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Michael Moore's Capitalism movie talked for a moment about "a confidential report [from 2006] that Citigroup initially circulated only to its wealthiest customers. Those reports, since leaked, plainly discuss the power of the Plutonomy in America, and how it would only strengthen, as long as the "the rest us" (the non-plutonics) could be kept in the dark about the Plutonomy existence, its role, and its over-arching control in the American Economy." - daily kos page linked below
Our whole plutonomy thesis is based on the idea that the rich will keep getting richer. This thesis is not without its risks. For example, a policy error leading to asset deflation, would likely damage plutonomy. Furthermore, the rising wealth gap between the rich and poor will probably at some point lead to a political backlash. Whilst the rich are getting a greater share of the wealth, and the poor a lesser share, political enfrachisement remains as was -- one person, one vote (in the plutonomies). At some point it is likely that labor will fight back against the rising profit share of the rich and there will be a political backlash against the rising wealth of the rich. This could be felt through higher taxation on the rich (or indirectly though higher corporate taxes/regulation) or through trying to protect indigenous [home-grown] laborers, in a push-back on globalization -- either anti-Immigration, or protectionism. We don’t see this happening yet, though there are signs of rising political tensions. However we are keeping a close eye on developments.
Keep in mind - "Labor" here means everyone but themselves. (i.e., YOU.)
back to kos, and Moore pointed this out in the film:
Even though the Plutonomy (the top 1%) control over 50% of the net worth in America -- they don't control the Votes!
The thing they most fear is the principle of "one person -- one vote."
"There are rich consumers, few in number, but disproportionate in the gigantic slice of income and consumption they take. There are the rest, the "non-rich", the multitudinous many, but only accounting for surprisingly small bites of the national pie.
***
"Our thesis is that the rich are the dominant drivers of demand in many economies around the world (the US, UK, Canada and Australia). These economies have seen the rich take an increasing share of income and wealth over the last 20 years, to the extent that the rich now dominate income, wealth and spending in these countries. Asset booms, a rising profit share and favorable treatment by market-friendly governments have allowed the rich to prosper and become a greater share of the economy in the plutonomy countries."
'These “content” providers, the tech whizzes who own the pipes and distribution, the lawyers and bankers who intermediate globalization and productivity, the CEOs who lead the charge in converting globalization and technology to increase the profit share of the economy at the expense of labor, all contribute to plutonomy. Indeed, David Gordon and Ian Dew-Becker of the NBER demonstrate that the top 10%, particularly the top 1% of the US – the plutonomists in our parlance – have benefited disproportionately from the recent productivity surge in the US. ( See “Where did the Productivity Growth Go? Inflation Dynamics and the Distribution of Income”, NBER Working Paper 11842, December 2005). By contrast, in other countries such as Japan, France and the Netherlands (read much of continental Europe), egalitarianism has kept the rich to a similar share of income and wealth
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'The data shows [sic!] that the gap in incomes and wealth between the rich and the poor in the US shows no signs of significant change, and that the richest 10 and 20% of Americans continue to earn disproportionately high chunks of national income, and own an even higher share of the national wealth. Figures 1 and 2 show the income and wealth shares of the top two deciles, the next two quintiles and the remaining 40% of US households. We have lumped the bottom 40% into one to emphasize how relatively small their income and wealth shares are.'
Our class structure is starting to look more and more like Mexico's, limited to the disgustingly rich (and corrupt) and the appallingly poor, with little to nothing in between. Eventually, the smart among us will want to escape for our lives like many of those South of the border do now.
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