x togepi x
03/15/07, 04:16 PM
"Billionaires have it made.So what's new? What's new is that there are lots more of them and they're a lot richer. The number of billionaires around the world grew by 19 percent since last year, up to 946, with a total net worth increasing by 35 percent to $3.5 trillion, according to a report released by Forbes (http://www.forbes.com/home/billionaires/2007/03/07/billionaires-worlds-richest_07billionaires_cz_lk_af_030 8billie_land.html) magazine. That's trillion with a "T."Says Forbes Chief Executive Steve Forbes (http://www.cnn.com/2007/BUSINESS/03/08/forbes.billionaires.reut/index.html?eref=rss_topstories): “This is the richest year ever in human history. Never in history has there been such a notable advance.”
Of course this historic advance is largely confined to those who were already mind-bogglingly rich to begin with. For working people as a whole, there’s at best a holding action and at worst a retreat. Let’s look at the figures without Steve Forbes’ rose-colored glasses.
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (http://www.cbpp.org/7-10-06inc.htm):
From 2003 to 2004, the average incomes of the bottom 99 percent of households grew by less than 3 percent, after adjusting for inflation. In contrast, the average incomes of the top one percent of households experienced a jump of more than 18 percent, after adjusting for inflation.
In fact, it’s worse than that. The CBPP explained that the enormous gains at the top of the income pyramid caused a rise of income as a whole. But median income dropped between 2003 and 2004, and has not risen appreciably since then. In short, while the rich get richer, the middle class is shrinking, as economist Paul Krugman (http://www.alternet.org/workplace/48988/) has pointed out."
http://www.alternet.org/story/49187/] (http://www.alternet.org/story/49187/%5D)
My question, what have the top 1% done to deserve such an increase in wealth while the lower classes are actually losing money?
Of course this historic advance is largely confined to those who were already mind-bogglingly rich to begin with. For working people as a whole, there’s at best a holding action and at worst a retreat. Let’s look at the figures without Steve Forbes’ rose-colored glasses.
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (http://www.cbpp.org/7-10-06inc.htm):
From 2003 to 2004, the average incomes of the bottom 99 percent of households grew by less than 3 percent, after adjusting for inflation. In contrast, the average incomes of the top one percent of households experienced a jump of more than 18 percent, after adjusting for inflation.
In fact, it’s worse than that. The CBPP explained that the enormous gains at the top of the income pyramid caused a rise of income as a whole. But median income dropped between 2003 and 2004, and has not risen appreciably since then. In short, while the rich get richer, the middle class is shrinking, as economist Paul Krugman (http://www.alternet.org/workplace/48988/) has pointed out."
http://www.alternet.org/story/49187/] (http://www.alternet.org/story/49187/%5D)
My question, what have the top 1% done to deserve such an increase in wealth while the lower classes are actually losing money?