If I told you that I had $1.6 trillion on deposit at a local bank, you’d think I was not merely a member of the “1%,” but a member of the “1%” of the “1%.” (Can’t you just imagine the bitter jealousy the other 99% of the 1% would feel?)

But if I then mentioned that — oh by the way — I also owed $1.6 trillion to a bunch of people, you’d realize that I probably belonged to the lowest cohorts of the 99%, rather than the very highest echelon of the 1%. In other words, you’d realize that I wasn’t über-rich; but über-poor.