The European economy grew strongly at 3.4 percent on an annualized quarter-on-quarter basis in the first quarter of 2011, but slowed to 0.6 percent in the second quarter.
Although their dollar holdings rose rapidly, the increases were not as large as those for households at the top of the wealth distribution. If patterns of equity ownership have not changed much since 1995, the steep rise in stock prices over the past several years would suggest a further increase in the concentration of net worth.