The issue has been raised many times over whether the United States is turning into or already is a “plutonomy.” The word is a portmanteau of the words plutocracy and economy, meaning the economy hinges on the richest of the wealthy. Some individuals insist the United States of America economy was that way to begin with. Recently released figures indicate that recent booms in the economy had almost anything to do with the richest few.
Plutonomy doesn’t involve a cartoon dog
The word denotes the economy revolves around a small number of very rich individuals. Good reasons exist to think the good signs within the economy have had anything to do with what the richest of rich individuals are doing. Moody’s keeps track of consumer spending patterns, and found some interesting things, according to the Wall Street Journal. Over the past 20 years, the richest 5 percent alone contributed 37 percent of consumer spending. A scant 40 percent was from the bottom 80 percent. The richest 10 percent make about half the income of the U.S.
The numbers work
A 2006 Federal Reserve study by Arthur Kennickell found 70 percent of the wealth in the nation was owned by 10 percent of the population. That means for each dollar of value in the sum total of all non-public assets of the United States, 90 percent of the population owns only 30 cents worth. It seems Reagan’s trickle went upward, and it was no mere trickle; it was a tidal wave.
We the rich individuals
It has been suggested by some historians for instance Howard Zinn, among others, the American Founding Fathers were all the richest men in the nation. Their profits were affected more by British taxes than the commoners were. they revolted and established a new nation where they would be able to start an oligarchy of privilege. Only a third of Americans were in favor of the Revolution, with the other two thirds being hostile or indifferent, and that was according to none other than James Madison. Republics, by their nature, foster aristocracies. If there is one universal harbinger of doom for a society, it is a growing and vast disparity between the wealthiest few and the many poor.
online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703988304575413432696177258.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_inequality_in_the_United_States
federalreserve.gov/pubs/feds/2006/200613/200613pap.pdf – PDF, demands Adobe Reader
