Billionaires Up, America Down
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Billionaires Up, America Down
By Holly Sklar
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
Sunday 21 October 2007
When it comes to producing billionaires, America is doing great.
Until 2005, multimillionaires could still make the Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans. In 2006, the Forbes 400 went billionaires only.
This year, you'd need a Forbes 482 to fit all the billionaires.
A billion dollars is a lot of dough. Queen Elizabeth II, British monarch for five decades, would have to add $400 million to her $600 million fortune to reach $1 billion. And she'd need another $300 million to reach the Forbes 400 minimum of $1.3 billion. The average Forbes 400 member has $3.8 billion.
When the Forbes 400 began in 1982, it was dominated by oil and manufacturing fortunes. Today, says Forbes, "Wall Street is king."
Nearly half the 45 new members, says Forbes, "made their fortunes in hedge funds and private equity. Money manager John Paulson joins the list after pocketing more than $1 billion short-selling subprime credit this summer."
The 25th anniversary of the Forbes 400 isn't party time for America.
We have a record 482 billionaires - and record foreclosures.
We have a record 482 billionaires - and a record 47 million people without any health insurance.
Since 2000, we have added 184 billionaires - and 5 million more people living below the poverty line.
The official poverty threshold for one person was a ridiculously low $10,294 in 2006. That won't get you two pounds of caviar ($9,800) and 25 cigars ($730) on the Forbes Cost of Living Extremely Well Index. The $20,614 family-of-four poverty threshold is lower than the cost of three months of home flower arrangements ($24,525).
Wealth is being redistributed from poorer to richer.
Between 1983 and 2004, the average wealth of the top 1 percent of households grew by 78 percent, reports Edward Wolff, professor of economics at New York University. The bottom 40 percent lost 59 percent.
In 2004, one out of six households had zero or negative net worth. Nearly one out of three households had less than $10,000 in net worth, including home equity. That's before the mortgage crisis hit.
In 1982, when the Forbes 400 had just 13 billionaires, the highest paid CEO made $108 million and the average full-time worker made $34,199, adjusted for inflation in $2006. Last year, the highest paid hedge fund manager hauled in $1.7 billion, the highest paid CEO made $647 million, and the average worker made $34,861, with vanishing health and pension coverage.
The Forbes 400 is even more of a rich men's club than when it began. The number of women has dropped from 75 in 1982 to 39 today.
The 400 richest Americans have a conservatively estimated $1.54 trillion in combined wealth. That amount is more than 11 percent of our $13.8 trillion Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - the total annual value of goods and services produced by our nation of 303 million people. In 1982, Forbes 400 wealth measured less than 3 percent of U.S. GDP.
And the rich, notes Fortune magazine, "give away a smaller share of their income than the rest of us."
Thanks to mega-tax cuts, the rich can afford more mega-yachts, accessorized with helicopters and mini-submarines. Meanwhile, the infrastructure of bridges, levees, mass transit, parks and other public assets inherited from earlier generations of taxpayers crumbles from neglect, and the holes in the safety net are growing.
The top 1 percent of households - average income $1.5 million - will save a collective $79.5 billion on their 2008 taxes, reports Citizens for Tax Justice. That's more than the combined budgets of the Transportation Department, Small Business Administration, Environmental Protection Agency and Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Tax cuts will save the top 1 percent a projected $715 billion between 2001 and 2010. And cost us $715 billion in mounting national debt plus interest.
The children and grandchildren of today's underpaid workers will pay for the partying of today's plutocrats and their retinue of lobbyists.
It's time for Congress to roll back tax cuts for the wealthy and close the loophole letting billionaire hedge fund speculators pay taxes at a lower rate than their secretaries.
Inequality has roared back to 1920s levels. It was bad for our nation then. It's bad for our nation now.
Holly Sklar is co-author of "A Just Minimum Wage: Good for Workers, Business and Our Future" and "Raise the Floor: Wages and Policies That Work for All of Us."
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/oct/21/billionaires-up-america-down/
By Holly Sklar
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
Sunday 21 October 2007
When it comes to producing billionaires, America is doing great.
Until 2005, multimillionaires could still make the Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans. In 2006, the Forbes 400 went billionaires only.
This year, you'd need a Forbes 482 to fit all the billionaires.
A billion dollars is a lot of dough. Queen Elizabeth II, British monarch for five decades, would have to add $400 million to her $600 million fortune to reach $1 billion. And she'd need another $300 million to reach the Forbes 400 minimum of $1.3 billion. The average Forbes 400 member has $3.8 billion.
When the Forbes 400 began in 1982, it was dominated by oil and manufacturing fortunes. Today, says Forbes, "Wall Street is king."
Nearly half the 45 new members, says Forbes, "made their fortunes in hedge funds and private equity. Money manager John Paulson joins the list after pocketing more than $1 billion short-selling subprime credit this summer."
The 25th anniversary of the Forbes 400 isn't party time for America.
We have a record 482 billionaires - and record foreclosures.
We have a record 482 billionaires - and a record 47 million people without any health insurance.
Since 2000, we have added 184 billionaires - and 5 million more people living below the poverty line.
The official poverty threshold for one person was a ridiculously low $10,294 in 2006. That won't get you two pounds of caviar ($9,800) and 25 cigars ($730) on the Forbes Cost of Living Extremely Well Index. The $20,614 family-of-four poverty threshold is lower than the cost of three months of home flower arrangements ($24,525).
Wealth is being redistributed from poorer to richer.
Between 1983 and 2004, the average wealth of the top 1 percent of households grew by 78 percent, reports Edward Wolff, professor of economics at New York University. The bottom 40 percent lost 59 percent.
In 2004, one out of six households had zero or negative net worth. Nearly one out of three households had less than $10,000 in net worth, including home equity. That's before the mortgage crisis hit.
In 1982, when the Forbes 400 had just 13 billionaires, the highest paid CEO made $108 million and the average full-time worker made $34,199, adjusted for inflation in $2006. Last year, the highest paid hedge fund manager hauled in $1.7 billion, the highest paid CEO made $647 million, and the average worker made $34,861, with vanishing health and pension coverage.
The Forbes 400 is even more of a rich men's club than when it began. The number of women has dropped from 75 in 1982 to 39 today.
The 400 richest Americans have a conservatively estimated $1.54 trillion in combined wealth. That amount is more than 11 percent of our $13.8 trillion Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - the total annual value of goods and services produced by our nation of 303 million people. In 1982, Forbes 400 wealth measured less than 3 percent of U.S. GDP.
And the rich, notes Fortune magazine, "give away a smaller share of their income than the rest of us."
Thanks to mega-tax cuts, the rich can afford more mega-yachts, accessorized with helicopters and mini-submarines. Meanwhile, the infrastructure of bridges, levees, mass transit, parks and other public assets inherited from earlier generations of taxpayers crumbles from neglect, and the holes in the safety net are growing.
The top 1 percent of households - average income $1.5 million - will save a collective $79.5 billion on their 2008 taxes, reports Citizens for Tax Justice. That's more than the combined budgets of the Transportation Department, Small Business Administration, Environmental Protection Agency and Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Tax cuts will save the top 1 percent a projected $715 billion between 2001 and 2010. And cost us $715 billion in mounting national debt plus interest.
The children and grandchildren of today's underpaid workers will pay for the partying of today's plutocrats and their retinue of lobbyists.
It's time for Congress to roll back tax cuts for the wealthy and close the loophole letting billionaire hedge fund speculators pay taxes at a lower rate than their secretaries.
Inequality has roared back to 1920s levels. It was bad for our nation then. It's bad for our nation now.
Holly Sklar is co-author of "A Just Minimum Wage: Good for Workers, Business and Our Future" and "Raise the Floor: Wages and Policies That Work for All of Us."
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/oct/21/billionaires-up-america-down/
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Comments
and we are left to clean up the mess
thanks assholes... start to pay attention... before it is too late
why is everyone so upset that people are getting richer? tax cuts have a positive trickle effect for all. creates jobs and business investment.
I do like however the dems new tax plan
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Liberal_Democrat_introduces_tax_plan_Cut_1025.html
Peace
*MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
.....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti
*The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
anyone who has taken an econ class knows this. (just pointing out the obvious, not knocking you)
what I do like about the dems tax plan that I posted is that it doesnt necessarily raise taxes. just moves the percentages around. raise taxes for high earners and lower them for lower earners. this effect should offset any negatives with a "raise" in taxes.
I oppose that as well. I think the percentages should be the same with a possible exception for those below the agreed upon poverty level.
I think taxes need to be cut by a large, large portion for everyone. The government has repeatedly proven itself unable to handle finances, yet we agree to keep giving it to them.
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
I hear ya. but until we get a president who is willing to change the system, we are all screwed.
That trickle you are feeling on your head?
...
It's piss.
Hail, Hail!!!
...
Now... think of the person that would buy that $24,000.00 purse.
do you see that person and admire them?
or do you think it is kinda decadent?
...
or somewhere in between.
...
Me? I swing on the side of decadence since I've seen my company scale down operating expenses and ship jobs to India and China leaving formerly Middle Class Americans to struggle with their "American Dream" while the C.E.O.s and other executives get huge salaries and bonuses... and they are kinda tools when you meet them.
Hail, Hail!!!
HOLY FUCKING SHIT
THIS IS THE BEST POST I HAVE EVER SEEN IN THE MT... AND I MEAN EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!
wall street vs. main street
some dont see the difference... these are the same that will also say "well if you took econ 101 at whogivesashit university then you would see the obvious reasons and benefits of this"... indoctrinated fools arguing that bill gates needs a tax cut :rolleyes:
"a rising tide lifts all hips" hahahaha, fucking classic.... classic bullshit
no kidding. Reagan's fairytale of $ raining down on everyone have been nothing but showers of another kind....ewwww. we've been hearing this bull about how tax cuts and trickle down economics will benefit all for what the last 25+ years? but people are so blind that they seem to think that it's going to suddenly showing positive effects for everyone when the only ones that benefit are the elite
angels share laughter
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
yup
CLASSIC!
Peace
*MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
.....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti
*The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)
www.myspace.com/jensvad
This "liberal fuck" isnt jealous of greedy bastards. I know where you can put your mouth.
Testy, testy.
Are you a romantic?
http://forums.pearljam.com/showthread.php?t=262557
all posts by ©gue_barium are protected under US copyright law and are not to be reproduced, exchanged or sold
except by express written permission of ©gue_barium, the author.
People who try to bring other down to their level rather than lift themselves up could be considered greedy bastards. People who favor coersion and use of force to "level the playing field" could be considered greedy bastards. People who think that successful people should be punished by the government could be considered losers or quitters.
Not even thought out well. Try again.
It's cool with me if you don't want to face your demons. I was just pointing out that it isn't just the rich who can be greedy bastards. Greed seems pretty universal.
Pretty Universal was a girl I knew
she weren't greedy
'cept when it came time to screw...
all posts by ©gue_barium are protected under US copyright law and are not to be reproduced, exchanged or sold
except by express written permission of ©gue_barium, the author.
Jealous? The day I'm jealous of a $24,000 purse is the day I become Cat fucking Stevens.
Now...not to put myself in the "liberal fuck" category :rolleyes:...
If someone handed me a billion dollars, I can admit that I would probably live a more lavish lifestyle than I do now...but I would give the bulk of it away...wtf does anyone need that much money for? A million? That's a different story
I have no idea why, but that actually made me laugh. You should put music to those lyrics.
That's much better than the earlier dribble and more to the point. As for my demons, I have many but money isnt one of them. But nice use of an overly used movie/TV line.
what about yer mom?