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Last I checked a business requires a plan, a product, a management and startup capital. That combination is not all that plentiful. Just look at the numbers presented. Assuming (always dangerous) 10% of the population started a business that means 30 million businesses. Of the 30 million started less than 300 became Forbes 400 successes. 25 of the 30 million probably failed taking their savings with them. A person would probably do better buying Powerball tickets.
Why do you people disparage the person that just wants a lifetime job doing what they are good at doing for decent wages and benefits followed by a good pension after 40 years or so? Why have you made this impossible? Why do you want this to be impossible?
Very good point, Greg. Unless one lives in Lake Wobegon, we all can't be in the top 1%. What the nation looked like when I was a child was one where one could have a decent life-style being middle-class -- being able have a middle-class salary which put food on the table; a roof over the family's head; send your kids to college and be assured a modest retirement.
That looks more and more like a dream to most not-rich today and it is because of growing income inequality, where the top 1% grabs a greater share of national income -- and not because all of a sudden the top 1% are smarter or more talented, just that the rules over the last 30 years are tilted in their favor.
MTAtech - That was the world I grew up in as well. It has dissapeared onto the world of MAMMON where manipulating money pays better than making things. The economy rewards people like the Republican canditate the made a fortune cheating workers, bankers and his own investors out of jobs, loans and capital. I have to ask why is this theif still running around lose?
Very good point, Greg. Unless one lives in Lake Wobegon, we all can't be in the top 1%. What the nation looked like when I was a child was one where one could have a decent life-style being middle-class -- being able have a middle-class salary which put food on the table; a roof over the family's head; send your kids to college and be assured a modest retirement.
That looks more and more like a dream to most not-rich today and it is because of growing income inequality, where the top 1% grabs a greater share of national income.
You've already been corrected on that. The top 1% is LOSING income share.
Furthermore... the costs of housing, attending college, etc., have all increased astronomically and out of the middle class's affordability range because of GOVERNMENT interference. The government inflated a housing bubble with easy money (loans to all, regardless of creditworthiness). That is in the process of bursting. The next bubble to burst will be easy money non-dischargeable in bankruptcy student loans. Who knows how many fools have been tricked into being perpetual debt slaves.
He's worth $7 billion and inherited $500 million, less than 8% of his wealth. Did 92% of his wealth just magically appear?
"Self-made" is associated with starting from nothing. He started with a half-a billion dollars. It's much easier to get a run in baseball if you start out on 3rd base.
If you had inherited $500 mil. in 1997 and bought Apple stock, your fortune would be $120 billion instead of $7 bil.
"Self-made" is associated with starting from nothing.
Self-made is earning the vast majority of your wealth, not having it handed to you. Your example inherited less than 8% of his wealth.
Furthermore, he did NOT come from a wealthy family. I usually do not like to link to wikipedia, but the info on Anschutz has sources. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Anschutz
As it stands currently, the lower and middle classes don't have enough money to spend to keep the economy going at a high level. Since the Middle and Lower classes make up the vast majority of the population, when they stop spending, the entire country feels it.
Increasing taxes on the rich will help balance the budget, but it won't save the U.S. economy. For the economy to improve (economy just being the circulation of money) we're going to have to get more money into the hands of the Lower and Middle classes.
So you don't think the US government already spends enough?
If you spend every penny of this, how you going to send your kid to college? How you going to survive on a raining days?
What we need is a balance of savings and spending. But in order to spend, you have to save first. The US saving rate is near 0.
"Self-made" is associated with starting from nothing. He started with a half-a billion dollars. It's much easier to get a run in baseball if you start out on 3rd base.
If you had inherited $500 mil. in 1997 and bought Apple stock, your fortune would be $120 billion instead of $7 bil.
If you had inherited $500 mil in 1997, bought out of money Nasdaq call options, then sell it at the Feb of 2000, flip the profit and bought out of money put options, you will worth more than all the billionaire combined.
Only problem, ok 2 problems. The first one is obvious, you cannot go back time. The second one is not obvious, because most of you don't understand how the financial market work.
You've already been corrected on that. The top 1% is LOSING income share.
...
I haven't been corrected at all. You made an assertion, which was false. According to the Tax Foundation, this is the top 1%'s income share for the subject years:
I'd hardly call that "losing income share" when 1% of the people make 1/6th of the nation's income and the variance moves up and down by 1-2% -- mainly due to fluctuations in the stock market from one year to the next.
Taxing the rich modestly more brings in $50 billion -- $120 billion per year more.
Since taxing the rich more will likely yield no additional revenue because the rich are losing income share, what's your backup plan?
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