EQUAL INEQUALITY

The Merits Of Income Inequality: What's The Right Amount?


French economist Thomas Piketty has warned in his best-seller Capital in the Twenty-First Century that inequality is likely to grow. 

That's because capitalism tends to reward the owners of capital with a greater and greater share of the economy's output, he says. Meanwhile, wage-earners get a smaller and smaller share.

Milanovic says that concentration of wealth is a threat to democracy. "The elites start dominating the political discourse and even political decision-making, and then they reinforce their own privilege," he says.

Still, Milanovic says some level of inequality is needed to make capitalism work.

"It provides incentives for harder work, study, investment and ... general desire to better one's condition and the condition of one's kids," he says.

But what's the right level of inequality? Tyler Cowen, an economist at George Mason University, says whether a certain level of inequality is good or bad depends on how it came be.
 

Business On Income Inequality: A French Economist Vs. An American Capitalist

Income inequality is a big problem, many economists agree. But they also say some level of inequality is necessary for capitalism to work.

Inequality in the U.S. has risen to levels not seen since the 1920s. The top 1 percent pocket more than 20 percent of the nation's income, and the 400 richest people in the country own more wealth than everyone in the bottom 50 percent.


War On Poverty, 50 Years Later The Changing Picture Of Poverty: Hard Work Is 'Just Not Enough'

That's not healthy for the society or the economy, says Branko Milanovic, an economists at the City University of New York Graduate Center. For one thing, he says, it undermines the idea of equal opportunity.

"It makes some people excluded or poor and unable to actually, for example, go to school, complete studies and contribute to society," he says.

That hurts individuals and, Milanovic says, it hurts the broader economy by not allowing a whole segment of society to be as productive as it could be.

"If your society has a lot of inequality because a lot of your producers have done very well selling their products on global markets, that kind of inequality is not harmful in general," he says. "But if you have inequality because your poorer people don't have enough economic opportunity, I would say that is a big problem."

FINE THE BANK; JAIL THE BANKERS & TAX DODGERS

Banks don't commit crimes. It's the bankers that run them who break the laws and take home big pay checks in the process. Yet, with the exception of a few scapegoats to appease the public, their crimes go unpunished as if they are immune from prosecution for some magical reason that has never been explained.

Rob a bank, you go to jail in a heartbeat, but let the bank rob it's customers; oh well.

Credit Suisse is close to reaching an agreement to plead guilty and pay about $2.5 billion to the U.S. Justice Department and regulators to resolve investigations into whether it helped Americans evade taxes, three people familiar with the matter said.

The Zurich-based bank would pay about $1.7 billion to the Justice Department, at least $600 million to the New York Department of Financial Services and $100 million to the Federal Reserve, said two of the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter isn’t public. The proposed accord could be announced as early as next week, the people said.

“That seems higher than what everybody was anticipating,” said William Sharp, an American tax lawyer who splits his time between Switzerland and the U.S. “It’s mutually beneficial for both the bank and the U.S. government to put this dispute behind them. It’s been dragging on for many years, and frankly could drag on for several more years.” The parent company would plead guilty in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, one of the people said. A guilty plea by Credit Suisse’s parent company would be the first by a major global bank in the U.S. in more than two decades. 

The tax dodgers the bank aided and abetted are not even mentioned.

Switzerland’s second largest bank would admit to a statement of facts still being negotiated, and the firm wouldn't have to disclose the names of U.S. account holders, the person said.

The U.S. legal assault seeks to chip away at the promotion of tax evasion through bank secrecy in Switzerland, the world’s largest cross-border financial center with $2.2 trillion in assets.

Chief Executive Officer Brady Dougan apologized in testimony to the Senate panel, saying a small group of Swiss-based bankers appear to have broken U.S. laws.

“This was a very small business from our point of view, less than 1 percent of the global profitability of the global bank,” Dougan said at the hearing.

The report detailed the bank’s wooing of wealthy Americans with invitations to the annual Swiss Ball in New York and golf tournaments in Florida and the Bahamas. A branch office at the Zurich airport with the code name “SIOA5” offered banking services to clients passing through on skiing holidays.

Credit Suisse helped clients open accounts under false names and delivered account statements discreetly. One client was given an account statement hidden in a Sports Illustrated magazine. Another client said he was transported to a meeting in an elevator with no buttons that was remotely controlled. He signed orders to destroy account statements afterwards.
Is this a country that is governed under the rule of law or the law breakers?

In February, a Senate subcommittee issued a report and held a hearing that blasted the bank for helping Americans dodge taxes and the Justice Department for not aggressively pursuing the names of account holders through subpoenas and other enforcement tools.

Credit Suisse Close to Guilty Plea, $2.5 Billion Accord With U.S.






 

WAKING A SLEEPING GIANT

Simple minded elitist refer to fast food workers as "unskilled" and not deserving of a livable wage. They threaten to replace them with machines should they complain about their working conditions or wages.

The one thing these simpletons forgot to take into account is that these are "human beings" and being treated like machines will eventually provoke them to defend themselves against this kind of abuse.

It appears that the red line has been crossed.

Fast-food workers kick off global labor action | Al Jazeera America

The world’s largest protest of fast-food workers kicked off Thursday with workers demonstrating in 150 cities in the United States and more than 30 other countries. The protesters are demanding better pay in a global rallying cry against rising income inequality, continuing on the heels of an 18-month-long labor campaign for higher fast-food wages in America.

Thursday’s protests come after the first-ever global meeting of fast-food workers last week, organized by the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF) in New York. Dozens of delegates from labor unions representing 12 million workers in 126 countries joined the U.S. movement of fast-food workers, which, Fells said, “created a huge sense of unity of fast-food workers around the globe.

This is a wake up call to the 1% that there are millions (if not billions) of people who are no longer willing to accept the status quo which has resulted in creating chronic and massive income inequality where a small number of people wallow in wealth while the rest of the world wallows in poverty; leaving very few in the middle.  

Pope Francis fired the first shot;

Pope Francis recently called for a "legitimate redistribution" of wealth when meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, saying governments should work to end the "economy of exclusion" that plagues the poor and the middle class from rising up the economic ladder.

"I do not hesitate to state, as did my predecessors, that equitable economic and social progress can only be attained by joining scientific and technical abilities with an unfailing commitment to solidarity accompanied by a generous and disinterested spirit of gratuitousness at every level," Francis said.

"A contribution to this equitable development will also be made both by international activity aimed at the integral human development of all the world's peoples and by the legitimate redistribution of economic benefits by the state, as well as indispensable cooperation between the private sector and civil society," the pontiff continued.

The pope, who has often reiterated his desire to see the Catholic Church be "a poor Church [...] for the poor," went on to argue that the only way to overcome poverty is to push forward and progress: "Much more needs to be achieved, since an important part of humanity does not share in the benefits of progress and is in fact relegated to the status of second-class citizens."

LIFE ON BOTH SIDES OF THE TRACKS IN PALM SPRINGS, CA

The streets are named after Hollywood legends (Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Dinah Shore) and ex-presidents (Gerald Ford). Sitting presidents come here to entertain heads of state (Obama meets with King Abdullah II of Jordan) and billionaires (Koch Brothers 'Billionaires Caucus') come here to put on "how to screw the American people" seminars for the 1% types.

There a set of railroad tracks that run through this valley. On the one side is the good life, for those who can afford it. The desert  floor of this valley is covered with a quilt of golf courses, resort hotels, gambling casinos, fine dinning restaurants, and country club like gated communities for those who can afford a second home.

 People flock here from all over the map. It's a gathering place for the gay community, snow birds, concert goers, sun worshipers, political power brokers, and a mish mash of what ever else falls under the "tourist" umbrella. Palm Springs is inundated with spectacular images of the good life plastered on the billboards, infomercials, and  brochure racks in travel agencies.

For example; Exclusive tour of the Ritz-Carlton experience

Enveloped in the Santa Rosa mountains, 650 feet above the valley - your experience can stay on property, or branch out to the more than 20 miles of mountain hiking trails originating from the hotel. All the while, receiving treatment stemming from the Ritz-Carlton motto: "We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen."

"The face of luxury is changing over time. The Ritz Carlton of old is the past. What we are creating is destinations within destinations. We don't want to be opulent or stuffy, we want to be warm and caring," general manager Doug Watson said.

Outside, you'll find three pools: family pool, one for kids, one just for adults.

"Our developers and owners do a great job of building wonderful environments and facilities. The heart of it is the ladies and gentleman. The difference is luxury consumers come to the Ritz Carlton for the service,” Gabaldon said.


What is not seen or talked about much is what goes on on the other side of the tracks.

While the folks at the Ritz are being showered with luxury life is much different for folks on the other side of the tracks a few miles away. One that the "ladies and gentlemen" would rather not talk about and that some consider an inconvenient embarrassment. People who consider someone asking for food or money to be "harassment" rather than a person in distress begging for help.

Concern Over Growing Homeless Camp in Palm Springs

There's concern over some tent cities going up in the City of Palm Springs. Homeless people have been setting-up several camps in and around the wash along Palm Canyon and Gene Autry, next to the Von's shopping center.

"You know how big is this tent city going to get? Is it going to continue to grow and grow and grow until we have a real issue here?" Douglas Clark said.

The Palm Springs resident takes regular hikes up the Murray Canyon trail nearby, he says he's recently noticed the growing problem.

He says there's a lot more transients wandering around, harassing hikers and shoppers.

"I have talked to a couple female hikers that they've been approached by guys that have said, Do you have a light? Do you have a cigarette? Do you have any money? I'm hungry, that sort of thing,"

Homeowners and business owners say there's been an increase in disturbances because of homeless people. They believe a recycling center there is also attracting a lot of transients. 

Mark McWaters admits the location is a convenient one.

"I've only been up here since last night, and I'm actually thinking of coming up here because its close to water and food resource," he said.

Only a few miles separate these two groups but the way they are perceived is millions of miles apart.

Pope Francis has spoken out on this issue several times (Pope demands 'legitimate redistribution' of wealth)
which, in the US seems to fall on deaf ears. Some even go so far as to label him a Marxists as they desperately try to hang on to the status quo;

He said a more equal form of economic progress can be had through "the legitimate redistribution of economic benefits by the state, as well as indispensable cooperation between the private sector and civil society."

THE VIAGRA CURSE

How pathetic. And old billionaire naive enough to believe a woman 1/2 century younger than him would "like him" (in that way). How many other old farts are living in this same delusional state brought on by what could be called a Viagra/Cialis psychosis?



Donald Sterling tells Anderson Cooper: I was 'baited' into 'a terrible mistake'



"I don't know. An 80-year-old man is kind of foolish, and I'm kind of foolish. I thought she liked me and really cared for me," he said. "I guess being 51 years older than her, I was deluding myself. ... I just wish I could ask her why, and if she was just setting me up."

The answer to that question is simple. No, Donald, you set yourself up by opening up to someone who (had you been paying attention) was not there because they liked you, but rather because they liked your money. You got what you paid for.  

THE PHANTOM RECOVERY

Is going deeper into debt a sign that the economy is recovering or in relapse?

Americans are again huffing and puffing and blowing up the next balloon that will inevitably explode one more time and throw the country back into another financial crisis.

There's no stopping them. Like Lemmings racing towards the cliff consumers will once again prove that insanity is continuing to do the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

There was a time when buying on credit was for sensible reasons; a home, a new car, r some other big ticket item that would be impossible for the average American to plunk down the cash for. That's something only a privileged few (the 1%) can indulge in.

Credit in these times; like many other aspects of life in America, has become addictive. The more the better. Going to a movie, buying a hamburger, or a pair of jeans.  No problem. When the balance get's up there you can just apply for another card and transfer it.

Are consumers just plain dumb or not paying attention? Are the banks so slick they can slip all those fees and interest charges in there without anyone noticing? Do consumers realize they are paying more for what they buy when they do it on credit? Sometimes as much as 20% more on cards doled out to those who can't afford to even have credit let alone be issued a credit card that will eventually come back to haunt them.

Consumer Credit Balances Jump

Consumer credit balances increased by $17.5 billion in March to a total of $3.141 trillion. The gain was a bigger increase than the $15.5 billion expected by economists.

This was the biggest month-over-month growth rate since February 2013, reports Bloomberg.

Nonrevolving debt like college and auto loans grew by $16.4 billion.

Revolving debt like credit cards increased by $1.1 billion.

THE EMBODIMENT OF DECADENCE (A 1% MASCOT)

If you are going to be disgustingly rich you might as well go all out and flaunt it. The 1% must cringe every time this clown makes the news and acts as a reminder to the rest of us what Pope Francis described as "the root of all evil." Pope Francis: the love of money is the root of all evil
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In July 2011, a Vanity Fair tell-all detailed the outrageous spending habits and lifestyle of Prince Jefri Bolkiah, brother of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah. Among other tidbits, the profile said Prince Jefri owned more than 2,300 cars and a yacht named Tits with tenders called Nipple 1 and Nipple 2.

The Sultan himself lives in a palace with 1,788 rooms and 257 bathrooms. It's considered to be the world's second-largest palace after Beijing's Forbidden City, and reportedly has a 110-car garage, an air-conditioned stable for the Sultan's 200 polo ponies, and five swimming pools.

  The Royals Of Brunei Lead Lives Of Almost Incomprehensible Wealth