the.com/equity
the difference between what you own and what you owe the bank
means Equity is the value you actually own in something after subtracting any debts against it, or more broadly, fairness in how people are treated.
from From Latin aequitas, 'evenness, fairness, justice,' built on aequus, 'level, equal' — the same root that gives us 'equal' and 'equanimity.' It arrived in English through Old French equité, first carrying the sense of fairness and even-handedness; the legal world adopted it for a system of justice meant to soften the rigid letter of the law. The financial meaning — your fair, leftover share once the debts are paid — is a later branch grown from that same idea of what is rightfully even and owed.
- latin roots
- From aequus, meaning level or fair
- two meanings
- Stock ownership and courtroom fairness share the word
- sweat equity
- Value built by labor, not cash
- private giants
- Private equity firms own companies you use daily
- home wealth
- Most household net worth lives in home equity
gender pay gap — women earn 84 cents per dollar men earn in the us (2023)
black white wealth gap — median white family wealth is 8-10x higher than black families in america
education funding disparities — schools in poor districts receive $23,000 less per student than wealthy districts (us 2020)
healthcare access inequality — maternal mortality rate for black women is 3x higher than white women in the us