The issue has been raised numerous times over whether the United States is becoming or already is a “plutonomy.” Plutonomy is a portmanteau of plutocracy and economy, and it means the American economy is run and owned by the richest of the wealthy. It has been argued that it was always that way. Recently released figures indicate that recent booms in the economy had almost anything to do with the wealthiest few.
Plutonomy doesn’t involve a cartoon dog
What the term plutonomy implies is the economy is driven by and depends on a small number of the wealthiest people. Good reasons exist to think that the positive signs within the economy have had to do with what the richest of rich people are doing. According to the Wall Street Journal, Moody’s has kept track of consumer spending habits, including the richest 20 percent of the population. In the last 20 years, 37 percent of all consumers spending was from the richest 5 percent. A scant 40 percent was from the bottom 80 percent. The richest 10 percent make about half the income of the U.S.
Everybody lies but numbers do not
A 2006 Federal Reserve study by Arthur Kennickell found 70 percent of the wealth within the nation was owned by 10 percent of the population. That means 90 percent of the population splits 30 percent of each and every dollar of value within the United States. Reagan’s trickle went up, and was no trickle but rather a tidal wave.
In order to set up a more perfect union for the rich
A few scholars, such as Howard Zinn, observed the Founding Fathers of this country were the richest of the rich. Their profits were affected more by British taxes than the commoners were. They rebelled to form a new land of oligarchy by privilege. Only a third of Americans were in favor of the Revolution, with the other two thirds being hostile or indifferent, and that was as outlined by none other than James Madison. It is in the nature of republics to encourage aristocracies. If there is a universal predictor of the collapse of a society, it is the wealthiest few taking economic ownership of the numerous.
more information on this subject
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, requires Adobe Reader
