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85 Richest People On Earth Now Have Same Wealth as Bottom Half of Global Population

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by gifford1967, Jan 21, 2014.

  1. dmc89

    dmc89 Member

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    This article isn't talking about the top 1%. It is 85 vs 7 billion or 1.214285714285714e-8 in terms of percentage. I doubt there's adequate data for any of the years you listed.

    They say America's income and wealth inequality hasn't been this bad since the 1920s when they started collecting this info. Regardless, my eyes tell me this is unsustainable globally whether I'm in India, Brazil, or the UK. This kind of tension keeps building silently like a massive reservoir behind a dam. The ultra-rich don't realize it's wise to throw a bone now and then to keep the pressure steady. Once the revolution starts, it'll take down people in the top 33% or 25% who are very different than billionaires.

    The sad thing? Some conservative posters on CF may be wealthy, yet they aren't in the same solar system as the elite whom I referring to. They think they belong to the club, but they're usually serving tables for the fat cats while the rest of us alley cats sneak a peak through the massive curtained windows. :grin:
     
  2. Commodore

    Commodore Contributing Member

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    Yes, but you could redistribute all the wealth of the former to the later and not solve the problem.

    People aren't poor because Mark Zuckerberg is rich.
     
    1 person likes this.
  3. aggie87

    aggie87 Member

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    if only the richest 1% got better tax breaks it would solve all world problems but stimulating the economy and creating millions of new jobs.... and besides why do we need programs like social security and unemployment, lazy liberals:grin:
     
  4. Rocketman1981

    Rocketman1981 Member

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    Eat the Rich! This place is really filled with a bunch of entitled pansies.

    Most of the US billionaires are self made people that came from middle income backgrounds. I'm very much against inherited wealth or as I call it, food stamps for the rich, but by having certain standout people that come up with products or services that bring global wealth into the US, we all benefit, though they'll benefit disproportionately.

    The tax system is highly progressive with a micro-fragment of inherited wealth (Bush's, Huntsman's, Kerry's, Kennedy's) of the world living off of inherited trusts paying very little. The worst part about taxing income so heavily is that you're limiting people's ability to get out of their economic class as they have a huge burden limiting their savings. I'd rather tax people on their deaths and their consumption more dramatically than their earnings (giving a freebee to anyone making less than $40k of course).

    What the heck else do you people want? The world isn't fair and equal for all except for opportunity. It wasn't fair a thousand years ago and won't be fair a thousand years from now. Each of us make decisions that separate us from the pack and our surroundings and individually changes the path of our children and progeny. People need to man up!
     
  5. ling ling

    ling ling Member

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    Except, the welfare recipients in the US are part of the global 1%.
     
  6. Major

    Major Member

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    No they aren't. The global 1% makes a minimum of $47,000 per year. That wouldn't be anywhere close to qualifying you for welfare.
     
  7. ling ling

    ling ling Member

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    Make + the benies.
     
  8. Panda23

    Panda23 Member

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    Let them eat cake
     
  9. Rocketman1981

    Rocketman1981 Member

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    As US median income levels are over $50,000 the typical American is equivalent to the top 1% of world earners.

    These kind of statistics I think don't do much justice. Many Latin American , Eastern European, Asian and African nations state they are free markets but just use the legal system to subsidize their own business interests. Eventually those sort of family cartels boil over and end up like the Venezuelas' of the world. They allow their families to control the Coca Cola bottling, or beer or have tariffs against foreign goods all in means to subsidize themselves in the false name of capitalism and nationalism at the expense of the inflated prices and wealth they suck out from their nation.

    Having a system which has low barriers to entry to industry, limited government monopolies or licensing allows competition to take place when ends up with the best products at the lowest prices to consumers who while very willing to spend government money freely, are very particular with their own funds.

    Subsidies and mandates to industries like Ethanol and the Oil Industry are really counterproductive as they subsidize the natural flow of capital and mandates increase the price to low end consumers who can barely afford it.

    I think the greatest thing we can do for lower income people is stop regulation and mandates and excessive taxation that drives up prices and costs to them or inflates their cost of living, college tuition and home prices. These regulations and stifling of commerce drives down incomes, drives up costs so the margins of what the poorest people take home is narrowed even more with efforts to help them?! That is just lunacy to me.

    Stop forcing people to pay more in their power bills to subsidize wind energy, solar energy etc. Stop the legal system from all of these horrid class action, patent and all kinds of goofy lawsuits that end up increasing costs to consumers and lowering incomes. Stop government intrusion into things like University Education, Housing and Healthcare which had disgusting inflation the last 20+ years all through the idea of equal opportunity.

    These factors above steal money from the lower income earners and then they are excise taxed out of their American give chance at financial freedom!
     
  10. SamFisher

    SamFisher Contributing Member

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    Lol. Is this a trash heap of a potpourri of a bowel movement.

    I'd like to address it - but my random barf rebuffatron 6900 is totally froyoed due to polar vortex

    I like u bro. I hope you didn't spend more than the 33 secs I spent skimming plus the 147 secs I spent typing this on this.
     
  11. Rocketman1981

    Rocketman1981 Member

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    SamFisher,

    It is so easy to absolutely own you. Anything I post you automatically reply with a similar comment. You're like a dog playing fetch :grin:
     
  12. Phillyrocket

    Phillyrocket Member

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    I'll tell you what I want. I want there to be a better equilibrium between the rising cost of college tuition, healthcare, housing, fuel, food, etc. and the average wage. I want tax rates to return to where they were when a middle class family could send one parent to work and live just fine. I want this additional tax revenue to go towards a massive WPA program to improve our crumbling infrastructure and actually create some ****ing jobs!

    I want people to pull their heads out of their butts and realize we have cut and cut taxes and there has not been an increase in tax revenue nor has there been some massive gain in jobs.

    Companies either need to drastically lower prices or hire more people and get off the record amount of cash they are currently sitting on.

    If they won't then it's time to tax those revenues and let the government create the jobs.

    Sorry free market zealots America is a mixed economy which has long been proven the most succesful model. If the free market won't create jobs because there is no demand there damn sure is a demand for better roads, bridges, cleaner parks, etc.
     
    1 person likes this.
  13. Rocketman1981

    Rocketman1981 Member

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    I'm not against government roads, parks, even zoning in areas as long as it create artificial bubbles like in California. For anyone to be a everything is in the free market zealot is nutty.

    I just think its interesting how people want to add excise taxes to gasoline, tax and regulate every industry, allow class action law firms to squeeze businesses and then complain that they don't bring down prices enough or aren't hiring enough people?!

    Money always finds the greatest opportunity. If companies are sitting on too much cash, Activists come in and push for dividends, there is a counterbalance in the markets to deal with these factors. But excessive government intervention in industries primarily drives prices up and up and wages down and down. Unless of course you're a corporate government opportunist like Sallie Mae, or a I-bank willing to take advantage of Goofy government mandates by HUD on Fannie/Freddie or all these medical device companies that scam medicare. Its a free for all on government inability to create efficient businesses and we as tax payers pay the damn price.
     
  14. SamFisher

    SamFisher Contributing Member

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    Now this is much better. The last time we tried you got very upset in your own troll thread - bad form bro.

    But this is better. Show in da maturity of a 33 year old
     
  15. Phillyrocket

    Phillyrocket Member

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    So let's see we have established that the wealthy are primarily paper rich from stocks etc. and your solution for the excess cash on the sidelines is for the wealthy to demand corporations provide them with more dividends?

    Please explain how transfering cash from the middle class who actually buys the products and services to corporations to the rich stockholders does anything other than continue to exacerbate the wealth gap?
     
  16. Rocketman1981

    Rocketman1981 Member

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    Who do you think are the biggest institutional investors in the country? Its not Richie Rich, but its the Calpers Pension Plan or the Harris County Fire/Police Retirement plan. These institutional pooled investors are the largest investors in hedge funds, private equity and have been activists themselves in dealing with companies.

    Who are their recipients? Retired teacher, police and other state employees? Are these the evil tyrants that you're talking about?

    Nope.
     
  17. Rocketman1981

    Rocketman1981 Member

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    From a Guy who has spent the last decade posting 10 times a day on a basketball website, I really, really care what you think 'bro'.

    At least you learned internet put downs and how to 'pOwned' people online.

    Hopefully that Internet Hero you are with your 10 years of 10 posts a day, every day are worth it. Quite an investment portfolio of posts you have!
     
  18. Commodore

    Commodore Contributing Member

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    the only way one man's wealth can cause another man's poverty is if that wealth is stolen
     
  19. Classic

    Classic Member

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  20. Phillyrocket

    Phillyrocket Member

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    Those are defined benefit plans whose COLAs are based on inflation indexes not performance of the fund. Additional dividends may help to keep the plan afloat but will not increase payouts to those retirees who benefits are based on years of service and average annual salary.

    In addition:

    http://http://www.salon.com/2013/09/19/stock_ownership_who_benefits_partner/
     

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