And the wealthy shall inherit...
| By Richard Myers - Jan 29th, 2006 at 7:13 pm EST |
| Also listed in: Corporate Accountability |
What if the super wealthy owned more than half of everything?
What if, by one measure of wealth concentration, the top one percent of wealth holders were on course to own all corporate wealth in just twenty-five years?
Extrapolating from an analysis of wealth accumulation derived from data on the Congressional Budget Office web site, that appears to be happening. The TOPs (Top One Percent) of America's wealthy already do control more than half the nation's corporate wealth, according to the report. In twelve years, from 1991 to 2003, they increased their share of corporate wealth by almost nineteen percent.
By this measure, all other categories (the other ninety-nine percent of us) have been steadily losing our share of corporate wealth.
The calculation doesn't measure everything-- noncorporate assets such as personal residences are excluded. So if we may recklessly play devil's advocate with statistical projections, if you're not in the TOP, you may have no wealth deriving from stocks or rent income in twenty-five years. But you may still have your pension and own your house (if you're lucky enough,) this report doesn't measure those assets.
(With such an imbalance in the political power that derives from extreme wealth, it may be a battle to hold on to them!)
The method of measurement evaluates taxes on capital gains, dividends, interest and rents. Those who advocate for free market capitalism oppose this method of measuring wealth (and with good reason, it appears.)
Even considering that this is just one measure, and other statistical approaches present a more complete and accurate picture of wealth concentration, this report in the New York Times ought to serve as a wakeup call.
www.nytimes.com/2006/01/29/national/29rich.html
What if, by one measure of wealth concentration, the top one percent of wealth holders were on course to own all corporate wealth in just twenty-five years?
Extrapolating from an analysis of wealth accumulation derived from data on the Congressional Budget Office web site, that appears to be happening. The TOPs (Top One Percent) of America's wealthy already do control more than half the nation's corporate wealth, according to the report. In twelve years, from 1991 to 2003, they increased their share of corporate wealth by almost nineteen percent.
By this measure, all other categories (the other ninety-nine percent of us) have been steadily losing our share of corporate wealth.
The calculation doesn't measure everything-- noncorporate assets such as personal residences are excluded. So if we may recklessly play devil's advocate with statistical projections, if you're not in the TOP, you may have no wealth deriving from stocks or rent income in twenty-five years. But you may still have your pension and own your house (if you're lucky enough,) this report doesn't measure those assets.
(With such an imbalance in the political power that derives from extreme wealth, it may be a battle to hold on to them!)
The method of measurement evaluates taxes on capital gains, dividends, interest and rents. Those who advocate for free market capitalism oppose this method of measuring wealth (and with good reason, it appears.)
Even considering that this is just one measure, and other statistical approaches present a more complete and accurate picture of wealth concentration, this report in the New York Times ought to serve as a wakeup call.
www.nytimes.com/2006/01/29/national/29rich.html
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