Insanely Concentrated Wealth Is Strangling Our Prosperity

st0wandgrow

st0wandgrow

Well-Known Member
SneekyNinja said:
Is that how we measure economic data now, by how much tax is paid on the item?

You and I both know that's not true.

That's not really important though, the point was you can't say people have fleets of cars, planes and private airports and at the same time say they don't spend any money, that's just ridiculous.
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Of course rich people buy things. They do not spend nearly the same percentage of their income that others do though.

If you took a million dollars and gave it to a billionaire, he might spend a small percentage of it and stash the rest away. If you took that same million dollars and gave $1,000 to a thousand middle class families, they would likely spend every penny of it.

Which scenario is better for the economy?
 
ttystikk

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
st0wandgrow said:
Of course rich people buy things. They do not spend nearly the same percentage of their income that others do though.

If you took a million dollars and gave it to a billionaire, he might spend a small percentage of it and stash the rest away. If you took that same million dollars and gave $1,000 to a thousand middle class families, they would likely spend every penny of it.

Which scenario is better for the economy?
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Correct. The article posted in the OP clearly explains this. The fact that people debate it simply tells me they didn't bother to read the article, and therefore don't care to be educated on the subject. Their opinions are therefore of no consequence.

Economics isn't nearly as much of a seat of the pants science as Fix News and the popular media would have people believe.
 
jonsnow399

jonsnow399

Well-Known Member
ttystikk said:
http://evonomics.com/insanely-concentrated-wealth-strangling-prosperity/

You want to know the reason for America's economic problems?

THIS.

It isn't war, it isn't the stick market, it isn't outsourcing, it's ridiculous levels of wealth inequality.

The kind where you have a fleet of convertible Rollers just to take the family out to dinner. The kind where you have your own hangar full of jets... And the private airport.

But rich people don't spend money. Therefore it doesn't stimulate the economy. Therefore the economy stagnates.

And somehow there 'isn't enough money' for basic services.

Look at the first chart and ask yourself how the isn't enough money.

NO ONE NEEDS A BILLION DOLLARS.
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I disagree, I think the stick market is a big part of the problem because it is rigged against poor people, look at how the price of sticks has skyrocketed in the past few years. Sticks are a human right! We should start a new govt program to subsidize the price of sticks and make them affordable for all
 
Gquebed

Gquebed

Well-Known Member
ttystikk said:
http://evonomics.com/insanely-concentrated-wealth-strangling-prosperity/

You want to know the reason for America's economic problems?

THIS.

It isn't war, it isn't the stick market, it isn't outsourcing, it's ridiculous levels of wealth inequality.

The kind where you have a fleet of convertible Rollers just to take the family out to dinner. The kind where you have your own hangar full of jets... And the private airport.

But rich people don't spend money. Therefore it doesn't stimulate the economy. Therefore the economy stagnates.

And somehow there 'isn't enough money' for basic services.

Look at the first chart and ask yourself how the isn't enough money.

NO ONE NEEDS A BILLION DOLLARS.
Click to expand...
The last time that wealth was concentrated like it is now is just prior to the Bolshevik Revolution and the first World War. Prior to that a similar concentration of wealth just preceded the French Revolution... and so on
 
ttystikk

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
To be clear, I'm not interested in labels; they're distracting.

The real issue is policy. I'm for those policies that build a stronger, larger, more stable and more prosperous middle class.

I believe this can be done by cannibalising the privileges of the ultra rich in favor of spreading that money further, asking more prior.

I also believe that such policies can dramatically improve the lot of the American working poor, who will be the ultimate engine of economic growth because they'll finally be able to participate in it!

I believe that extreme wealth is destructive to a society in many ways; one is the simple sequestration of money, slowing the velocity of capital and another, more perniciously, is that their goals become different from and even inimical to the needs of the larger society they're a part of.

This is the situation America is now suffering through, based on the emotional evidence available everywhere one cares to look.

I'm not interested in labels, only results.
 
ttystikk

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Gquebed said:
The last time that wealth was concentrated like it is now is just prior to the Bolshevik Revolution and the first World War. Prior to that a similar concentration of wealth just preceded the French Revolution... and so on
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Yes, and there are good reasons for this, including those I listed just above.

When the goals of a tiny but overly powerful segment of society are advanced at the expense of everyone else, social breakdown accelerates along many of the fault lines we've been seeing in the news.

I've been watching the ascendancy of the wealthy over our society for 40 years. I've been raising the alarm for 20 years. Fixing this is imperative to the continued success of our nation and indeed perhaps the world, considering America's ecological and military abuses.
 
SneekyNinja

SneekyNinja

Well-Known Member
st0wandgrow said:
Of course rich people buy things. They do not spend nearly the same percentage of their income that others do though.

If you took a million dollars and gave it to a billionaire, he might spend a small percentage of it and stash the rest away. If you took that same million dollars and gave $1,000 to a thousand middle class families, they would likely spend every penny of it.

Which scenario is better for the economy?
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As a percentage...?

Who fucking cares?

They spend more in a year than hundreds of people will spend in their entire lives.

Objectivity is sadly missing from you Bernie Babies.

Yes they need to pay more progressive taxes but the jealously/envy/hatred is just unbelievable.
 
ttystikk

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
SneekyNinja said:
As a percentage...?

Who fucking cares?

They spend more in a year than hundreds of people will spend in their entire lives.

Objectivity is sadly missing from you Bernie Babies.

Yes they need to pay more progressive taxes but the jealously/envy/hatred is just unbelievable.
Click to expand...
You didn't read the article. This is why you're ignorant about economics- nevermind practically everything else.
 
st0wandgrow

st0wandgrow

Well-Known Member
SneekyNinja said:
As a percentage...?

Who fucking cares?

They spend more in a year than hundreds of people will spend in their entire lives.

Objectivity is sadly missing from you Bernie Babies.

Yes they need to pay more progressive taxes but the jealously/envy/hatred is just unbelievable.
Click to expand...
You're not too bright. How many billionaires are there in America? How many middle to lower class families are there in America? Now, do the math.

I can't believe you're trying to argue this point. Derp
 
st0wandgrow

st0wandgrow

Well-Known Member
ttystikk said:
You didn't read the article. This is why you're ignorant about economics- nevermind practically everything else.
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He really is. I missed it before, because I really didn't read much of what he had to say. I just assumed he wasn't a dumb ass.

I can admit when I'm wrong. :lol:
 
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