. The same best-fit line is used with the three points added to the same graph. The data points for Europe and Latin America fall virtually on the same line. Only China shows a significant vertical deviation from the best-fit line, indicating a lower combined net worth, or what is effectively the same as too few billionaires in China (see discussion in Ref. [30]).
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Combined net worth, y [$ billions]

$3,500.0
$3,000.0 $2,500.0 $2,000.0 $1,500.0 $1,000.0

New megagroup

$500.0
$0.0 0 100 200 300

New Latin American groupings

400 500 600 700 800

Number of billionaires, x
Figure 3: Two new points have been added to the data set in Figure 1: the data for new Latin American groupings (x = 265) and the new mega group with a total of 707 billionaires, which is 571 (all Americas) plus the new groupings, see Tables 3 and 4 for details.

The data for the eight Latin American countries, Canada and Mexico, without any regroupings between individual countries, is considered in Figure 4. Only the US was excluded since including it reduces the rest of the data to a small cluster of points near the origin. Again, we see the same remarkably linear relation. The redetermined value of the slope h of the best-fit line is just slightly lower than $4B and consistent values of $4.2B observed earlier.

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Table 3: The Forbes Billionaires of the Americas

Country USA Brazil Canada Mexico Chile Peru Colombia Argentina Venezuela Belize St. Kitts & Nevis a) b) c) d) e) Billionaires, N 442 46 29 15 14 10 5 5 3 1 1 Combine net worth, UN $1872.3 $189.3 $92.1 $148.5 $61.4 $23.3 $34.5 $11.1 $9.8 $1.0 $1.5 Average net worth U = UN/N

All Americas (b+c) 571 $2444.7 USA 442 $1872.3 Latin America 129 $572.38 Latin groupings 265 $1122.98 USA + (d) 707 $2995.29 Latin America groupings (d) are listed separately in Table 4 and give 265 billionaires and were obtained from different groups of Latin American countries.

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Combined net worth, y [$ billions]

$250.00

Americas (USA excluded)

$200.00

Brazil

Mexico
$150.00

y = 3.94x 2.75 r2 = 0.964

$100.00

Chile
$50.00

Canada

$0.00 0 10

Peru

(xm , ym)
20 30 40 50 60

Number of billionaires, x
Figure 4: Graphical representation of the combined net worth data for the billionaires of the Americas (with the exclusion of the United States which dominates the list at x = 442 and y = $1872.3 B, which is well outside the scale of the graph. The solid blue dot has the co-ordinates (xm , ym) the average values of x and y in the data set. Mexico was excluded in this calculation since it is clearly an outlier, being dominated by the net worth of the worlds richest person, Carlos Slim Helu. (Without Helu, the 14 billionaires of Mexico will have a much lower combined net worth, see Table 4.) The straight line here is the best-fit line determined using linear regression analysis (method of least squares). This best-fit line always passes through the point (xm , ym). The slope h is slightly lower than that determined earlier when more dominant groups were included.

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Table 4: Various Latin American Groupings

Country USA Brazil Canada Mexico(2) + Chile Peru+Chile Peru+Colombia+Arg Peru+Colombia Mexico Colombia+St.Kitts Mexico(2), w/o Slim Chile Peru Argentina + Colombia Argentina to St. Kitts Colombia Argentina Venezuela Belize St. Kitts & Nevis Billionaires, N 442 46 29 28 24 20 15 15 15 14 14 10 10 10 5 5 3 1 1 Combine net worth, UN $1872.31 $189.29 $92.05 $136.85 $84.65 $68.9 $57.8 $148.5 $57.9 $75.5 $61.3 $23.3 $45.6 $23.4 $34.5 $11.1 $9.8 $1.0 $1.5 Average net worth U = UN/N

All above 707 $2995.3 Latin America + USA 571 $2444.7 w/o USA alone 265 $1122.98 w/o USA + Canada 236 $1030.9 Latin America only 129 $572.38 Latin America groupings (d) above, without USA, give 265 billionaires. New groups were created by merging data for different Latin American countries. Note: All the data above agrees with the data found on The Americas, in The Forbes Billionaires, Special Issue, March 25, 2013, see page 76, especially the count of 571 billionaires and the combined net worth $2.44 trillion. These groupings now yield five groups which can be compared with the USA.

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5. The Manifestation of Entropy in the billionaire system

The fundamental reason for the linear law that is being observed here is due to a property called the entropy possessed by the system of billionaires N whose combined net worth is being analyzed by grouping them in different ways. Instead of such obvious groups, based here on the country of citizenship, let us consider all the possible groups of the billionaires within a single country, such as Ireland or Argentina, both of which have exactly five billionaires each.

Table 5: Microstates of the Argentine billionaire system

Forbes Rank List no. here Net worth, Uk Groups of 2 Net worth, UN Groups of 2 Net worth, UN Groups of 3 Net worth, UN Groups of 3 Net worth, UN 219 1 5.5 1,2 7.3 2,4 3 1,2,3 8.8 1,4,5 7.8 831 2 1.8 1,3 7 2,5 2.9 1,2,4 8.5 2,3,4 4.5 974 3 1.5 1,4 6.7 3,4 2.7 1,2,5 8.4 2,3,5 4.4 1175 4 1.2 1,5 6.6 3,5 2.6 1,3,4 8.2 2,4,5 4.1 1268 5 1.1 2,3 3.3 4,5 2.3 1,3,5 8.1 3,4,5 3.8

Groups of 4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,5 2,3,4,5 3,4,5,1 4,5,1,2 Net worth, UN 10 9.9 5.6 9.3 9.6 Group of 5 1,2,3,4,5 Net worth, UN 11.1 Note : (2,3,1) is same as (1, 2,3) and (3, 4,2) same as (2, 3,4), and (4, 5, 3) is same as (3, 4, 5) and so on. The problem we are dealing with is of picking the combinations of r things out of n, or nCr such as 5C3 = 5!/3! 2! = 10, and so on.

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Table 6: Plancks example from December 1900 paper to illustrate the meaning of entropy
Particle No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Energy units, 7 38 11 0 9 2 20 4 4 Particles N = 10 and number of energy units P = 100 where UN = NU = P. 10 5

The individual net worths of the Irish billionaires were listed in Table 1. The individual net worths of the Argentine billionaires are listed in Table 5. In his famous December 1900 paper (see English translation of Plancks original paper available in Ref. [13]), which is widely taken to mark the birth of modern quantum physics (see reviews by Kragh on the 100th anniversary, Ref. [14], and also the review by Gearhart, Ref. [16]), Planck explains the meaning of the property called the entropy S by considering an exactly similar table where he lists the energies of ten particles, see Table 6, taken from Plancks original paper. As noted, an English translation of this paper is available for study and can be found in Great Experiments in Physics, edited by Morris H. Shamos (pages 301-314). Planck wants to determine the average energy of a very complex system with N particles having a wide range of distribution of energies. He cannot see these particles nor can he measure their energies, like we can see the individual billionaires. Photographs of the individuals are available for those who have never met them, and probably will never ever meet them, to still identify (or identify with) them. We know how to measure their individual net worths. Planck does not know how measure the energies of the individual particles in the system of interest to him. However, in his minds eyes (and likewise Boltzmann), he is able to list them with numbers 1 to 10 in the top row of Table 6. Then, in his minds eye, he is able to assign energy units, integral multiples of some elementary which adds up to P with P =100 in this simple example. Planck then states that this product P is exactly the same as the product UN = NU although he does not know N, U, P or . We know Uk (individual net worths), we know N, and we know UN and also the average net worth U = UN/N. We really know so much more about the
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billionaire system than Planck did about his system. Now, all we have to do is to envision, in our minds eye, some elementary , like Planck did, and envision some large integer P, like Planck did and agree that the combined net worth UN = NU can also be expressed in terms of some P (although as yet undefined). If we can take this step, then we can also comprehend the meaning of entropy that Planck is trying to explain to his fellow scientists when he takes the first step in his revolutionary December 1900 paper. Planck says that there are many different ways in which the same total of P = 100 can be arrived at for the energies listed in the bottom row of this table. Only one such way is given here. This listing is what, Planck says, is what Boltzmann meant (in the 1877 paper, see Refs. [16,17]) when the latter was describing different complexions of a system. A system can exist in many different microstates while exhibiting the same macrostates. Boltzmann gives a full and detailed description of all possible complexions of a system (molecules of a gas) with 7 particles having a total energy of 7; see also my recent discussions of Boltzmanns example in Refs. [17, ..], and also a very nice recent discussion by La Porta of the University of Maryland, Ref. [18]. This is what we mean by entropy. It is a statement of the inherent complexity of a system, in this case the system of billionaires which is of interest to us. They possess the property called net worth, combined net worth and average net worth, exact financial analogs of the energies that Planck and Boltzmann were talking about. But, they also possess, like Planck and Boltzmann were trying to explain, another property called the entropy S. This, as Planck explains next, can be measured and quantified, using the elementary theory of permutations and combinations. Entropy is proportional to the logarithm of , which is given by the formulae given below. We have to use logarithms because we are dealing with factorials of integers (there is nothing like one-tenth of a billionaire, or one-half of a billionaire, although individuals with lower net worths are free to fancy themselves in this fashion) and factorials get very large as N (and P) increase. = N! /(N0! N1! N2! .. Nk!) ..(1)

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Or,

= (N + P 1)! /(N 1)! P!

..(2) ..(3) ..(4)

And, (N + P)N+P / NN PP Entropy SN = k ln + S0

Here ln is the natural logarithm (as opposed to log which usually signifies a base 10), k is a proportionality constant which is now called the Boltzmann constant (indeed, gave it this name in his December 1900 paper) and S0 is the unknown value of the entropy even when we consider the theoretical limit of = 1. Equation 1 above is given by Boltzmann in his 1877 paper and it is followed by equation 2. Planck only gives equation 2. La Porta has used equation 2 to discuss some simple cases (distributions of four pennies between two groups A and B) and then gives equation 2 as the general formula. Then he returns to the discussion of entropy, as applied to the flow of heat in an engine (such as the engines we find in our cars, trucks, planes, trains, rockets, spacecrafts, and so on), where the concept of entropy was first conceived (by Rudolf Clausius, in the 1850s). According to Clausius, see Refs. [19-22], if the engine (or a thermodynamic system) receives a small amount of heat dQ at the temperature T, it also manifest the property dS defined by equation 5 below where dQ is used partly to change the (internal) energy of the system and partly to produce useful work dW (which the engine can perform and thus turn heat energy into mechanical energy of motion etc.) dS = dQ/T where, dQ = dU + dW ..(5) ..(6)

Planck has essentially reversed these arguments in his December 1900 paper, by considering the limit of no work done (dW = 0) and hence T = dQ/dS = dU/dS. Equation 6 is the statement of the first law of thermodynamics and equation 5 is the statement of the second law. Plancks definition of temperature as T = dU/dS (which we trying to generalize outside physics by reconsidering the meaning of energy and entropy), is a combined statement of these two laws of thermodynamics.

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Almost every system that we study exhibits exactly analogous statements these two laws. For example, Revenues =Costs + Profits is the corollary of equation 6 for the financial system (a corporation). Likewise, Receipts = Outlays + Surplus, is analogous to equation 6 for the government budget. Labor force = Employed + Unemployed is a similar statement for the unemployment problem. The reader can now review these examples and conclude that the system of billionaires also has the same property called entropy. For that matter, more generally speaking, any complex system (with U being any measurable property of interest to us whose average value is desired) possesses the property called entropy. Now, we follow Plancks logic and define a new quantity T = dU/dS or 1/T = dS/dU which is tells us how the average U = UN/N changes as the average S = SN/N changes. In physics T is called the temperature of the system (see brief discussion in Appendix 2). We can assign the same name to the derivative dU/dS for any system of its interest. Its reciprocal dS/dU = 1/T. If we are willing to take these mental steps, we arrive at the following expression for U for any complex system of interest to us. Thus, the key steps taken by Planck to develop quantum theory are: a) The conception of entropy and application of Boltzmanns combinatorial method to quantify entropy. This can be readily extended to any complex system which exhibits many microstates. Thus, S = k ln + S0 . b) The definition of temperature T = dU/dS, or its reciprocal 1/T = dS/dU. This reverses the arguments made earlier by Clausius (by combining the first and second laws of thermodynamics), who first conceived the notion of entropy and defined it by the famous equation dS = dQ/T. This idea of temperature T as the derivative dU/dS, or its reciprocal 1/T = dS/dU, can also be extended to any system, by first generalizing the meaning of the symbol U which is redefined as any property of interest. c) The introduction of the concepts of P and to restate the average energy U and the total energy UN = NU = P. This too can be generalized to the

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computation of the averages and total values of any property of interest by restating the product for the total in terms of P and . d) The Planck expression for average energy U follows from these steps. This too can be more broadly interpreted. Although Plancks formula for U was derived by considering the properties and energy and entropy, as defined in physics, the same ideas can be generalized and applied outside physics to consider any system property U, and the notion of temperature T which is the rate of increase of U as the entropy S increases. This generalization of Plancks ideas permits its application well beyond physics to many other complex problems, such as the determination of the average net worth of billionaires and how it changes when we introduce new ways of looking at this average, by thinking about country of citizenship, industries within which wealth is generated, population of the country, and so on.

U = [ e-/kT /(1 - e-/kT) ] = (P/N)

..(7)

Thus, the average U is a function of the property called the temperature T and can also be expressed as a percentage (or a fraction or multiple) of the elementary , as determined by the ratio P/N. The units of kT are the same as the units of U and .

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Combined net worth, y [$ billions]

$12.00 $10.00 $8.00

The Argentine groupings data fall on two essentially parallel lines with slopes h = 1.4 (upper group) and h = 1.37 (lower group)

(5, 11.1)

(1, 5.5)
$6.00
$4.00 $2.00

(4, 5.6)

(1, 1.5)
$0.00 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Number of billionaires, x
Figure 5: The different microstates of the Argentine billionaire system. In 2013, we have one single Argentine macrostate: five billionaires with a combined net worth of $11.1B. The microstates being considered here all have different net worths. We are grouping the five billionaires in different ways to find their combined net worths. Since the sum of the net worths of billionaire 219 and 831 is same as the sum for billionaires 831 and 219, and so on, we are dealing with the problem of picking the combinations of r things out of n, or nCr where n = 5 and r = 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. This is NOT the same as the microstates of a system as discussed by Planck, see Appendix 1, in which each of the microstates taken together yield the same macrostate (all should have same total combined net worth, as when we just rearrange the money between the different billionaires). For the Argentine billionaires, with N = 5, there are many different groups possible we consider groups of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 rather than just the individuals (r = 1 in nCr) or the group as a whole (r = 5 in nCr). There are can = 5!/3!2! = 10 ways in which we can come up with groups of 3 out of 5, or = 5!/4!1! = 5
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ways of coming up with groups of 4 out of 5 and so on. The higher the number of billionaires in a country, the more the value of and the higher the entropy of the system. Out of 5! = 120 complexions where all the five billionaires have the combined net worth of $11.1 B, we have only one listed above, and one that has been observed in 2013.

Combined net worth, y [$ billions]

$25.0

$20.0

$15.0

$10.0

$5.0

$0.0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Number of billionaires, x
Figure 6: The different microstates of the Irish billionaire system. In 2013, we have one single macrostate for Ireland: five billionaires with a combined net worth of $21.9B, nearly double the Argentine value of $11.1 B. The Irish microstates being considered here all have different net worths. However, there are many such ways the same amount of money, instead of energy can be distributed among the N billionaires. This leads us to the graphs of UN versus N illustrated by both Argentina and Ireland, both countries with 5 billionaires each. It should be noted that the Irish billionaires ranked higher in the Forbes list and have a higher combined net worth compared to the Argentine billionaires.
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The pattern revealed in Figures 5 and 6 is remarkably similar. This fundamental conceptualization of how the combined net worth evolves when we consider a system of N billionaires explains the fundamental significance of the linear law that we observe when the groupings are carried out in other more commonly understood ways, as discussed in the earlier sections. The data separates itself into a series of parallels with essentially the same slope. A more critical study of the reasons for this separation (industries could be the primary reasons) and perhaps, a similar simulation for more complex cases like the BRICS nations (N = 46 for Brazil, N = 110 for Russia, N = 55 for India, N = 122 for China and N = 6 for South Africa), or Germany with N = 58, China with N = 122 and USA with N = 442, would yield more insights. For the moment, it is obvious that the simple law y = hx + c revealed here in our study of the billionaire problem has a deeper and fundamental significance and should be more carefully studied/examined. The relationship of the nonzero intercept c to the work function [25-28], introduced into physics by Einstein (in his 1905 paper where Plancks idea of energy and entropy were applied radiation in the form of light), has been discussed in several recent articles on the billionaire problem (see list of related articles). Einsteins photoelectric law, K = W = hf W = h(f f0) is a linear law relation the maximum kinetic energy of the electron K and the frequency f. When light shines on the surface of a metal, a stream of photons, each with energy , strike the metal and produce the electron. However, this is only possible if the photon energy exceeds a minimum value W = hf0, where h is the Planck constant and f0 the cut-off frequency below which no electrons are observed. The difficulty of producing an electron is measured by the intercept c = -W of the K-f graph. When we consider experiments with different metals, the K-f graph is a series of parallels. The microstates of the billionaire system, discussed here, lead us to a similar conception to the barriers for producing wealth (analogous to K) of the billionaire, operating in different environments (countries, industries, etc.) This generalization of the idea of Einsteins work function has also been discussed in details in other related articles on the billionaire problem.
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The Giants of Entropy and Statistical Physics

Sadi Carnot

Rudolf Clausius

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/80/Sadi_Carnot.jpeg/300pxSadi_Carnot.jpeg and http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Clausius.jpg

1. Die Energie der Welt ist konstant. (First law of thermodynamics) The energy of the world is constant. The energy of the universe is constant. 2. Die Entropie der Welt strebt einem Maximum zu. (Second law of thermodynamics) The entropy of the world strives to a maximum. The entropy of the universe is increasing. Q T http://physics.info/thermo-second/ S =
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Equilibrium_of_Heterogeneous_Substances

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James Clerk Maxwell (18311879)

Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clerk_Maxwell http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Boltzmann

Max Planck in 1933 (1858-1947)

Einstein receives Planck medal

The inaugural award: Max Planck (left) presents Albert Einstein (right) with the Max Planck medal of the German Physical Society, 28 June 1929, in Berlin, Germany.

When Planck awarded the medal to Einstein he reportedly told Einstein that he was being given the medal for taking my horrible idea of energy quanta and turning it into the even more horrible idea of light quanta.
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Reference List

1. The Worlds Billionaires, The Richest People on the Planet 2013, by Luisa Kroll and Kerry A Dolan, March 4, 2013, http://www.forbes.com/billionaires/ 2. Inside the worlds billionaires: Facts and Figures, by Luisa Kroll, http://www.forbes.com/sites/luisakroll/2013/03/04/inside-the-2013billionaires-list-facts-and-figures/ 3. Mapping the wealth of the worlds billionaires, by Luisa Kroll, March 9, 2013, http://www.forbes.com/sites/luisakroll/2013/03/09/mapping-thewealth-of-the-worlds-billionaires/ 4. Mapping the wealth of the worlds richest, by Ricardo Geromel, March 22, 2013; http://www.forbes.com/sites/ricardogeromel/2013/03/22/forbesbillionaires-map/ Forbes Map of Billionaires in the Americas, by Ricardo Geromel, March 22, 2013,
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ricardogeromel/2013/03/29/mappingbillionaires-in-the-americas/ There are 442 billionaires with citizenship from the United
States, more than in any other country in the world and even more than in all the other countries in The Americas together, which have a total of 129 billionaires. Those 442 ultra rich from the U.S. own a combined wealth of $1,872.5 billion, three times more than the combined wealth of billionaires from the rest of the Americas, $572.5 Billion. The average fortune of a billionaire from the U.S. is $4.2 billion, while the average fortune of a billionaire from any other country in the Americas is $4.4 billion. If we exclude Carlos Slim, the worlds richest with an estimated net worth of $73 billion, the average net worth of American billionaires from countries other than the US drops to $3.9 billion.

5.

6.

Average Billionaire Net Worth by Country: Full List, by Edwin Durgy, March 13, 2013, http://www.forbes.com/sites/edwindurgy/2013/03/13/averagebillionaire-net-worth-by-country-full-list/ The First Rich List, by Arik Hesseldahl and Claudia DeMairo, September 27, 2002, http://www.forbes.com/2002/09/27/0927richestphotos.html see also http://www.forbes.com/2002/09/27/0927richest.html The combined fortune of the 30 richest was $3,680,000,000 ($3.68 B) and the average net worth was $0.123 B ($122,666,666). The full list of the 30 richest men in 1918 may be found on page 15 of 17 of this article.
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7. The Hurun Report, http://www.hurun.net/hurun/aboutusen.aspx 8. Hurun Global Rich List, http://www.hurun.net/usen/Default.aspx A Microsoft Excel with the full list of 1453 billionaires is available at this website, which was downloaded, sorted by country of citizenship, and analyzed to prepare this article. 9. Which Country Has the Most Billionaires Per Capita? By Emma Roller, March 4, 2013, Slate magazine, click here, or see http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/03/04/forbes_billionaires_ list_countries_with_the_most_billionaires_per_capita.html 10. 10 Countries with the most billionaires, by Harry Bradford, The Huffington Post, First posted April 12, 2011, updated June 12, 2011, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/12/10-countries-with-thebillionaires_n_847693.html#s262776&title=4_India 11. Legendre, On Least Squares, English Translation of the original paper http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/maths/histstat/legendre.pdf 12. Line of Best-Fit, Least Squares Method, see worked example given http://hotmath.com/hotmath_help/topics/line-of-best-fit.html The formula for h used in this example is an actually approximate one and was used, before the advent of modern computers, since it only involves the determination of x2 and xy and the sum of all the values of x, y, x2 and xy. The exact formula, is given below, with xm and ym denoting the mean or average values of x and y in the data set, and ym = hxm + c since the best-fit line always passes through the point (xm , ym). h = (x xm)(y ym)/ (x xm)2 Determine the deviations of the individual x and y values from the mean, or average, (x xm) and (y ym). Determine the product (x xm)(y ym) and their sum. This gives the numerator in the expression for h. Determine the square (x xm)2 and the sum. This gives the denominator in the expression for h. This also fixes the intercept c via ym = hxm = c . Then, using the regression equation, determine the predicted value yb on the best-fit line and the vertical deviation (y yb) and the squares (y- yb)2. The sum of these squares is a minimum. This
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can be checked by assigning other values for h (using any two points) and allowing the graph to pivot around (xm, ym). The regression coefficient r2 = 1 - { (y- yb)2 / (y- ym)2 } is a measure of the strength of the correlation between x and y (or y/x versus x). For a perfect correlation, when all points lie exactly on the graph, r2 =+1.000. 13. Max Planck: The Quantum Hypothesis, in Great Experiments in Physics, Edited by Morris H. Shamos, Dover Publications (1959), pp. 301-314. English translation of the original paper by Max Planck with brief explanatory notes by Shamos. 14. Max Planck: The Reluctant Revolutionary, by Helge Kragh, Physics World, December 2000, pp. 31-35, http://www.math.lsa.umich.edu/~krasny/math156_article_planck.pdf 15. One Hundred Years of Quantum Physics, by Daniel Kleppner and Roman Jackiw, http://www.4physics.com/phy_demo/QM_Article/article.html 16. Planck, the Quantum and Historians, Phys. In Perspective, 4 (2002), pp. 170-215. by Clayton A. Gearhart, http://employees.csbsju.edu/cgearhart/pubs/PQH.pdf see discussion of Boltzmanns definition of entropy starting page 181, equations 5 and 6 on page 182, the expressions given here and Boltzmanns example of now entropy arises. Also, see equation 7 on page 186 for total number of complexions, equations 8 and 9 on page 188 and page 202. 17.What is Entropy? By V. Laxmanan, June 3, 2012, I have discussed Boltzmanns example from his 1877 paper here, Also discussed is the maximum point that is observed on the graph of profits versus revenues for Ford Motor Company, http://www.scribd.com/doc/95728457/What-is-Entropy 18.What is Entropy? By Arthur La Porta, December 11, 2012, http://www2.physics.umd.edu/~alaporta/PHYS171_f12/lectures/pennies .pdf The entropy of a system is the logarithm of the number of microstates accessible to the system in a given macrostate, see the example of distribution of four pennies between two groups A and B. 19. Energy and Entropy, http://physics.info/thermo-second/ 20. On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Equilibrium_of_Heterogeneous_Substances
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21. Rudolf Clausius, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Clausius 22. Rudolf Clausius, http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Rudolf_Clausius 23. Entropy, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy In 1877 Boltzmann visualized a
probabilistic way to measure the entropy of an ensemble of ideal gas particles, in which he defined entropy to be proportional to the logarithm of the number of microstates such a gas could occupy. Henceforth, the essential problem in statistical thermodynamics, i.e. according to Erwin Schrdinger, has been to determine the distribution of a given amount of energy E over N identical systems.

24. Entropy (Information theory) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy_%28information_theory%29 25. On a heuristic point of view about the creation and conversion of light, by A. Einstein, 1905, Einsteins original paper which showed light can be viewed as particles with fixed energy quanta,
http://www.ffn.ub.es/luisnavarro/nuevo_maletin/Einstein_1905_heuristic.pdf

26. On a heuristic point of view concerning the production and transformation of light, Paper 5, in Einsteins Miraculous Year: Five Papers that changed the face of physics, Princeton Univ. Press (1998). http://press.princeton.edu/einstein/materials/light_quanta.pdf 27. Einsteins Quanta, Entropy, and the Photoelectric Effect, by Dwight E. Neuenschwander, Excellent discussion about how Einstein arrives at his conception of light quanta from the property called entropy possessed by radiation in the form light,
http://www.sigmapisigma.org/radiations/2004/elegant_connections_f04.pdf

28. The electron and light quant from experimental point of view, May 23, 1924, Nobel Lecture, by Robert Millikan, see Figure 4 on page 63, for experiments with sodium. The straight line graph for photoelectric experiments confirms Einsteins law. The slope of the graph gives the universal Planck constant h, one of the fundamental constants of nature. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1923/millika n-lecture.pdf 29. Empirical Evidence for Entropy Outside Physics: Wealth Distribution among billionaires in the 2013 Forbes and Hurun Rich Lists, http://www.scribd.com/doc/132059874/The-Empirical-Evidence-forEntropy-Outside-Physics-Wealth-Distribution-among-the-billionaires-of2013-Forbes-and-Hurun-Rich-Lists Published March 24, 2013.
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30. China has fewer billionaires than most other large countries, Published March 21, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/131583456/China-Has-Fewer-BillionairesAccording-to-the-Billionaire-Net-Worth-Analysis2013 31. Stats: Counting Techniques, Good discussion of equation 1 for . http://people.richland.edu/james/lecture/m170/ch04-not.html In the word, STATISTICS, there are N = 10 letters, S = 3, T = 3, A = 1, I = 2, C = 1 and the total permutations is 10! /3! 3! 2! 1! = 50,400. 32. Permutations and Combinations, by David M. Lane, http://onlinestatbook.com/2/probability/permutations.html theory of
permutations and combinations that we learn in our elementary statistics courses (click here)

33. Combinations and Permutations Calculator, Useful tool for listing nCr http://www.mathsisfun.com/combinatorics/combinations-permutationscalculator.html 34. Permutations and Combinations, starting with fundamental counting principle, http://www.themathpage.com/aprecalc/permutationscombinations.htm#principle 35. Easy Permutations and Combinations, Permutations are for lists; combinations are for groups, http://betterexplained.com/articles/easypermutations-and-combinations/

Related articles on the Billionaire Problem

1. The Average Net Worth of the Forbes 2013 Billionaires: Summary of Regional Analysis, Published March 31, 2013; please also take a look at the closely relation Ref. [2] below where the concept of entropy and how it appears in a complex system is again discussed. 2. Entropy and the Forbes Billionaires: Venezuela and Argentina Data, Net Worth is not the only property possessed by billionaires, to be published shortly, April 2013. 3. The Average Net Worth of the Forbes Billionaires, Published March 28, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/132910617/The-Average-NetWorth-of-the-Forbes-2013-Billionaires A comprehensive discussion of
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4.

5. 6.

7.

8.

9.

10. 11.

both Plancks (1900) and Einsteins (1907) methods of arriving at the SAME expression for the average energy U of a system of N particles in physics. Planck introduces the concept of entropy while Einstein introduces the concept of quantization, i.e., energy goes as 0, , 2 and so on, very explicitly. Planck is less explicit on this point. The Median Net Worth of the 2013 Forbes Billionaires: Why the median is a meaningless stat, Published March 26, 2013 http://www.scribd.com/doc/132433860/An-Essay-on-the-MedianForbes-2013-Billionaire-Why-the-Median-is-a-meaningless-stat The Average Net Worth of the Forbes 2013 Billionaires: Accumulation of the first trillion, Published March 27, 2013 Average Net Worth of Billionaires and Ordinary US households, Published March 24, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/132189331/Average-Net-Worth-ofBillionaires-and-Ordinary-US-Households Empirical Evidence for Entropy Outside Physics: Wealth Distribution among billionaires in the 2013 Forbes and Hurun Rich Lists, http://www.scribd.com/doc/132059874/The-Empirical-Evidence-forEntropy-Outside-Physics-Wealth-Distribution-among-the-billionaires-of2013-Forbes-and-Hurun-Rich-Lists Published March 24, 2013. Wealth Distribution between the 2013 Forbes and Hurun Rich Lists, http://www.scribd.com/doc/131830628/Wealth-Distribution-Betweenthe-2013-Forbes-and-the-Hurun-Rich-Lists, Published Mar 22, 2013. Average Net Worth by Country - Part 1: Preliminary Analysis of the 2013 Forbes Billionaire Data, Published March 18, 2013. http://www.scribd.com/doc/131208984/The-Average-Net-Worth-byCountry-Part-I-Analysis-of-the-2013-Forbes-Billionaires-Data Average Net Worth by Country - Part 2: Analysis of the 2013 Worlds Billionaire Data, to be published March xx, 2013. China has fewer billionaires than most other large countries, Published March 21, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/131583456/China-Has-Fewer-BillionairesAccording-to-the-Billionaire-Net-Worth-Analysis2013

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12. Average Net Worth of Billionaires by Country: 2013 Hurun Rich List,
http://www.scribd.com/doc/131764299/Average-Net-Worth-of-Billionairesby-Country-The-2013-Hurun-Rich-List Published March 22, 2013.

13. The Average Net Worth by Country, Part 1: Introducing the x-y Diagram, Preliminary Analysis of the Forbes 2013 Worlds Billionaires Data, Published March 19, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/131208984/The-Average-Net-Worth-byCountry-Part-I-Analysis-of-the-2013-Forbes-Billionaires-Data 14. Average Net Worth by Country - Part 2: Analysis of the 2013 Worlds Billionaire Data, to be Published March xx, 2013. 15. The Recent Growth in the Average Worth of US Billionaires (09-13) A Curious Limits to Growth Revealed Again, Published March 18, 2013 http://www.scribd.com/doc/131005255/The-Recent-Growth-in-theAverage-Worth-of-US-Billionaires-%E2%80%9909-%E2%80%9813-ACurious-Limits-to-Growth-Revealed-Again 16.Quantitative Comparison of the Billionaires in the Forbes Hall of Fame, http://www.scribd.com/doc/130826078/Quantitative-Comparison-of-theBillionaires-in-the-Forbes-Hall-of-Fame Published March 17, 2013. 17.Growth in the Combined Net Worth of Billionaires from 2000-2013: An Interesting Limits to Growth is Revealed, Published March 15, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/130517722/Growth-in-the-Combined-Net-Worthof-Billionaires-From-2000-2013-An-Interesting-Limit-to-Growth-is-Revealed 18.Growth of Billionaires Worldwide and in the USA: Analysis of the number of billionaires data since 1982, Published March 14, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/130377891/The-Growth-of-BillionairesWorldwide-and-in-USA-Analysis-of-the-data-since-1982 19.Countries with the most billionaires in the 2013 Forbes Billionaire List, Published March 9, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/129406030/Countrieswith-Most-Billionaires-in-the-Forbes-2013-Billionaires-List 20.Average worth of the Top 10 Billionaires in a Country, Published Mar 11, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/129863162/Average-Worth-of-the-Top-10Billionaires-in-a-Country

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21.Per Capita Trends for Ultra High Net Worth Residents in US Cities, Published March 11, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/129722844/Per-CapitaTrends-for-the-Ultra-High-Net-Worth-UHNW-Residents-in-US-Cities 22.Europe and Asia-Pacific billionaires in the Forbes 2013 list: Whats the difference? Published March 10, 2013 http://www.scribd.com/doc/129634796/Europe-and-Asia-Pacific-Billionairesin-the-2013-Forbes-List-What-s-the-difference 23. The Rate of Creation of Billionaires: Analysis of the Forbes 2013 Billionaire List, Published March 6, 2013, http://www.scribd.com/doc/128944910/The-Rate-of-Creation-ofBillionaires-Analysis-of-the-2013-Forbes-Billionaire-s-List 24. Billionaires and Calculus: Ratio versus Rate of Change Is Einsteins Work Function Observed In this Problem? Published March 5, 2013. http://www.scribd.com/doc/128610494/The-Forbes-Billionaires-andCalculus-Is-Einstein-s-Work-Function-Observed-Here 25. Billionaires and the Population Law: Analysis of the 2013 Forbes Billionaires List, to be published shortly.

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About the author V. Laxmanan, Sc. D.

The author obtained his Bachelors degree (B. E.) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Poona and his Masters degree (M. E.), also in Mechanical Engineering, from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, followed by a Masters (S. M.) and Doctoral (Sc. D.) degrees in Materials Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA. He then spent his entire professional career at leading US research institutions (MIT, Allied Chemical Corporate R & D, now part of Honeywell, NASA, Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), and General Motors Research and Development Center in Warren, MI). He holds four patents in materials processing, has co-authored two books and published several scientific papers in leading peer-reviewed international journals. His expertise includes developing simple mathematical models to explain the behavior of complex systems. While at NASA and CWRU, he was responsible for developing material processing experiments to be performed aboard the space shuttle and developed a simple mathematical model to explain the growth Christmas-tree, or snowflake, like structures (called dendrites) widely observed in many types of liquid-to-solid phase transformations (e.g., freezing of all commercial metals and alloys, freezing of water, and, yes, production of snowflakes!). This led to a simple model to explain the growth of dendritic structures in both the groundbased experiments and in the space shuttle experiments. More recently, he has been interested in the analysis of the large volumes of data from financial and economic systems and has developed what may be called the Quantum Business Model (QBM). This extends (to financial and economic systems) the mathematical arguments used by Max Planck to develop quantum physics using the analogy Energy = Money, i.e., energy in physics is like money in economics. Einstein applied Plancks ideas to describe the photoelectric effect (by treating light as being composed of particles called photons, each with the fixed quantum of energy conceived by Planck). The mathematical law deduced by Planck, referred to here as the generalized power-exponential law, might
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actually have many applications far beyond blackbody radiation studies where it was first conceived. Einsteins photoelectric law is a simple linear law and was deduced from Plancks non-linear law for describing blackbody radiation. It appears that financial and economic systems can be modeled using a similar approach. Finance, business, economics and management sciences now essentially seem to operate like astronomy and physics before the advent of Kepler and Newton. Finally, during my professional career, I also twice had the opportunity and great honor to make presentations to two Nobel laureates: first at NASA to Prof. Robert Schrieffer (1972 Physics Nobel Prize), who was the Chairman of the Schrieffer Committee appointed to review NASAs space flight experiments (following the loss of the space shuttle Challenger on January 28, 1986) and second at GM Research Labs to Prof. Robert Solow (1987 Nobel Prize in economics), who was Chairman of Corporate Research Review Committee, appointed by GM corporate management.

Cover page of AirTran 2000 Annual Report

Can you see that plane flying above the tall tree tops that make a nearly perfect circle? It requires a great deal of imagination to see and to photograph it.

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