Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%

[Aging Hippie]

I agree. If our economic strategies here in the U.S. are working so well, where are the jobs? Why is the economy still floundering? If capitalism and trickle down economics work well, why are jobs being outsourced? Why aren't corporations hiring? With taxes to the rich and big corporations at an all-time low, they ain't hurtin'.

http://www.vanityfair.com/society/features/2011/05/top-one-percent-201105

"Economists long ago tried to justify the vast inequalities that seemed so troubling in the mid-19th century—inequalities that are but a pale shadow of what we are seeing in America today. The justification they came up with was called “marginal-productivity theory.” In a nutshell, this theory associated higher incomes with higher productivity and a greater contribution to society. It is a theory that has always been cherished by the rich. Evidence for its validity, however, remains thin."

[bae]

So go out and make your own job.

[Midwest]

If growth continues, the jobless rate will fall. Note the jobs report which came out today.

http://money.msn.com/market-news/post.aspx?post=95253177-9c7c-4196-bad0-a9423c6c9112

[loosechickens]

the link didn't work, aginghippie, but I loved the Vanity Fair error message:

"ERROR.....we don't know if it's your fault or ours, so let's just agree to blame the computer, shall we?"

[LilyB]

Thanks for the link. Interesting and frightening.

[razz]

Depressing!!!

[pinkytoe]

Bae-There will always be those who are best at being cogs in a wheel; not everyone has the mental resources to be an entrepreneur.

[dmc]

You mean your not getting your Obama bucks?

[Zigzagman]

It is amazing how the fiscal conservatives are arguing about how to cut less than 1% of the federal deficit. It's like "arguing about the bar tab on the Titanic!"

It is all phoney baloney - we love to talk about austerity, self-sufficiency, cutting government but in reality its over - no matter the political party in power, it will not solve the spending problems in this global economy. I think the only thing we will ever see is a bi-partisan agreement to push it off to the future. 10-15 years ahead in order for us to "gear up" or "make the change". :sick:

We are all spoiled rotten rats in a cage. It will be interesting to see how our so-called fiscal conservatism works out. Tell the kids to mow the grass, walk home from school, forget about the designer jeans and shoes and even, god forbid, go without the latest tech gadget! So they can do their friggin' homework without the distraction of facebook and twitter.

I think this push for "local" is bogus but maybe just all becoming employees of the gooberment is the answer. They have good pensions, good benefits, and are laughing all the way to the bank.

Local - heck, if I endorsed "local Texas" I might as well take my brain out and play with it!

It's over - party like it's 1999!!Splat!

Peace

[bae]

It is amazing how the fiscal conservatives are arguing about how to cut less than 1% of the federal deficit. It's like "arguing about the bar tab on the Titanic!"


Agreed. Let's start by cutting the military budget 90%, and see where that gets us.

I'm busy looking for housing in Colombia, Dubai, the Azores, and Iceland.

[freein05]

No politician on either side has said a thing about cutting the military budget. Why???

[loosechickens]

I don't know, bae.....Dubai is iffy......and Colombia, iffy too, but in a different way.

I like the idea of Iceland, but the real money in right wing circles is buying up land in Paraguay........I understand the Bush family has bought up about a hundred thousand acres....better hurry.

[Yppej]

We won't be cutting the military budget if we keep getting into wars. I didn't read the whole Libya thread - but why didn't we just hire an assassin to take Gaddafi out instead of starting another war bombing a bunch of Libyan soldiers who are political pawns?

Thread hijack over.

[Alan]

I like the idea of Iceland, but the real money in right wing circles is buying up land in Paraguay........I understand the Bush family has bought up about a hundred thousand acres....better hurry.

Gosh, that's a blast from the past. Wasn't it in 2006 when the Daily Kos and thousands of other left wing bloggers tried to link a Jenna Bush Unicef Mission visit to a secret mission to set up a compound for the family to flee to in preparation for the inevitable war crimes charges the extreme left were trying to instigate? And now, 5 years later, there's still no evidence of it?

Thanks for the chuckle. :laff:

[creaker]

No politician on either side has said a thing about cutting the military budget. Why???

The thing I find disturbing about this is we're getting out of one war, scaling back another, the Secretary of Defense has proposed cutting and the military budget is still growing.

[Life_is_Simple]

Thanks for the article. It makes me want to read more on this phenomena. This intrigues me:

The top 1 percent have the best houses, the best educations, the best doctors, and the best lifestyles, but there is one thing that money doesn’t seem to have bought: an understanding that their fate is bound up with how the other 99 percent live. Throughout history, this is something that the top 1 percent eventually do learn. Too late.

[JaneV2.0]

"The top 1 percent have the best houses, the best educations, the best doctors, and the best lifestyles, but there is one thing that money doesn’t seem to have bought: an understanding that their fate is bound up with how the other 99 percent live. Throughout history, this is something that the top 1 percent eventually do learn. Too late. "

As this resurgence of the robber Barons escalates, I'm beginning to understand what galvanizes revolutions. Like our own, which was fueled in part by anger at the East India company, a symbol of greed and corruption.

And really--the "far left?" Don't see many communists around here.

But you bring up an important issue: what did happen to war crimes trials for our Torturer in Chief and his henchmen? Apparently, laws are only for "the little people."

[loosechickens]

It's probably good to remind folks that the article referenced in the OP, is not exactly the views of some wild eyed liberal, but the evaluation of Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize winner and former Chief Economist of the World Bank. Not that this is news to many, but it's good that men of Stiglitz's reputation are making the point so publicly.

Government of the 1%, by the 1% and for the 1% has fast become a reality in the U.S.

And those of us who think it isn't, have their heads in the sand. I hope that all of us here have the courage to read the OPs link and look at the facts. Stieglitz is not some "man in the street" or "tv prognosticator", after all.

I found this interesting, although disheartening:

"Virtually all U.S. senators, and most of the representatives in the House, are members of the top 1 percent when they arrive, are kept in office by money from the top 1 percent, and know that if they serve the top 1 percent well they will be rewarded by the top 1 percent when they leave office. ... [Thus when] pharmaceutical companies receive a trillion-dollar gift—through legislation prohibiting the government, the largest buyer of drugs, from bargaining over price—it should not come as cause for wonder. It should not make jaws drop that a tax bill cannot emerge from Congress unless big tax cuts are put in place for the wealthy. Given the power of the top 1 percent, this is the way you would expect the system to work"

[Alan]

Yes, Mr Stiglitz may hold the distinction as the most quoted economist in the world. I'm even aware of several of his better known theories, one being that free markets must collapse and be replaced by socialism, and another being that the the government can always improve upon the free market's resource allocation.

Doesn't seem like a "wild eyed liberal" to me.

I wonder if those theories hold up in the real world?

[loosechickens]

folks might actually like to make up their own minds, with complete facts about this man, his experience, his viewpoints and his qualifications. I offer:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stiglitz

[razz]

Is this what is meant by democracy is really a rotten system of government except for all the others?

[ApatheticNoMore]

Yes, Mr Stiglitz may hold the distinction as the most quoted economist in the world. I'm even aware of several of his better known theories, one being that free markets must collapse and be replaced by socialism, and another being that the the government can always improve upon the free market's resource allocation.

Doesn't seem like a "wild eyed liberal" to me.

I wonder if those theories hold up in the real world?

Hmm since none of it has anything much to do with the real world it's really hard to say!!

Without TRILLIONS of dollars of FED subsidies the existing economic system might well have collapsed (TRILLIONS propping up almost every large company imaginable, even trillions of U.S. Federal Reserve money going to British banks!). OTOH the existing economic system doesn't necessarily have that much to do with free markets either.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Is this what is meant by democracy is really a rotten system of government except for all the others?

There is democracy and there is democracy. We'd probably be much better served by proportional representation as a form of democracy. It has very little chance of ever happening of course.