8 Schrille feiten over rijkdom en armoede in de VS

What If the Greedy Rich Paid Their Share? 8 Things to Know About Wealth and Poverty in the US
Les Leopold, Alternet 17 april 2012

We're far from poor - we just have a wildly lopsided distribution of wealth that makes us seem poor.

[...]

1. The number of households with a million dollars or more of net worth grew by 202 percent between 1983 and 2007.

2. The number of households with a net worth of $5 million or more grew by 494 percent.

3. The number of $10 million or more households grew by a whopping 598 percent!

4. There are now more than 464,000 households worth $10 million or more. (PDF)

5. But the bottom 40 percent of American households has a net worth of nearly zero (.2 percent).

6. If you take out the value of our homes, the bottom 40 percent has a negative net worth of minus 1 percent – meaning they owe more than their assets are worth.

7. Meanwhile the top one percent holds 34.6 percent of our total net worth and 42.7 percent of all financial assets (excluding homes).

8. That means that the top one percent has a positive net worth valued at approximately $5,700,000,000,000 (that’s $5.7 trillion).

-> we need a Financial Transaction Tax

-> we need a Wealth Tax (in addition to the federal income tax) to improve our commonwealth

Zie ook (deels later toegevoegd):

Joseph Stiglitz Sees Terrifying Future for America If We Don't Reverse Inequality
Door Lynn Parramore, Alternet, 24 juni 2012

What will life look like down the road if we don't reverse economic inequality? We must see through the myths of capitalism and build a mass movement if we are to save ourselves.  

Een op zeven Amerikanen krijgt voedselhulp
Trouw, 20 april 2012

En m'n blognotities:
Het hardvochtige Amerika van Mitt Romney
Amerika's obscene kloof tussen arm en rijk
VS: 26 grote bedrijven betaalden geen belasting
Belangrijkste oorzaken economische crisis
'Wij zitten gevangen in onze jacht op rijkdom'
Verhoog de belastingen voor bedrijven en welgestelden of geef de doodsteek aan de publieke zaak - de keuze is aan ons
Samsom: hogere inkomens extra belasten