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. The Wall Street Journal reported on the findings of Moody’s of consumer spending patterns. Over the past 20 years, the richest 5 percent alone contributed 37 percent of consumer spending. The bottom 80 percent only spent about 40 percent. Only 10 percent of the population makes about half the total income within the U.S.
The math works
As of 2006, 10 percent of the nation holds 70 percent of the wealth, according to a Federal Reserve study by Arthur Kennickell. That means for each and every 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. Reagan’s trickle went up, and was no trickle but rather a tidal wave.
Of, by, and for the rich
A few scholars, for instance Howard Zinn, observed that the Founding Fathers of this country were the wealthiest of the wealthy. The commoners were less affected by British taxes than the rich were. Thus, they revolted and established a nation in which they would enjoy an oligarchy of advantage. James Madison estimated only a third of Americans were actually for the American Revolution, the rest being either opposed or indifferent. Republics, by their nature, foster aristocracies. A widening and enormous gap between the rich and poor is one of the few universal precursors of the collapse of a society.
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
