Chateau 1%

1%, yes 1%, of the wealthiest Americans own such a ridiculous high proportion of the US economy that the number is not worth repeating. You can look it up and feel as disgusted as I am. You can also look at other countries. There, you will find the same. Many Latin American countries, Asian countries and definitely African countries, have an incredibly wealthy upper class.

I will not waste your time repeating the story. We know it all too well. Too few, own too much.

What I would like to add to the discussion is a need for solutions. What do we do next? Taxing them more will maybe fill the coffers. It might not. It may decrease job creation. It might not. Regardless, no matter how much you take away from the rich, they will find a way to make it up. In essence, taking away an extra few percentage points on billions does not solve the long term disparity problem. That is the problem, let us not forget. The problem is a system, several systems, which allow people to get disproportionately wealthy. In developed countries, the system is rigged in their favor. They pay less tax, they have access to capital and they keep the money in the proverbial family. In the developing world it is another issue. They make money oligarchically or via corruption. In either case, it’s the system that let’s them get away with it.

So what’s the solution? What system will enable us to ‘make it’ in life, to potentially succeed, without gutting the rest of the economy?