This blog collects information about income inequality and places it – available to anyone interested – with alphabetical reference, on this specifically linked, Internet-accessible-and-searchable blog database, access to which is free and unrestricted. Search by keyword, i.e., Smith, poverty, using Microsoft Command f.
Saturday, March 5, 2016
Gateway to
Sources and Information About Income Inequality in the United States
In the
United States today, one percent of the people take nearly a quarter of the
nation’s income. In terms of wealth rather than income, the top one percent
control 40 percent of the nation’s wealth. Millions of Americans are working
longer hours for lower wages, and yet almost all of the new income and wealth
being created is going to the top one percent. While the top one percent have
seen their incomes rise 18 percent over the past decade, those in the middle
have actually seen their incomes fall.
Gateway to
Sources and Information About Income Inequality in the United States
In the
United States today, one percent of the people take nearly a quarter of the
nation’s income. In terms of wealth rather than income, the top one percent
control 40 percent of the nation’s wealth. Millions of Americans are working
longer hours for lower wages, and yet almost all of the new income and wealth
being created is going to the top one percent. While the top one percent have
seen their incomes rise 18 percent over the past decade, those in the middle
have actually seen their incomes fall.
Scholars, from the Nobel-Prize-winning Paul Krugman to the
widely respected economist James Surowiecki, have been working to analyze these
disparities. Americans are not generally aware of the extent of this income
inequality. In most developed countries, there is a direct relationship between
income inequality and the public's views about the need to address the issue –
but not in America, where income inequality is worse but the concern is lower.
The most commonly accepted measurement of income inequality, the Gini Index,
ranks the United States sixth-worst among 173 nations.
Private-equity companies
are far more obviously connected to an undue concentration of wealth at the
expense of workers and communities than are collateralized-debt obligations,
which were at the core of our 2008 Great Recession. Within the one percent,
there is a top one percent that consists disproportionately of private-equity
and hedge-fund principals.
MARK ZUCKERBERG
“After Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan announced their plan to donate
nearly all of their Facebook stock to charitable causes, the initial laudatory
coverage was followed by a series of stories that raised many important
questions about their decision, - including its implications for avoiding –
taxes, the large sums it would
potentially cost the US government, and the huge amount of power it would place
in the hands of two people. As John Cassidy
observed in The New Yorker, ‘The more money billionaires give to their
charitable foundations, which in most cases remain under their personal
control, the more influence they will accumulate.’"
control, the more influence they will accumulate.’"
Massing, Michael, ‘How to Cover the One Percent,’ The New
York Review, January 14, 2016, pp: 74-76.
PHILANTHROCAPITALISTS
“. . . many of
today's philanthropists
are more
activist than those in the
past. A number are
current or
former hedge fund managers, private equity executives, and tech entrepreneurs who, having
made their fortunes
on Wall Street or
in Silicon Valley, are
now seeking
to apply their know-how
to social problems. Rather
than simply write checks
for existing
institutions, these
‘philanthrocapitalists,’ as they are often called, aggressively seek to shape their operations.”
‘philanthrocapitalists,’ as they are often called, aggressively seek to shape their operations.”
Massing, Michael, ‘How to Cover the One Percent,’ The New
York Review,
January 14, 2016, pp: 74-76.
January 14, 2016, pp: 74-76.
THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION
“As The Washington Post reported in 2014 . . . the Brookings Institution, long known for
its "impeccable research," has in recent years placed more and more emphasis on expansion and fund-raising, ‘giving scholars a bigger role in seeking money from donors and giving donors a voice in Brookings's research agenda.’ In one example, Brookings in November 2012 was visited by a lawyer representing Peter B. Lewis, the billionaire insurance executive who toward the end of his life embraced the cause of legalizing marijuana. Before the visit, the think tank had done little work on the issue, but soon after, the Post reported, it "emerged as a hub of research" supporting legalization, with prominent scholars offering at least twenty seminars, papers, or Op-Ed pieces. Before his death in 2013, Lewis donated $500,000 to Brookings, and two of the scholars involved said they knew he was their benefactor.”
its "impeccable research," has in recent years placed more and more emphasis on expansion and fund-raising, ‘giving scholars a bigger role in seeking money from donors and giving donors a voice in Brookings's research agenda.’ In one example, Brookings in November 2012 was visited by a lawyer representing Peter B. Lewis, the billionaire insurance executive who toward the end of his life embraced the cause of legalizing marijuana. Before the visit, the think tank had done little work on the issue, but soon after, the Post reported, it "emerged as a hub of research" supporting legalization, with prominent scholars offering at least twenty seminars, papers, or Op-Ed pieces. Before his death in 2013, Lewis donated $500,000 to Brookings, and two of the scholars involved said they knew he was their benefactor.”
Massing, Michael, ‘How to Cover the One Percent,’ The New
York Review, January 14, 2016, pp: 74-76.
MIXED
ATTITUDE TOWARD VERY WEALTHY
"We've always had this very mixed attitude toward very wealthy
people giving q
their
money away," said Leslie Lenkowsky, an Indiana
University professor. "It's a long,
drawn-out controversy. Our concerns about equality and inequality are bringing it back to the surface today.”
drawn-out controversy. Our concerns about equality and inequality are bringing it back to the surface today.”
Associated Press. Michael Hill, “The Rich Give, and Get
Grief,” printed in the Bloomsburg (PA) Press-Enterprise, pp: 25 and 28, January
27, 2016.
BILLIONAIRE
GIVERS GET GRIEF
“In recent months, a hedge fund
billionaire was denounced for his $400 million gift
to the
already wealthy Harvard University; David Geffen took flak for gifts that plaster his
already wealthy Harvard University; David Geffen took flak for gifts that plaster his
name on a Manhattan concert hall and a Los Angeles
school; and the wife of a Wall Street I
banker was roasted for trying to put her name on a small Adirondacks college. Even
banker was roasted for trying to put her name on a small Adirondacks college. Even
Bill Gates, who has given billions to battle diseases,
is taking lumps in a new book titled
No Such Thing as a Free Gift."
No Such Thing as a Free Gift."
Associated Press. Michael Hill, “The Rich Give, and Get
Grief,” printed in the Bloomsburg (PA) Press-Enterprise, pp: 25 and 28, January
27, 2016.
PAUL SMITH’S COLLEGE
“Joan Weill, the wife of billionaire former Citigroup CEO Sanford Weill . . . .
offered $20 million to Paul Smith's
College in New York's Adirondacks - but only if the small
college changed its name to Joan Weill – Paul Smith’s College.
“A court eventually ruled the
bequest that established the college barred the name
change. Weill chose not to give the $20 million.
“Alumni took
to Facebook to excoriate the proposal, underscoring the role
social media can play in amplifying controversies “
Associated Press. Michael Hill, “The Rich Give, and Get Grief,”
printed in the Bloomsburg (PA) Press-Enterprise, pp: 25 and 28, January 27,
2016.
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