Map by Claude
Last month, I posted this data dive into the question of “How Wealth Is Created in America.” It’s always fun to look at the sources of wealth, and I used a few broad data sources.1
But these create a very blunt, 10,000-foot view of wealth in America. It would be great if there was a more granular look at where wealth came from – its sources, who is rich, and where they live nationwide.
Just imagine how thrilled I was a few weeks later to see Owen Zidar and Eric Zwicks’ new book “The Everywhere Millionaire: Who Is Really Rich in America and How They Got There.”
I had them on At the Money yesterday,2 discussing the book generally (podcast here; transcript here). Part Two will be out next week and will focus on all the insane data on wealth in the book.
One data point worth discussing was also the biggest surprise I found in their book: the impact of no-competes:
The $300 Billion Noncompete Penalty: Over 20% of American workers are subject to noncompete agreements, which restrict employees from switching to local competitors or starting their own firms. Banning noncompete agreements nationwide would boost comp by $300B annually.
$300 billion annually is a giant shift of cash from Labor to Capital, but my assumption was this was a necessary evil to protect work product and IP; think of senior people at tech firms with intimate knowledge of patents and processes – even the secret formula for Coca-Cola.3
What surprised me was the aggressive use of non-competes for jobs like “Sandwich Artists” at hoagie places such as Jimmy John’s and Jersey Mike’s.
Slapping some meat, cheese, greens, and condiments onto slices of bread is not what non-competes were created for. That is a very anti-competitive, anti-free-market way to keep wages artificially suppressed. “Sandwich Artist” may be a laughable job title, but the attorneys behind this deserve some credit for “Bullshit Artists” of the highest caliber…
More next week…
Previously:
How Wealth Is Created in America (August 19, 2026)
At The Money: Who Is Wealthy in America (and How Did They Get Rich?) (September 23, 2026)
T-Bills and Chill? Try Munis & Chill Instead (September 10, 2026)
__________
1. See Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances, Altrata’s World Ultra Wealth Report 2026, Richmond Fed;s Portfolios Across the U.S. Wealth Distribution, and Congressional Budget Office’s Trends in the Distribution of Family Wealth, 1989 to 2022.
2. They will be coming back for the full Masters in Business podcast in 2027.
3. Only five states void employee non-competes outright today — California, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Minnesota (since 7/1/2023, prospective only), and Wyoming (since 7/1/2025, with an executive/management carve-out). Washington becomes the sixth on June 30, 2027 under ESHB 1155; its ban is retroactive: every existing covenant is void and employers must notify affected workers by 10/1/2027. Everyone else permits them, but a growing bloc conditions enforceability on pay.
Interestingly, nearly every state bars (or limits) physician/health-care noncompetes. It goes to show the value of a good national professional association.
Here is Claude’s spreadsheet of the data:
