Forbes reports that there were 442 billionaires in the U.S. in 2013. Nice for them. Taxes have dropped dramatically for the top 1 percent since the 1970s. But don't call them plutocrats. Call them our "job creators," even though they should be called our "job out-sourcers." Some of those jobs were lost to new technologies, and some were relocated to low-wage countries.
In terms of income taxes, under President Eisenhower, the marginal tax rate for the very rich was 91 percent; it is now 35 percent. The tax on long-term capital gains has dropped from 25 percent to 15 percent. No wonder that billionaire investor Warren Buffett famously said that there has indeed been class warfare, and "my class has won."
A recent paper by Martin Gilens of Princeton University and Benjamin I. Page of Northwestern University concludes: "...economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence.” Recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court removing limits on campaign contributions by corporations and individuals reinforce elite control of the political system.
The world’s first trillionaire could emerge within just 25 years, financial forecasters have claimed. Gates currently the richest man on Earth with a fortune of about $US120 billion, is widely expected to be the world’s first trillionaire in his old age. Another contender for the world’s first trillionaire is Carlos Slim, the Mexican telecoms mogul.
American tax lawyer Bob Lord believes the growing concentration of world wealth will lead to a trillionaire in just a quarter of a century said. “My guess is 2039 is the most likely time frame to cross that threshold.”
Investment bank Credit Suisse, believe there will be 11 trillionaires within just two generations.
A trillion dollars is a million million or $1,000,000,000,000, the equivalent of $US140 for every person on the planet. It is enough money to buy up every last inch of property in central London at today’s prices, according to The Times.
In terms of income taxes, under President Eisenhower, the marginal tax rate for the very rich was 91 percent; it is now 35 percent. The tax on long-term capital gains has dropped from 25 percent to 15 percent. No wonder that billionaire investor Warren Buffett famously said that there has indeed been class warfare, and "my class has won."
A recent paper by Martin Gilens of Princeton University and Benjamin I. Page of Northwestern University concludes: "...economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence.” Recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court removing limits on campaign contributions by corporations and individuals reinforce elite control of the political system.
The world’s first trillionaire could emerge within just 25 years, financial forecasters have claimed. Gates currently the richest man on Earth with a fortune of about $US120 billion, is widely expected to be the world’s first trillionaire in his old age. Another contender for the world’s first trillionaire is Carlos Slim, the Mexican telecoms mogul.
American tax lawyer Bob Lord believes the growing concentration of world wealth will lead to a trillionaire in just a quarter of a century said. “My guess is 2039 is the most likely time frame to cross that threshold.”
Investment bank Credit Suisse, believe there will be 11 trillionaires within just two generations.
A trillion dollars is a million million or $1,000,000,000,000, the equivalent of $US140 for every person on the planet. It is enough money to buy up every last inch of property in central London at today’s prices, according to The Times.
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