When the Rich Get Richer, It DOESN'T Raise All Boats ... It SINKS The Standard of Living For Everyone Else



I've repeatedly noted that rampant inequality destabilizes the economy as a whole, and actually causes depressions ... but that government policy is increasing inequality.



I've also pointed out that no one - liberal or conservative - likes runaway inequality.



Now, Jeffrey P. Thompson (Assistant Research Professor at the Political Economy Research Institute of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst) and Elias Leight (Assistant Analyst Tax Analysis Division of the Congressional Budget Office) have demonstrated that when the wealthiest Americans get richer, everyone else becomes poorer.



For example, they demonstrate that when the wealthiest Americans get 10% richer, middle income Americans get 2% poorer.





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

“The Gap Between Americans Who Want To Govern Themselves And Politicians Who Want To Rule Over Them May Be As Big Today As The Gap Between The Colonies And England During The 18th Century … The American People Don't Want To Be Governed From The Left, The Right, Or The Center. They Want To Govern Themselves”

Americans Don't Want To Be Ruled from the Left Or the Right ... We Want to Govern Ourselves Pollster Scott Rasmussen notes : The gap between Americans who want to govern themselves and politicians who want to rule over them may be as big today as the gap between the colonies and England during the 18 th century. *** The American people don't want to be governed from the left, the right, or the center. They want to govern themselves. Rasmussen polls bolster this statement, showing higher and higher percentages of Americans who say that politicians are not acting with the "consent of the governed ". Postscript: Yves Smith argues : Rasmussen is the preferred pollster for the right wing. *** Nevertheless, Rasmussen has been conducting this sort of poll over time, so changes in sentiment are still germane.
Read more

The London Tornado of 1091

Image
by Richard Denning   As a weather phenomena tornedos are not particularly associated with the UK. However a  recent report by the the Met office  that said that actually the UK gets more per square km than the USA. Yet our tornedos are babies for the most part and of very little power. Occasionally though we do get a whopper! Such a huge tornedo occurred on October 17th 1091 during the reign of King William II (called Rufus). This was the first recorded  tornado  in the British isles and it hit London hard. It is estimated to have been about T8 strength.  The London Tornado of 1091 is reckoned to have only killed two people but dramatically the then wooden London Bridge was completely  demolished (this bridge had been built by William I after the Norman conquest. After the Tornedo William II rebuilt the bridge but this too was short lived as a fire destroyed it only 40 years later). The nearby church of St. Mary...
Read more

Regency England as a Backdrop for Romance By Christy English

Image
 Why is Regency England the backdrop for so many love stories? Countless films have been made from Jane Austen’s novels, drawing us into the world of the Regency gentry. Miss Austen is the harbinger of this period of romance, and yet, her novels are hard- hitting tastes of reality, where true love does not always win, but good sense, modesty, and propriety always do. As we move forward in time to the Regency novels of Georgette Heyer, currently being republished by Sourcebooks Casablanca, we find that these novels follow in the vein of Miss Austen with simplicity and wit, and always a love story. Of course, romance in Miss Heyer’s world does not mean bodice-ripping and overwhelming passion. Gentlemen and ladies fall in love, but they do it with grace, under the watchful eyes of the ladies’ chaperones. But there is another kind of Regency romance, like the ones I write, that bear little resemblance to the novels of Heyer or Austen, where Regency England is portrayed as a sort ...
Read more