People need to remember: Six months prior to my arrival, the stock market started to go down. And it was one of the largest declines in our history. And then we had a recession and we got attacked, which cost us 1 million jobs.

--George W. Bush, third presidential debate, October 13, 2004

Yeah, it's no wonder people are still struggling economically -- we had some hard times.

Or at least some of us did....

The wealth held by millionaires world-wide rose to $28.8 trillion as of the end of 2003, according to a ... Capgemini-Merrill study, up 11% from $26 trillion in 2001.... Those at the very top appear to be doing especially well recently. The wealth controlled by individuals in North America with more than $30 million in financial assets -- such as stocks and bonds, but not including real estate -- jumped 45% to $3.04 trillion in 2003 from $2.1 trillion in 2002, according to Capgemini-Merrill.

A generally rising stock market over the past decade, soaring executive compensation, higher real-estate values and lower taxes on the wealthy are all cited as explanations for the rising wealth....

That's from an article in today's Wall Street Journal -- it's available to subscribers only, but Skimble has generous excerpts. (You'll enjoy the part about supersized yachts.)