Thursday, October 17, 2013

SAME OLD STORY

Credit Suisse predicts a world with 11 trillionaires in a couple generations, as the rich get richer and the gap widens.

The rich keep getting richer. The Super Rich are raking in more than ever before.  The poor are getting poorer. While more and more people are sliding into poverty. There are two economies: one for the rich, and the other for everyone else. The top 1% rallys, while 99% in recession. The economy has only recovered for the richest 1% and  the rest of us are more or less stuck in a depression.

For example, China's 400 richest people became USD 150 billion wealthier this year, Forbes magazine said today, despite a slowdown in the world's second largest economy. The vast increase -- an average of almost USD 400 million each -- highlights the growing inequality between the country's Super Rich and the millions who still live in poverty. The net assets of the top 100 richest people in China soared 44 per cent from a year earlier to USD 316 billion, the magazine said, while the number of dollar billionaires rose to a record high of 168.

After China, Nepal has one of the highest Gini coefficients in the world. In Nepal, in 1985, the poorest 10 per cent of the population shared 4.04 per cent of the national income. This figure plummeted to 1.7 per cent in 1996 and the number increased only marginally to 2.1 per cent in 2003-2004 before plunging to 1.5 per cent in 2010-2011. At the opposite end, the richest 10 per cent shared 25 per cent of the wealth in 1985. This increased to 34.9 per cent and 37.7 per cent in 1996 and 2003-2004, respectively. In 2011, it reached a record-high of 39.5 per cent. Quantile data shows that the poorest 20 per cent of the population shared 9.1 per cent of the national income in 1985. This figure dropped to 5.3 per cent in 1996 and further sank to 4.1 per cent in 2010-2011. Conversely, the richest 20 per cent of the population shared 39.5 per cent in 1985 and 50.2 per cent in 1996. The figure increased to 53.4 per cent in 2003-204 and 56.2 per cent in 2010-2011.

Barton Biggs, former Morgan Stanley global strategist, warned of the “possibility of a breakdown of the civilized infrastructure,” a revolution of the disillusioned, angry masses. His solution? Buy a farm up in the mountains: “Your safe haven must be self-sufficient and capable of growing some kind of food … well-stocked with seed, fertilizer, canned food, wine, medicine, clothes, etc. Think Swiss Family Robinson.”


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