Does the U.S. Have the Fourth Highest Poverty Rate in the World?

Washington state Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal claimed in a since-deleted tweet that the United States has one-third of the world’s billionaires and the fourth highest poverty rate in the world. 

According to Forbes’ 2021 list of billionaires, there are 2,755 billionaires in the world. Forbes reported that there are 724 billionaires living in the United States in 2021, giving the U.S. 26.3 percent of the world’s billionaires, not one-third.

Jayapal’s math is also off when it comes to the United States’ poverty rate, by a much larger degree. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation...