While for many people the effects of the worst recession since the 1930s look likely to linger and unemployment remains high across the Western world, for the planet’s super-rich, things are looking very perky once again.
The number of billionaires has soared in the past year, and dozens of people who lost that elite status in the credit crisis have won it back as stock markets and commodities prices have rebounded.
But the man behind the list warns that the West is losing ground to Asia, from where the bulk of the newly-minted billionaires have emerged.
“The US still dominates,” said Steve Forbes, the magazine mogul and onetime US presidential candidate, “but it is lagging. The remarkable changes in the list are reflecting the changes taking place in the global economy.”
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