Some ask why I only criticize the left and not the right. As the Guardian wrote, the left is on the rise. There are 50 shades between left and right. If we are talking about the 1%, that is really small business, for that begins at $250,000 annual income. Everyone confuses the 1% with the “super-rich” who are Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Wall Street Bankers, or, yes, even the Clintons. They skewed the average household income of the 1% to $1.2m back in 2008, according to federal tax data. The super-rich skew that average upwards, dramatically distorting whom most people are envisioning because they are looking not at income but net worth.
Measured by net worth, rather than income, the top 1% started at $6.9m in 2009, according to the Federal Reserve, down 23% from 2007. Contrary to the conspiracy theorists who claim the “rich” force crashes so they can buy stuff cheaper, they lose money during such declines. If the economy does not recover, they are unable to sell to make a profit. The richest man ever was Jonathan Ogden Armour (1863 – 1927), as in Armour Hot Dogs. He supplied the food for the troops in World War I. During the Crash of 1919, he lost the equivalent of $1 billion a day for 120 days straight and died penniless. He told the press before he died he knew he would be remembered for losing more money than anyone in history. So much for the conspiracy theories.
No comments:
Post a Comment