Extreme Inequality in Politics, Healthcare and Economics

21 Comments

1. EXTREME INEQUALITY & LARGE CORPORATIONS

   Two recent reports show that power and money are concentrated in the hands of wealthy corporate executives and shareholders by way of record profits, massive stock buyback programs, low worker wages, exorbitant CEO pay, tax avoidance schemes, and formidable lobbying campaigns.

   The reports only cover a few of the shady corporate practices, which include wage theft, union-busting, greedflation, skimpflation, and shrinkflation.

   “When corporations hoard the profits resulting from workers’ increased productivity, it becomes a dangerous problem for the economy and our democracy,” according to The Patriotic Millionaires newsletter (3/20/24), which summarized the two reports.

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2. As private equity buys up housing at record rates, housing costs skyrocket. And, as private equity invests $100 billion a year in health care, costs explode. Why don’t we hear about this fleecing of America? Hedge funds and private equity firms also are buying up half the nation’s daily papers, and reporters are being laid off in droves.

   See the pattern? https://youtu.be/DaSn0iqzVv4 (5-min Robert Reich video)

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3. 

   HOW TO FIX ECONOMIC INEQUALITY? — This excellent and detailed report provides an overview of policies for the United States and other high-income economies

   Some selected quotes:
   “Inequality may hurt a country’s economy.
   Recent studies find evidence that inequality hampers a country’s growth, and this view is gaining ground among policymakers.”

   “The American Dream is fading.
   Generations today are much less likely to earn more than their parents. Social mobility—the chance to move up the income ladder—has fallen in the United States. Americans are increasingly stuck in the income bracket they were born into.”

   “The US federal minimum wage has fallen.
   The US federal minimum wage, currently $7.25 an hour, has dropped by almost 30 percent since the 1960s when adjusted for inflation. More than half of US states have set higher minimum wages but the rest have not. [By contrast…] France’s minimum wage grew more than 80 percent between 1980 and 2016 when adjusted for inflation, to almost €10 or nearly $12 an hour.”

   “The United States faces a range of crises: a continuing pandemic, widespread unemployment and business failures, climate change, racial and political polarization, and economic inequality. As the world attempts to heal from the damage inflicted by COVID-19, policymakers can use this moment to rebuild more equal and just economies that work for the many, not just the few.”

   “Healthcare in the United States is not universal.
   The United States is the only wealthy nation without universal health coverage. Healthcare expenditures grew from 5 percent of GDP in 1960 to almost 18 percent in 2018. Americans spend more than double on healthcare per person than other wealthy countries on average, many of which have some form of publicly funded healthcare system, yet the country lags on many health outcomes such as life expectancy and infant mortality.”

   “Coronavirus Impact.
   In addition to costing numerous lives and infecting tens of millions, the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered an unprecedented global recession, worsening underlying social vulnerabilities that contribute to inequality. … [Key observations:]
   * Low-wage workers lost a higher share of jobs than high-wage workers. …
   * Lack of healthcare and sick leave, and crowded housing conditions, spurred disease spread and death. …
   * Minorities suffered the worst health and economic outcomes. …
   * Those lacking college degrees were more likely to be exposed to the virus. …
   * Working mothers bore the brunt of lost childcare [and suffered the most job loss].”

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4. UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME (from MadLori)

   When discussing Universal Basic Income, inevitably the retort comes: “So you just want to not have to work, is that it?” accompanied by a smug smirk, expecting me to backpedal and hem and haw.“ Of course not, that’s silly. Except… yes. Yes I do.

   People shouldn’t HAVE to work. People should WANT to work. Sharing in the labor of building and maintaining a society because it benefits everyone should be desirable, not forced. It shouldn’t be something we do because we’ll die otherwise.

   Imagine a society where survival didn’t depend on a job. Imagine how that would alter the fabric of … everything. Imagine if you could leave a job without fearing the loss of income or health care. Imagine the power of the worker in that society.

   If a person could survive without aq job, imagine what employers would be like. They’d have to treat their workers fairly and make themselves attractive to entice workers. They’d have to offer a better option than other employers, and make people want to participate.

   Places that have offered UBI have seen the results: most people do want to work. The people who choose not to are generally young parents, students, people with disabilities, and the elderly. People have a desire to contribute, for our lives to have purpose and to be useful.

   And before you say it, yes, some people will take advantage. That is true for absolutely everything ever. You think people don’t take advantage of the economy we have? Like, say, the 1% who grow wealthier while their employees have to work three jobs and use food stamps?

   They can only do that, by the way, because people are so terrified of losing a job and the destruction that would follow that they tolerate mistreatment, disempowerment, the destruction of their unions, healthcare, retirements, and even their bodies to avoid it.

   That would not be the case if everyone were guaranteed a baseline survival income. Your boss couldn’t treat you like shit because he knows you can’t leave. You CAN leave, and you will.

   What if desperation didn’t motivate everything? Imagine the impact on health, relationships, parenting, well-being, crime, violence, progress. When you aren’t desperately scrabbling for the rent, you can spare a neuron to contemplate long-term problems.

   Imagine a society where terror of destitution wasn’t a constant thrum underneath everyone’s existence. Imagine the creative works that society could produce. Imagine the children it could raise, the elderly it could care for. Imagine the inventions it could produce.

   Now, imagine knowing all this and thinking, “NOPE. We can’t have all that, because someone I don’t like might benefit from it. So, to avoid that, the rest of you can all hang.” And there you have modern conservative thinking.

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5. THE POPULISM PUZZLE: What caused the uprising that has transformed global politics?

   MY ANALYSIS – In this rather disjointed article, academic economist Hal Weisman confuses Populism and Nationalism (the opposite of Globalism) in a sometimes-confusing attempt to explain partisan politics using extreme inequality and economic theories that don’t fit traditional models.

   POINTLESS – The author seems to shy away from making any reasoned conclusions of his own but instead quotes many other economic researchers. This one quote, however, captures my overall reaction to this largely pointless article:

   “I don’t think economists are the people to be asking about populism. The people who have said really smart things are the political scientists and sociologists.”

   I certainly agree and am more aligned with the thinking of Robert Reich and George Lakoff. Reich, as former Labor Secretary under President Clinton, best understands the issue Extreme Inequality, but that alone does not explain why Trump’s base would vote against their best interests economically. They’ve been duped by a master salesman, and by decades of misleading conservative framing and language with the purpose of giving marginalized voters an enemy to blame for their economic plight, and to distract from the real enemy. Conservatives offer voters several enemies to pick from: blacks & Hispanics, other immigrants, the changing role of women, non-Christians, public schools and universities teaching liberalism, the mainstream media, and more. It’s my view that conservative politicians use conspiracy theories and disinformation campaigns as tools to reinforce a false narrative for the purpose of maintaining political power in the face of changing demographics.

   Lakoff helps us understand the importance of framing and language so we can better communicate across political party lines. He comes at the issue from the perspective of a linguist, describing the different worldviews of Conservatives and Liberals. Conservatives tend to have a “Strict Father” moral hierarchy that puts Men over women, Adults over children, Whites over blacks, Christians over non-Christians, Straights over gays, the Wealthy over the poor, and so on. By contrast, Democrats tend to have a “Nurturing” perspective of morality that longs for a government OF, BY, and FOR the People – all people.

   EXTREME INEQUALITY

   Weisman spends quite a lot of time discussing inequality but struggled to connect it with Trump’s base. More important than income or wealth inequality is the concept of Fairness, or lack of it, as a cause the Populist movements he writes about.

   It’s one thing to admire success from someone who worked hard for it, but it’s quite another to see them living lavish and opulent lifestyles off of inherited wealth or that coming from capital investments while simultaneously investing in political influence to keep others down. It seems grossly unfair and immoral for companies like Amazon and Walmart to make billions in profit but pay no taxes or even get tax credits. And it’s doubly unfair to middleclass when companies like Walmart pay poverty wages that leave workers relying on tax-funded public assistance programs for basic survival. One should not have to work 2-3 jobs and still struggle to support a family.

   I too write about Extreme Inequality (see https://mHealthTalk.com/inequality/), but I don’t see it as a cause of partisanship. I see it as an antidote, because the vast majority of Republicans and Democrats alike have the same distrust of Washington elites and wealthy capitalists who exploit and distort laws in their favor. With that in mind, I add these top-line statistics for context.

   • The richest 1% now own more wealth than the bottom 90% combined (the entire middle class). That’s $34.73T versus $32.80T (Federal Reserve stats for 2Q2019).
   • The top 1% own more corporate equity and mutual fund shares than the bottom 99% combined. That’s $13.73T versus $32.80T.
   • The bottom 50% lives hand-to-mouth and own less than 0.5% of stocks. They don’t invest and have no retirement savings.
   • Many CEOs now make almost 1,000 times more than the average worker in their company. The Average worker needs to work more than 2 months to make what the CEO makes in just one Hour.
   • Inequality is worsening. The top 1% have been replaced by the top 0.1% and 0.01%.
   • The three richest Americans ― Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffett ― now have the wealth of the bottom half of the U.S. population, or 160 million Americans.

   MY NOTES FROM THE ARTICLE (much of it cut/pasted)

   A 2018 survey found that 65% of people trusted doctors, 29% trusted economists, 19% trusted lawyers, and just 5% trusted politicians. More than 89% thought Washington politicians worked to enrich themselves and their largest campaign contributors, instead of working for the benefit of the majority of citizens.

   “Capitalism inevitably leads to some inequality, which is tolerated by society to the extent that its benefits are clear and the inequality itself is seen to be relatively fair. Making the benefits clear requires economic growth that is distributed across society, while the fairness requires opportunities for economic mobility.”

   The haves, possessing skills that are increasingly rewarded by the economy, can shape the political system to their benefit. The have-nots, with stagnating incomes, feel that the economy and the political system have been rigged to keep them out.

   People’s tolerance for inequality has dropped, and there’s a rise in the US of “deaths of despair”—by drugs, alcohol, and suicide. But this doesn’t explain political polarization in the way that we have now. The persistence of this long-held resentment has transformed populism from a fringe protest movement to a mainstream political force.

   Economic forces, especially automation and trade competition, can explain Populism. These have combined to create devastating job losses in some communities, particularly of middle-income jobs held by people without a college education. When manufacturing is automated or moved offshore, for example, you lose your job as a factory worker, but can still get reemployed in a Laundromat or as a security guard. It’s a lousier job, but at least there’s a job. In a smaller town, however, when the big employer leaves, the Laundromat also closes down.

   [ME: While this explains the rise in Populism and distrust of Washington elites, it does not explain the political polarization. Both Trump and Sanders ran Populist campaigns in 2016, but while Trump was an authoritarian populist promising to use his “outsider” status and wealth (i.e. can’t be bought) to fight for middle income families, but he lied and continues to do so. Sanders was more of a reform populist, proposing major restructuring and redistribution of wealth, essentially punishing the wealthy for their success.]

   “In both the US and the UK, populist leaders have cast themselves as warriors against political elites. President Trump, who originally ran on a “Drain the Swamp” platform, has repeatedly attacked Congress, the judiciary, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and what he calls the deep state more generally.”

   [ME: One way elites have failed is by neglecting to construct sufficient social safety nets, such as making strategic public investments in engines of growth, such as job retraining programs, public education & college, healthcare, infrastructure, and the environment, especially if fairly funded by more-progressive tax policies.]

   [ME: These are the sorts of social reforms proposed by Bernie Sanders, another populist, that set him apart from Joe Biden, who many consider as too elitist and tied to the DNC powerbase. Sanders brings in fresh perspectives from those who feel marginalized, while Biden and other out-of-touch elites seem to have underestimated the difficulties faced by the rest of the population.]

   Rising immigration is another possible explanation of the surge in populist politics in this last decade. Famine, drought, civil wars, and organized crime have driven tens of millions of people to leave poor and conflict-ridden countries in recent decades, many of them bound for Europe and the US. Immigration motivated many supporters of Brexit and President Trump, especially among those who tie immigration to their lack of opportunities. But immigration may have been a false enemy, since technology and automation have had a greater impact on the stagnation of the middle class. Populist politicians can more easily put a face on immigration than on machines.

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6. Pingback: Free healthcare and free money for all - Is it justified?

7. The largest employers in each US state (mapped) Walmart has the most in 22 states.

   “Our economy is booming” and Trump says, “We have record unemployment.” Ain’t it great that so many have 2-3 jobs!

   Even with billions in profit, Walmart, Amazon and dozens of other corporations paid no federal income taxes and even got tax credits. And worker pay is often so low that they must rely on food stamps, even with their 2-3 jobs.

   No worries, however — The new Trump budget includes funding cuts to food stamps, as well as CHIP, Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security while he also plans to privatize the VA. MERRY CHRISTMAS, suckers.

   I can’t really relate to Trump or his supporters in Congress, because I’m not in the top 0.01% making a killing from this “booming economy.” But I’m not as bad off as the other half of the nation who are struggling. I retired with a full IBM pension, have Social Security & Medicare, and live a modest downsized lifestyle with no debt to speak of. But I worry, a lot, about the widening wealth gap and those less fortunate (less privileged). I’ve also written several articles about Extreme Inequality, because most people don’t really know how bad it has become, how it got that way through unequal political influence, or how to fix it.

   Become an activist. Make that your New Years Resolution and join the fight to save our Democracy.

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8. Why You Shouldn’t Believe Those G.D.P. Numbers (NY Times, 12/15/19) with great interactive charts. MY SUMMARY:

   GDP, or gross domestic product, is a measure of the economy’s total output. It keeps on rising but no longer tracks the well-being of most Americans, as shown in this article. Those who benefit from the “Hot Economy” Trump touts are primarily the top 1%. Here are Federal Reserve stats from 2Q 2019:

   WEALTH: The top 1% now owns more total wealth than the bottom 90% combined ($34.73T versus $32.80T)

   STOCKS: The top 1% own more corporate equity and mutual fund shares than the bottom 99% combined ($13.73T versus $32.80T).

   DEBT: The top 1% lives essentially debt-free, compared to the bottom 99% ($0.71T versus $14.54).

   
   
   WATCH 4 DECADES OF INEQUALITY DRIVE AMERICAN CITIES APART (NYTimes, 12/2/2019) I commented:

   HOW TO EARN MORE THAN OTHERS:

   WORK HARDER – Sure, ambition and hard work can help you advance your career and earn more, to a point, but there are other factors too.

   STUDY THE RIGHT THINGS – Making good grades and earning a degree in the right fields from the right university helps too, but some people have more education opportunities than others.

   BE LUCKY – It starts with being born in the right zip code and to the right parents, because inheriting wealth, being white, and having privilege gives you a huge advantage and head start in life. If you aren’t lucky enough to be born into affluence, maybe you can marry into it.

   TAKE EDUCATED RISKS – Don’t settle for working for others. Even if you work harder than anyone else, your earning potential is limited as an employee, because you’ll never be paid what you’re worth. Find a passion and invest your time and money, but do it wisely to improve your odds.

   INVEST WISELY – You’ll never have to really work if your money generates income for you. Besides, the taxes you pay on capital gains is far less than taxes paid on wages from real labor.

   FIND A MENTOR – It helps to have the best teachers and advisors and absorb the wisdom they share, but not everyone is so fortunate as to have them offer their help. Ask for help, again and again if necessary.

   STAY HEALTHY – A serious injury or illness can dampen any success you may otherwise have. Similarly, good nutrition, exercise, sleep, and stress management can improve your energy and productivity while lowering your health risks.

   MANAGE OTHERS – By hiring people to work for you, and paying them less than what they actually contribute, you can profit from the difference. Like in a pyramid scheme, the more people you have working for you, the more you can make from the work they do. A line manager with 10 employees won’t earn as much as a Director with 100, or a VP with 1,000, or a CEO with tens of thousands.

   PROTECT YOUR WEALTH – Hire tax attorneys and investment managers to do the hard work of protecting your investments should luck turn against you. Invest in trusts and offshore accounts that can’t be tapped even if you’re indicted.

   BUY INFLUENCE – The ROI on political investments is often higher than on any type of investment you can make, because you can shape laws and loopholes in your favor. The Koch brothers, for example, got over 1,500% return from their long-term political investment in the Trump tax cuts and will gain even more from his focus on deregulation and stacking the Courts.

   TELL LIES – It takes practice, but the more you lie, the easier it gets, and the better you become at it, to a point. But be careful not to involve many others, because it becomes difficult too coordinate the stories. When caught, double down and blame the accusers. Never admit to any misgiving, ever. Invest in misinformation campaigns to shape public opinion on issues in your favor.

   CHEAT – We’ve all heard that “rules are meant to be broken,” and that “it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission.” If everyone else plays by the rules while you find ways around them, you can have a significant advantage.

   Follow this advice, and you may find yourself in the top 1% or 0.1% as I envision it, unless you are unlucky and end up in jail. But you’ll still be able to buy the best lawyers and serve relatively little time in a high-end prison. You see, justice is not really equal.

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9. Study Shows Income Gap Between Rich and Poor Keeps Growing, With Deadly Effects (NY Times, 9/10/2019)

   MY COMMENT: According to the HBO documentary series, The Weight of the Nation, public health officials can accurately predict obesity and longevity rates by zip codes. They’ve even seen average lifespan differences of more than 20 years between poor and affluent neighborhoods on opposite sides of the same city.

   Disadvantaged communities are at higher risk for many preventable health conditions, including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, asthma, HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis B and C, and infant mortality. That’s partially due to the lack of affordable healthcare, fresh and nutritious food, and the lack of sidewalks and parks that encourage exercise.

   Political Genocide? It’s easy to think these extreme longevity differences are intentional. After all, dead people don’t vote, and neither do the disproportionately black victims of mass incarceration. These disgusting and effective voter suppression techniques are discussed with others in Politics, Voter Suppression, and Modern Killing Fields.

   For the sake of life on Earth, we must put a limit on wealth (The Guardian, 9/19/2019) This related article in The Guardian extends my concern with Extreme Inequality to the devastating effects it has on the environment and climate change, even if unintentional. It describes “the psychological impacts of being wealthy. Plenty of studies show that the richer you are, the less you are able to connect with other people. Wealth suppresses empathy.” It also suppresses concern for the planet.

   President Donald Trump’s War On The Poor. Cruelly, the Trump response to record poverty is to make it worse.

   Think Wage Inequality is Bad? Benefit Inequality, including healthcare, is Worse. WHY? (7/23/2020) The authors attribute benefit inequality to the decline of unions and the increase in nonstandard employment practices. Classifying workers as contractors, temporary, or part-time lets employers avoid paying for healthcare, retirement, or paid leave. In other countries, the government pays these expenses.This form of inequality is especially bad during a pandemic when so many of the “essential workers” lack these benefits. It makes the public health problem, and the economic problem, so much worse.

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10. It Is Expensive to Be Poor – Minimum-wage jobs are physically demanding, have unpredictable schedules, and pay so meagerly that workers can’t save up enough to move on.
    

    MY RESPONSE: This deeply poignant article shows the fallacy of conservative ideology, which views the poor as having no one to blame but themselves. From their perspective, “poverty is caused not by low wages or lack of jobs and education, but by the bad attitudes and faulty lifestyles of the poor.”

    That’s hogwash and inconsistent with both Compassionate Conservatism and Fiscal Conservatism. It views the exploding population of poor people as a huge drain on our nation that must somehow be contained. But treating them as an expense is more expensive than they realize, and it can only lead to a downward spiral, as social programs outstrip tax revenue – taxes that could have come from higher-wage workers and the resulting increase in consumer spending.

    Better would be to treat our nation’s workers as our greatest asset and invest in their skills, health, and upward mobility. The result would be improved productivity, corporate profits, GDP, and global competitiveness. But instead, conservatives seem to prefer spending more on incarceration than school for children. That makes no sense.

    Understanding The U.S. Economy: Lots Of Rotten Jobs (Forbes, 12/6/19) “When U.S. unemployment is at a 50-year low, why do so many people have trouble finding work with decent pay and adequate predictable hours? A new economic indicator—the US Private Sector Job Quality Index (JQI)—gives the answer: we have lots of jobs, but they are increasingly low-quality jobs.”

    CEO who slashed his salary to give employees a raise shares more good news (TODAY, October 2019) Dan Price, the CEO of Gravity Payments, announced employees in a new Idaho office will receive a minimum $50,000 salary and committed to pay everyone at least $70,000 by 2024.

    MY REACTION: When a CEO like Dan Price shows such a warm, caring, and positive attitude toward employees and customers, more people will want to work for him, and do business with him. I think he’ll do well.

    On the other hand, when CEO compensation is tied to performance and measured by quarterly stock price, short-term decision making results at the expense of all else. This story stands in stark contrast to my article on Extreme Inequality. BRAVO!!!

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11. The gig is up: America’s booming economy is built on hollow promises

    COMMENT: I learned the pros & cons of contract work firsthand, after retiring from my 30-year IBM career and starting an independent consulting firm. I had it much better than most, because my IBM pension reduced retirement worries, and IBM also covered my healthcare, but income from contract work was spotty. After each gig was over, it was like starting all over, because while on contract, I wasn’t going to conferences or classes to maintain the skills and contacts that made me valuable in the first place.

    Robert Reich is right to criticize corporations exploiting contract workers. I saw exploitation too. At one point after IBM, I worked as Dell’s worldwide PC messaging manager until the company outsourced the entire department. Just a week later, a headhunter called to offer me a temp job – doing the exact same thing I did before, but with half the pay, no benefits, and no job guarantee. I turned it down, but that’s what workers face today. Those working for companies like Uber don’t even have retirement or healthcare benefits. They’re screwed, but so are we. Our taxes will help fund the social services needed to keep them alive. And who profits from this?

    Robert Reich on Why We Need to Break Up Big Tech (5:14 video) I commented…

    20/20 FORESIGHT – The threat of antitrust actions and progressive healthcare reforms suggest 2020 will be the most expensive political campaign ever, and by a long shot. These large companies and industries have much to lose, and the Trump tax cuts taught them that investing in political influence delivers huge returns. There’s likely no other investment they can make that comes anywhere close. So it’s not too far fetched to imagine 2020 as the first multi-billion dollar election, even approaching a trillion. Follow the link for justification.

    Medical Tourism is a good example where there’s no correlation between cost and quality. In fact, having knee-replacement surgery in a specialized clinic in Costa Rico or Malaysia can not only cost far less than that hospital across town, even with travel. It can also have far better outcomes, because these clinics are run like a factory and have become extremely efficient. Surgery and recovery are both quicker, and because they see so many clients, they likely have seen many more complications, and are thus more prepared for them. Unlike U.S. hospitals, they can even quote you a price ahead of time.

    America’s Real Economy: It Isn’t Booming (Forbes)

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12. NYTimes: CEO’s should fear a recession — it could mean a revolution. (8/22/19) SUMARY…

    This week, an association of chief executives of nearly 200 companies, including Apple, Amazon, General Motors and Walmart declared that the era of soulless corporatism was over. Their previous position that “a corporation’s ‘paramount duty’ was to its shareholders” is now a corporation “should balance the interests of its shareholders with those of other ‘stakeholders,’ including customers, employees, suppliers and local communities.”

    It’s nice that these CEOs say they have turned over a new leaf, but their statement lacks any call for structural changes in the American economy. There was no call to change how companies are taxed or regulated, or how executives are judged and paid.

    A corporation’s most direct incentive remains CEO pay, which is tied to stock performance. So there’s no reason to believe they’d voluntarily change and take on these high-minded ideals. In fact, the fanfare of their empty statement could be seen as a way to resist structural economic reform rather than accelerate it. It’s the CEOs telling us that they’re on the case, so we don’t need the unthinkable, like a Warren presidency.

    A revolution in Chile sparked by U.S.-style economics. Our billionaires should be very worried. (Inquirer, October 2019) I commented about advantages billionaires have here that they don’t have in Chile.

    TRUTH in the Trump Era has been distorted to the point that half of the nation thinks Mainstream news is fake and Faux News is real. Half believe and support a fascist President who lies repeatedly and seems to have no morals. They don’t realize they’ve been deceived and still vote against their own best interest. And many even talk of civil war to protect him. But if they someday wake up, the billionaires could be in big trouble.

    HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS have been spent over several decades to craft a vast right-wing media misinformation campaign to perpetuate the “trickle down” myth and keep the peasants at bay. Watch the documentary “The Brainwashing of My Dad” to learn about the long term goals of Koch brothers funded organizations like The Heritage Foundation, The Federalist Society, and the American Legislative Exchange Council. You’ll also learn how Oliver Norquist’s (sp?) Monday Breakfasts were used to coordinate weekly taking points for conservative media, from Fox News and AM talk radio to Republican politicians.

    HUGE RETURNS from investing in political influence were proven in the Trump tax cuts. Powerful companies now realize there are few investments they can make with such high returns, so they will surely do it again in 2020.

    FEAR is another motivator because of the progressive aspirations of Warren and Sanders, including their wealth tax and antitrust enforcement. Billionaires also fear Medicare for All, because it would take away their ability to use group health insurance to lock in workers and pay them less if they or a loved one have a preexisting condition. Leaving, demanding higher wages, or starting their own businesses (as competitors) would no longer be life threatening decisions.

    CAMPAIGN FUNDING will blow past all records in 2020, along with misinformation campaigns in TV attack ads and social media. With so much at stake, even $1 trillion dollars seems justified (https://mHealthTalk.com/trillion/). And every dirty trick in the book will be used, including encouraging election interference from foreign nations. (https://mHealthTalk.com/voter-suppression/)

    Why CEOs Actually Deserve Their Gazillion-Dollar Salaries (Apple News, April 2019)

    NO — There was so much missing from this TIME opinion piece, including mention of multimillion dollar golden parachutes given to outed CEOs after they drove their companies into the dirt or got them into legal trouble. And there was no mention of these other factors driving CEO compensation.

    SUPPORT STAFFS — Managers measured on business unit performance benefit from hiring others to do the necessary work and paying them less than the value they actually contribute. For CEOs, this may also include an army of marketing and finance experts, PR and media experts, legal teams, speech writers and graphic artists to polish presentations, executive coaches, administrative assistants to manage calendars and office minutia, and more. Each staff member improves the productivity of the CEO and helps him look good, and the CEO gets more of the credit, and compensation, than they do.

    HIERARCHY — Directors, Vice Presidents, and CEOs extend this concept by also including more departments and divisions under their control. And with more support staff of their own, they have more time to manage more subordinate organizations. The larger and more effective the support staff, the greater the organization’s compensation if the result is improved business unit performance. CEO’s are paid more, not because they work so much harder, have more education, or are willing to take more risks than others. It’s more because they know how to build staffs and organization structures.

    INTERLOCKING DIRECTORATES — The Board of Directors determine compensation of CEOs and other senior managers, but many sit on Boards of other companies. When they’re able to vote on each other’s compensation, executive pay is inflated even more. This practice should be illegal but is all too common. It can also lead to other problems if the “herd instinct” takes over and CEOs blindly follow the examples set by others they know.

    MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM WAGE — Beyond the calls of raising the minimum wage to make it a living wage, there are also calls for a maximum wage. I discuss this concept in https://mHealthTalk.com/inequality/.

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13. USA ranked 27th in the world in education and healthcare—down from 6th in 1990 (BigThink) America continues to tread water in healthcare and education while other countries have enacted reforms to great effect.

    COMMENT: Call me a Conservative for wanting to make America great again and restore the strong public education, healthcare, and social programs that lead to our past economic success. Or call me a Progressive for wanting to promote strategic investments in human capital and develop the skilled and healthy workforce needed for future economic growth. That future growth also depends on restoring a large and vibrant middle class with enough money to create market demand for goods and services, as well as equal opportunity to innovate and compete on a level playing field. These are ideas that all Americans should support, no matter what political party they relate to.

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14. A.I. Will Enable You To Find Purpose In Life Instead Of Just Flipping Burgers All Day — I agree with almost all of the ideas in this interview with Martin Ford, Futurist, Speaker, A.I. Expert. Here are some additional thoughts I’d add:

    ACCELERATING PACE – Following Moore’s Law, the pace of tech innovation related to electronics is exponential, and because A.I. is based on ever-faster computer chips (in devices or remote services), I see this technology progressing faster than most people realize.

    FABRICATION – One thing that acted as a damper in the transition from Agricultural age to Manufacturing was the time it took to make the parts for the machines used to automate the process. 3D printing can greatly accelerate the move to specialized robots and speed next-gen automation.

    GOVERNANCE – My biggest worry is political, because policy makers are already unable to keep up with the pace of change, and while change is happening faster, lawmaking is slowing, and so is corporate decision making. So one potential A.I. application I hope to see is to serve as a virtual Board member or Legislator. But that trounces on the whole democratic idea of electing officials rather than appointing them, or creating them.

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15. The Top Most Profitable Industries And Their Impact On Low-Income People (FORBES, 2/19/2019)

    As I think about what’s behind the zero-taxes paid by immensely profitable companies like Amazon, Walmart and GE, it seems that we are miscalculating Profit. Isn’t Profit supposed to be Revenue minus Expenses? When did it become Revenue minus Expenses minus Investments in growth?

    So now think of how the rest of us pay taxes. It begins with the W2 (wages minus tax withholdings). But imagine if regular workers could deduct “expenses” of working and investments to advance their career or earning capacity.

    EXPENSES: child care, car payments or purchase (amortized in one year), gasoline and maintenance, including car wash and detail, apartment or home rental or purchase (because being homeless is a drain on earning potential), healthcare and nutrition and exercise to maintain work productivity and broaden business contacts (including golf health club memberships), fees paid for legal and financial services, etc.

    INVESTMENTS: Tuition, stock purchases, purchases of land and other assets (including rental property), computer equipment and phones and TVs (Isn’t that how we consume news and Info to keep us relevant?)

    Now what if we could deduct all of these expenses and investments from OUR taxable income? We too could pay no taxes. And what if the (tax deductible) fees we pay to tax accounts, attorneys, and lobbyists were used to insert new deductions into the tax law for us? What new things might we want to deduct?

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16. Why are millennials burned out? Capitalism (Vox) … This conversation is a good companion to my article on “Income Inequality, Healthcare, and the Economy.” (https://mHealthTalk.com/inequality/)

    The challenge is not just that our economic system lets fascists exploit workers who now work harder and are more productive even as wages stagnate and profits soar. These workers are increasingly responsible for their own skills development, healthcare, and retirement. But pensions have been replaced by 401-k shared contribution plans, fewer companies offer comprehensive health insurance, and college degrees lose value as the accelerating pace of tech innovation quickly obsoletes skills.

    The situation is worsening as wealth inequality begets unequal political influence in a downward spiral. Billionaires have shown how easy it has become to buy elections and favorable legislation that protects their wealth and strengthens their competitive advantage. Such a system not only disadvantages workers but also entrepreneurs who find competing on an uneven playing field is every more difficult. My favorite example of that trend is captured in the documentary, “The Corporation.” (https://mHealthTalk.com/corporate-behavior/)

    The healthcare industry is a notable failure of capitalism to create vibrant competition, improved costs and quality, and better wages and working conditions. Burnout among doctors and nurses has become a huge problem as the US spends twice as much on medical care as other advanced nations with better outcomes and longevity. But the medical industrial complex (or a medical cartel) has strong control of our politics (at least Republican politicians) and is doing all they can to avoid effective reforms that could save over $1.5 trillion/year. Such reforms would mean a loss of revenue and profit. This is why I’ve come to believe that you can’t fix our healthcare without first fixing our broken politics. And it’s discussed in my article, “Why American Healthcare is So Expensive.” (https://mHealthTalk.com/expensive/)

    Lastly is my worry that our legislative process is historically slow by design and may not be able to cope with fast-paced societal changes due to AI, robotics, automation, and the blending of science and technology (Info + Nano + Bio + Neuro). (https://mHealthTalk.com/moores-law-and-the-future-of-healthcare/)

    Reply

17. Survival of the richest: The wealthy are plotting to leave us behind (CNBC Technology) I found this incredibly thought-provoking article to be a perfect blend of two disturbing trends:

    1. The Exponentially Accelerating Pace of Tech Innovation, which I hint at in Moore’s Law and the FUTURE of Healthcare, brings with it concerns over how humans will be able to control and govern whatever technology brings us.

    2. The Widening Wealth Gap further brings with it the corrupting influence of big money in politics.

    As the author shared his experience and thoughts from meeting with a handful of user-wealthy global oligarchs, I became more convinced that my own fears are more than justified. I’ve been writing for a while that the biggest problem I see is government’s inability to understand, regulate, and control markets and products resulting from tech innovation. Instead of speeding the process of lawmaking, it seems to have come to a halt and is even falling backwards in the name of conservatism and preserving “the good ole days.”

    CEOs are dumping stock in their companies. Here’s what that means (CNN 7/17/2018) — Stock buybacks are deepening income inequality. But, Isn’t Stock Manipulation and Insider Trading already against the law? Each CEO should be charged, convicted, and jailed.

    Why is the 1% So White? (5:50 min video) Out of 536 billionaires in the USA, only 3 are black. Why the stark racial divide? Well it’s complicated, but it turns out our history of racism has a lot to do with it. From segregated schools that receive less funding in property taxes, to the history of redlining black homeowners, to the long history of slavery, oppression, and segregation, white families were accumulating wealth. That “old money” has provided the capital for the modern-day billionaires, and even average-income white families, to stay significantly ahead of black Americans. So how can we fix the wealth divide in America? Franchesca “Chescaleigh” Ramsey addresses this in this week’s Season 2 throwback episode of MTV Decoded.

    The Racial Wealth Gap: Why A Typical White Household Has 16 Times The Wealth Of A Black One (Forbes)

    Racist History in Banking (5:34 video) After centuries of racist banking policies and practices, for every $100 of white family wealth, black families only have about $5.04.

    It’s Time to Get Billionaires Off of Welfare (TIME) Government programs for low-wage workers is a form of corporate welfare. A livable minimum wage would save taxpayers hundreds of billions.

    What Billionaires Want: the Secret Influence of America’s 100 Richest (The Guardian) — A new study reveals how the wealthy engage in Stealth Politics: quietly advancing unpopular, inequality-exacerbating, highly conservative policies

    The Dangerous Myth of Deregulation (3:42 min video by Robert Reich) Don’t fall for the conservative myth of deregulation. It is nothing more than another form of trickle-down economics – where the gains go the top, and nothing trickles down except risks and losses.

    We’re Measuring the Economy All Wrong (NY Times) Ten years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the official economic statistics — the ones that fill news stories, television shows and presidential tweets — say that the American economy is fully recovered. The unemployment rate is lower than it was before the financial crisis began. The stock market has soared. GDP has risen 20 percent since Lehman collapsed. The crisis is over. But, of course, it isn’t over. And the main reason is inequality.

    Texas Homebuilding and the Global Financial Collapse — I wrote this paper in 2009 as Communications Director of Homeowners of Texas. It describes the role Texas and large homebuilders played in the collapse and argues that our laws made the $35B Texas homebuilding industry a magnet for unscrupulous builders, including many from out-of-state. We allowed (and even encouraged) bad builders, substandard construction, and tort reform, thus destroying the life savings of countless Texans, causing the demise of entire subdivisions, and contributing to the economic collapse. We now find that substandard construction has plagued all segments of the Texas homebuilding industry.

    Don’t be fooled [by AVERAGE income versus MEDIAN income and INFLATION rate]: Working Americans are worse off under Trump (Washington Post)

    Study: American jobs aren’t supporting middle-class life — “Most Americans are unable to live a middle-class lifestyle, despite being employed, because their salaries won’t support it, according to a new study published in Third Way.”

    Hourly pay to afford one-bedroom rent is more than double minimum wage (Business Insider)

    The World Would Be a Better Place Without the Rich — ‘Interesting but rather long essay by Sam Pizziagati, who concludes, “They coarsen our culture, erode our economic future, and diminish our democracy. The ultra-rich have no redeeming social value.”

    Disney Heiress Says She Will Benefit from GOP Tax Plan but Is Against It (Snopes) In a viral video, Abigail Disney said the 2017 tax plan is a windfall for rich people and large corporations while hurting ordinary working Americans.

    The Monopolization of America — In one industry after another, big companies have become more dominant over the past 15 years. FAIRNESS is a good base for Dems to frame the issues of Inequality, Monopolies, Tax Policy, and Justice.

    It’s surprisingly hard to give away billions of dollars — Even billionaires who want to give all their money away keep accumulating more. Here’s why.

    How wealth inequality in the US affects health inequality in the US: 4 essential reads (I commented)

    Politicians have caused a pay ‘collapse’ for the bottom 90 percent of workers (Washington Post)

    The New Reality of Old Age in America (Washington Post) “I’m going to work until I die,” says one 74-year-old in a generation finding it too costly to retire.

    A Wealth Tax Is Just What The Country Needs (FORBES 2/1/2019)

    WHY are Republicans (and others) not fulfilling their oaths? In this MUST WATCH VIDEO, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez explores that in her five-minute corruption game in front of the House Oversight Committee.

    Michigan Blue Cross CEO’s $19.2M pay is higher than Ford, FCA bosses

    Capitalism is failing workers. People want a job with a decent wage – why is that so hard? (The Guardian, 4/24/19) “Wage stagflation, inequality, soaring CEO pay, market monopolies and food banks – why are the fruits of capitalism distributed so unfairly? Why does capitalism work for the few, but not the many?”

    The $100 trillion question: What to do about wealth? (Washington Post, 5/5/19)

    China is not the source of our economic problems — corporate greed is (CNN, 5/26/19) “The real battle is not with China but with America’s own giant companies, many of which are raking in fortunes while failing to pay their own workers decent wages. America’s business leaders and the mega-rich push for tax cuts, more monopoly power and offshoring — anything to make a bigger profit — while rejecting any policies to make American society fairer.”

    Six people who prove capitalism is broken in America (The Guardian, 5/2/2019) HEAR THEIR STORIES:
    1. The Lyft driver who says she’s lucky to make $8 an hour, after expenses
    2. The Amazon warehouse worker who lives out of her car
    3. The Virginia boy who takes classes in plywood trailers while the state promises Amazon huge tax breaks
    4. The Tesla factory worker who was told to keep working after his co-worker on the assembly line passed out from exhaustion
    5. The single mother of two who works six days a week at a fast food restaurant, yet is homeless
    6. The laid-off GM worker who feels cheated by Trump’s broken promises

    Top charts of 2018 (Economic Policy Institute) These 12 charts show how policy could reduce inequality—but is making it worse instead.

    Millions Of Jobs Have Been Lost To Automation. Economists Weigh In On What To Do About It (Forbes 6/15/2019) When it come to politics, the workers “most heavily impacted by automation and outsourcing tended to oust moderate congressional representatives in favor of more conservative or liberal ones.” They also vote in higher numbers, because they will be impacted more by the outcome.

    How Baby Boomers Broke America, by Steven Brill (TIME 5/17/2019) This excellent article starts with, “HOW DID WE GET HERE? How did the world’s greatest democracy and economy become a land of crumbling roads, galloping income inequality, bitter polarization and dysfunctional government?”

    Millennials may soon become the richest generation ever (Fox 10/31/2019) Nearly 45 million U.S. households will hand down about $68.4 trillion over the course of the next quarter-decade. These baby boomers, the richest generation in history, are aging and preparing to pass down their assets. This will exacerbate extreme inequality and public demands to tax wealth and unearned income (capital gains).

    DREAM HOARDERS — In his new book, Brookings scholar Richard V. Reeves argues that the upper-middle class has enriched itself and harmed economic mobility. The top 20% are just as responsible as the 1%, he says, and should be a target of progressive tax rate increases. The higher you go up the income or wealth distribution, the bigger the gains made in the past three or four decades, and the more you should pay in effective taxes.

    Why Do the Rich Have So Much Power? (NYTimes editorial by Paul Krugman, 7/1/20) Americans may be equal, but some are more equal than others.

    These Companies Gave Their C.E.O.s Millions, Just Before Bankruptcy (NY Times, 6/23/20) Robert Reich commented:

    In the middle of a pandemic, executives are still making a fortune even as their companies go bankrupt. The CEO of JCPenny recently received a $4.5 million payout before the company filed for bankruptcy. In May, Hertz doled out $16 million to execs, including $700,000 to its chief executive and additional six-figure payouts to other top corporate brass, right before the company declared bankruptcy. Chesapeake Energy is also paying out exec bonuses ahead of an expected bankruptcy filing.

    I thought capitalism only rewarded hard work and ingenuity? But when corporations file for bankruptcy they lay off workers, while cutting huge bonuses for executives. America has socialism for the wealthy and corporations, cold, hard capitalism for everyone else.

    Isn’t the real socialism the welfare benefits given to the rich? That’s what Robert Reich describes in this 3:10 min video. “Ever notice how nobody asks ‘how are you going to pay for it’ when we give massive government subsidies to Big Pharma, Big Oil, Big Tech, and defense contractors?”

    Reply

18. How does your salary compare? Here’s how much money those 1 percenters really make (USA Today, I commented)

    ACCORDING TO 2015 IRS STATS:
    1.4M Americans are in the top 1% and make at least $480K/year.
    141K are in the top 0.1% and make at least $2.2M/year.
    14K are in the top 0.01% and make at least $11.9M/year.
    1.4K are in the top 0.0011% and make at least $59.4M/year.
    Compare that to the top 50% that makes just $39.3K/year (avg) and paid 97.2% of the taxes.
    What about the bottom 50%? [Watch the video infographic at the top of this article.]

    After WW-II, under President Eisenhower, we had a progressive tax code with many brackets that scaled to the top rate of just over 90%. That funded strategic public investments in infrastructure, research, and public education – investments that mostly benefitted wealthy corporations. Later, Reagan’s “trickle-down” promise flattened the tax code with fewer brackets and lower rates, even as the wealth gap continued to widen significantly (dangerously).

    As the nation’s income shifted away from (physical & mental) labor to profits from capital investments, we keep taxing capital gains at even-lower rates when we should be taxing more.

    Reply

19. Trump’s Tax Scheme / Stock Buyback Bamboozle (2.4min whiteboard video) Robert Reich: “Remember how Trump and Republicans in Congress claimed corporate tax cuts would boost wages and grow the economy? Rubbish. Corporations are spending much of their savings from the tax cut on stock buybacks — plowing a record $178 billion into buying back shares of their own stock. Here’s how it works:”

    CONGRATULATIONS! After the tax scam, you’ll be victimized, again.
    (From Ken Sink, edited for visual effect)

    The Republican calculation of available Social Security is flawed, because they neglected to factor in the people who died before they ever got a SS check. Where did that money go?

    But the lie continues. … Remember that not only did you and I contribute to Social Security, but your employer did too. It totaled 15% of your income before taxes.

    If you averaged only $30K/year over your working life, that would be close to $220,500. Read that again.

    Did you see where the Government paid in one single penny? We are talking about the money YOU and your employer put in a government bank to insure you would have a retirement check from the money you put in, not the Government.

    Now Republicans are calling that money “an entitlement” when you reach the age to take it back.

    If you calculate the future invested value of $4,500 per year (yours & your employer’s contribution) at a simple 5% interest (less than what the Government pays on the money that it borrows), after 49 years of working you’d have $892,919.98.

    If you took out only 3% per year, you’d receive $26,787.60 per year, and it would last better than 30 years (until you’re 95 if you retire at age 65) And that’s with no interest paid on that final amount on deposit!

    If you bought an annuity that paid 4% per year, you’d have a lifetime income of $2,976.40 per month.

    THAT’S WHAT REPUBLICANS HAVE PLANNED FOR YOU — A FAR BIGGER PONZI SCHEME THAN WHAT BERNIE MADOFF DID.

    Entitlement my foot; I paid cash for my social security insurance! Just because the government borrowed the money for other spending purposes doesn’t make my benefits some kind of charity or handout!!

    Remember these Congressional benefits — free healthcare, outrageous retirement packages, 67 paid holidays, three weeks paid vacation, unlimited paid sick days. Now that’s welfare, and they have the nerve to call my social security retirement payments entitlements?

    Republicans call Social Security and Medicare an entitlement even though most of us have been paying for it all our working lives. And now, when it’s time for us to collect, they say the government is running out of money, even as they pass massive tax cuts for the wealthy by taxing the poor, denying them healthcare, increasing overall costs for the middle class, and adding over $1 trillion to the deficit.

    Why did the government borrow from Social security in the first place? It was supposed to be in a locked box, not part of the general fund. Sad isn’t it? Also sad is that 99% of people reading this won’t have the guts to SHARE it.

    Reply

20. Here’s the situation in the USA. (cut/paste from Jacob Santa with my minor edits)

    We do not live in a democracy. We do not live in a republic. We live in a corporatocracy run by dynastic plutocratic families, corporate oligarchs, and international banksters, many of whom are zionists and/or members of secret societies, who are rooted in self-interest, greed, and power…not Love and Wisdom.

    Even though they are merely a fraction of 1% of the population, they presently own at least 40% of the wealth here in the USA ($26 trillion). With their immense wealth, they dominate the politicians and the mainstream media and the financial system and the legal system and the corporations.

    They get the politicians to pass laws that favor their agendas. They use the CIA, the FBI, the NSA, Homeland Security, the legal system, the police and the military to enforce their will. They use mainstream media, including movies and music, to program us from the cradle to the grave.

    They foster religious, racial, ideological, etc divisions among the People. They have been wreaking havoc upon the People both here and around the world and Gaia Mother Earth for centuries.

    From the holocaust of the Native Indians to present-day political genocide and the holocaust of the people of the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa, they are responsible for more deaths and unnecessary suffering of more men, women and children than any other group of individuals on earth.

    Reply

21. RELATED ARTICLES:

    The Shared Ingredients for a Wellbeing Economy (better than measuring GDP or stock price)
    “A Wellbeing Economy matters. We currently have an economy that is producing social injustice and climate catastrophe by design. We need to move to a system that puts the economy at the service of people and the planet, not one that uses people and planet as fuel for rising stock prices and spiralling levels of wealth for those at the top. A growing number of the greatest thinkers and leaders of our time, from economists to environmentalists, politicians to protesters, are calling for this shift. Without it we will continue to face crisis after crisis.”

    World’s richest 1% captured almost two-thirds of new wealth created in two years (1/17/2023)
    “For every dollar of new global wealth earned by a person in the bottom 90% during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, aq billionaire got $1.7 million. … A flood of public money pumped into the economy by rich countries during the pandemic, combined with tax policies that favor the wealthy, higher corporate profits, and rising prices, helped to fuel a surge in wealth for the world’s richest people. To reverse a trend of widening inequality, taxes must be raised on the richest people in the world, the organization said.” (Oxfam report issued during the World Economic Forum in Davos)

    Nations where 3.3 billion people live spend more on debt than on health care, schools (AL JAZEERA, 7/13/23) “Almost half of humanity lives in countries that spend more servicing interest on debt than health or education.” Governments of poor countries, like the poor people in America, tend to pay much higher interest rates and suffer financial hardship as a result. It’s a direct result of greed from private investors who regularly exploit the misfortunes of others, and it’s widening a dangerous wealth gap that feeds on itself and corrupts political systems.

    How Billionaires Secretly Influence Society (12/2/2001) In this RepresentUs video (1:32), Hasan Minhaj explains how dark money flows through nonprofits as legalized political corruption.

    Ten Ways Billionaires Avoid Taxes on an Epic Scale (/6/24/2022) After a year of reporting on the tax machinations of the ultrawealthy, ProPublica spotlights the top tax-avoidance techniques that provide massive benefits to billionaires.

    How Nancy Pelosi plans to address growing inequality (June 2021, Washington Post)

    The Bill Jeff Bezos Doesn’t Want You To Know About (6/21/21) In this video (4:37), Robert Reich breaks down why Congress must pass the Protecting the Right to Organize Act and rein in the unchecked power of corporate behemoths like Amazon.

    The Secret IRS Files (PROPUBLICA 6/8/2021) Never-before-seen Records Reveal Details of How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax. WHY they are publishing this.

    How Billionaires Hide Their Assets: Lifting the Veil of the Wealth Defense Industry (5/26/2021)

    A New Approach to Measuring Income Inequality Over Recent Decades (Rand Corporation) What’s missing from this report is a discussion of Wealth and the fact that so many American oligarchs pay no income taxes because they have no income. Their lavish lifestyle spending comes from borrowing on their accumulated wealth while the dollars keep piling up. And the interest becomes a tax credit.

    Who’s Really Looting America A “must watch” 4:00 video by Robert Reich

    As hundreds of thousands take to the streets to protest ruthless police killings of Black Americans and centuries of systemic racism, and Donald Trump and his enablers cast the protesters as violent “looters,” former Labor Secretary Robert Reich exposes the real looters in America: Wall Street bankers in designer suits and corporate executives in lofty boardrooms.

    While more than 10,000 people have already been arrested during the Black Lives Matter uprising, only 1 Wall Street banker was jailed for fraud after the 2008 financial crash, despite causing American households to lose a combined $19 trillion in wealth.

    Today, even in the midst of a global pandemic, America’s billionaires have seen their wealth soar by $434 billion — thanks to the bailouts and tax breaks they lobbied for.

    The looting doesn’t stop there: just think of the epidemic of wage theft in America — with employers stealing a combined $15 billion in income from their workers every year. Not to mention multibillion-dollar companies not paying a single dime in federal taxes, and predatory payday lenders that target communities of color and trap borrowers in a cycle of never-ending poverty. This needs to end.

    How Corporations Crush the Working Class (4:26 Robert Reich video) Big corporations with monopoly power leave workers with fewer employment options for upward mobility and less salary negotiation power, even without the destruction of labor unions.

    The Top 1% of Americans Have Taken $50 Trillion From the Bottom 90%—And That’s Made the U.S. Less Secure (TIME 9/14/2020)

    American billionaires got $434 billion richer during the pandemic (CNBC, 5/21/20) “Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg had the biggest gains, with Bezos adding $34.6 billion to his wealth and Zuckerberg adding $25 billion”

    The Rich Are Minting Money in the Pandemic Like Never Before (Bloomberg, 1/17/21) “You cannot have a sustainable economy and political system where you have a small population who believe they are invincible and a growing population who feel defeated. It’s in capitalism’s best interest to close this gap.”

    World’s richest men added billions to their fortunes last year as others struggled (Washington Post, 1/1/2021) “Billionaires have added about $1 trillion to their total net worth since the pandemic began while others struggled.”
    Here’s what $1 trillion looks like.

    America Will Struggle After Coronavirus. These Charts Show Why. (NY Times, 4/10/20)

    The article has lots of useful stats, starting with extreme inequality, but here are just a few about health.
    Americans in the bottom fourth of the income distribution die about 13 years younger on average than those in the top fourth.
    * No other rich country has suffered such slow growth in life expectancy. (In the U.S., it has declined over the last 4 years.)
    * Low-income Americans are less likely to have health insurance (22% for those making $20K-40K versus just 9% for those making >$40K.
    * Those without a college degree die more often from “deaths of despair” (suicide, alcoholism, drug abuse). Non-college death rate is about 130 per 100,000 versus about 35 per 100,000 for college grads.
    * Those without a college degree say the feel more neck, back or joint pain (about 60%) versus college grads (about 46%).

    The Gap Between Rich And Poor Americans’ Health Is Widening (NPR 6/28/19)

    Analysis Shows Top 1% Gained $21 Trillion in Wealth Since 1989 While Bottom Half Lost $900 Billion (Common Dreams, 6/14/2019)

    The Economic Consequences of Major Tax Cuts for the Rich (December 2020 white paper by The London School of Economics & Political Science) “Major tax cuts for the rich since the 1980s have increased income inequality, with all the problems that brings, without any offsetting gains in economic performance.”

    VIDEO: Robert Reich on Trump’s Betrayal of the Working Class (3:15 min) Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich explains how Trump has broken his promises to American workers, and the impact.

    Why Trump Still Has Millions of Americans in His Grip (NYTimes, 5/5/2021) Many white Americans have felt sidelined by deindustrialization and economic trends that have stagnated wages. Meanwhile, Liberal onlookers observing right-wing populism accuse adversaries of racism and sexism. Where there is plenty of truth in that view, it’s not the whole story. This article dives deeper and includes my highlights and comments.

    Trump’s ‘cruel’ measures pushing US inequality to dangerous level, UN warns (The Guardian) “Can you believe a country where the life expectancy is already in decline, particularly among those whose income is limited, giving tax breaks to billionaires and corporations while leaving millions of Americans without health insurance?”

    Survival of the richest: The wealthy are plotting to leave us behind (CNBC) I found this incredibly thought-provoking article to be an overlap of two disturbing trends with implications for healthcare and humanity: (1) the Exponentially Accelerating Pace of Tech Innovation, with concerns over how humans will be able to control and govern whatever technology brings us, AND (2) the Widening Wealth Gap, which worsens the corrupting influence of big money in politics.

    Twelve charts of 2018 that show how policy could reduce inequality—but is making it worse instead (Economic Policy Institute) While low unemployment is good news, it doesn’t tell the whole story of how typical families are faring in the current economy.

    Who’s More Likely to Be Audited: A Person Making $20,000 — or $400,000? — “If you claim the earned income tax credit, whose average recipient makes less than $20,000 a year, you’re more likely to face IRS scrutiny than someone making twenty times as much. How a benefit for the working poor was turned against them.”

    Historically, Income Inequality Is Known As A Destroyer Of Civilizations (The Intellectualist)

    MY COMMENT: Minimum Wage laws aren’t enough, so some nations have added Maximum Wage laws that limit executive pay to some multiple of the lowest wage of employees.

    CEO pay decades ago was 20-30 times that of average workers, and most see that as justified. But today, CEO compensation is almost 1,000 times more, meaning it takes average workers two months to earn what the CEO makes in just ONE HOUR.

    Progressive tax reforms with more tax brackets and tax rates that scale up to 90% for the highest amounts are even better. That approach worked well until President Reagan pushed trickle-down economics, which has never worked.

    A progressive plan could reduce taxes for more than half of the nation and still generate enough income to fund public education and lifelong learning programs that help lower-income workers. It was that approach, implemented after WW-II, that made America great.

    Eisenhower’s top tax rate of over 90% was used to fund the Interstate Highway System and other strategic public investments in infrastructure, education, and research. Those investments mostly benefitted wealthy business owners, so it made sense that they paid the most in taxes.

    The Coming Collapse (Disturbing Essay) “It is impossible for any doomed population to grasp how fragile the decayed financial, social and political system is on the eve of implosion.”

    Capital in the Twenty-First Century (book by Thomas Piketty) The central thesis is that inequality and inherited wealth is a natural result of capitalism, and that the very democratic order will be threatened unless inequality is kept in check through state interventionism, including progressive taxation.

    How rich are the rich? If only you knew (I commented)

    Forty-two people hold the same wealth as half the world, Oxfam says

    The 1% grabbed 82% of all wealth created in 2017 (Oxfam says)

    Study: Billionaires Could End Extreme Poverty 7 Times Over (TIME)

    If the poor must work to earn every dollar, shouldn’t the rich? (The Washington Post)

    AI will spell the End of Capitalism (Washington Post) I share this concern, especially since public policy is not keeping up with tech innovation.

    United Nations journey finds that America is a land of both Great Wealth and EXTREME POVERTY (The Guardian)

    Huge Human Inequality Study Hints Revolution is in Store for U.S. (Inverse Science) Every society has a tipping point. We’re approaching ours.

    How We Got Into This Mess, And How To Get Out of It (a BIG PICTURE whiteboard video by Robert Reich)

    Universal Basic Income What should we do when robots take most jobs? It will happen sooner than think. Robert Reich explains why a universal basic income may be the answer.

    What if our healthcare system kept us healthy? TED Talk about Poverty

    How much Trump’s tax plan would save — or cost — you … and your wealthiest neighbors (Washington Post)

    Why American Workers Pay Twice as Much in Taxes as Wealthy Investors (Bloomberg) What’s best for the country? What’s fair? It didn’t matter when Congress passed Trump’s tax bill, giving >80% of the benefit to wealthy corporations and shareholders.

    “This Tax Bill Is a Trillion-Dollar Blunder.” (Billionaire Michael Bloomberg tells us why)

    New evidence shows that our anti-poverty programs, especially Social Security, work well (Chicago Tribune)

    The Pitchforks Are Coming… For Us Plutocrats (excellent article by billionaire Nick Hanauer)

    The Decline of the Middle Class: Stealth Governance and Income Inequality (Huffington Post – on policies that widened the wealth gap)

    Inequality Kills — But What Can Medical Providers Do About It? (Huffington Post – on the health impact of poverty)

    What Americans Think About Income Inequality (FASTCOMPANY, I commented)

    Why the shape of inequality matters (TheWeek)

    Was There Ever a Time When so Few People Controlled so Much Wealth?

    This is the most dangerous time for our planet (Stephen Hawking) I commented:

    I think the elites see this problem differently and as one of OVERPOPULATION. As technology and automation eliminate the need for people, why not just get rid of them? The danger is SOCIAL GENOCIDE, and it’s already happening, starting with the poor and moving quickly to the elderly.

    Public health officials have seen average longevity differences of more than 20 years between poor and affluent neighborhoods on opposite sides of the same city, with causes including limited access to affordable healthcare, nutritious foods, safe places to play & exercise, noise & light pollution that affects sleep, etc.

    Elite Republicans have been pushing for years to gut social programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, largely because of the aging population, which leaves fewer young workers to produce products, grow the economy and fund government.

    But people have no real idea what inequality actually looks like. It’s shown in the video infographic at https://www.mhealthtalk.com/inequality/, and the Reality is not at all what we think it is. Our perception of wealth distribution is far from our Ideal but not even close to Actual distribution.

    A Giant Statistical Round-Up of the Income Inequality Crisis in 16 Charts (The Atlantic)

    My Reality: A Hidden America (an ABC News 20/20 report by Diane Sawyer)

    MIDDLE INCOME STATISTICS:
    * $56,516 is the annual median household income in the United States. (US Census Bureau)
    * MOST (68%) of the country’s income growth since 1980 went to the top 10% of earners. (National Bureau of Economic Research)
    * NONE (0%) of the country’s income growth since 1980 went to the bottom half of earners. (National Bureau of Economic Research)
    * 117 Million Americans saw their income fall or fail to keep up with inflation in almost four decades. That is half of the country. (National Bureau of Economic Research)
    * JUST 45% of middle-income millennials earn more than their parents did at the same age, adjusted for inflation. A half-century ago, 93% of middle income Americans earned more than their parents had. (National Bureau of Economic Research)
    * ONLY 50% of Americans are middle class. In 1971, it was 61%. (Pew Research Center)
    * 92 metro areas lack affordable housing for families making a median household income. (Center for Housing Policy)
    * 53% of Americans say they don’t have enough savings to cover three months of living expenses if they lose their job. (Federal Reserve Survey, 2015)
    * 56% of the fastest growing new jobs pay under $12/hour, on average. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, analyzed by ABC News)
    * 73% of public assistance goes to working families (UC Berkeley Labor Center)

    Common tax ‘reform’ questions, answered (Economic Policy Institute) — Why tax cuts for high-income households and corporations won’t help working families

    A Guide to Statistics on Historical Trends in Income Inequality (Center on Budget & Policy Priorities) — Data from a variety of sources contribute to this broad picture of strong growth and shared prosperity for the early postwar period, followed by slower growth and growing inequality since the 1970s.

    For many older Americans, the rat race is over. But the inequality isn’t. (Washington Post)

    Republicans are weaponizing the tax code (Vox) About wealth divide and income shift from skilled & physical Labor to investment Capital — the type that funds tech innovation and automation to increase productivity with even less labor.

    American workers need a pay raise – the estate tax could help (Brookings Institute) — This excellent suggestion is just one way to address the widening wealth gap. As the wealth and income gaps widen, we need MORE tax brackets, not less. Consider the benefit of adding three new brackets at the very top. Today’s top rate is 39.6% on income above ~$4.5K/year, but why not charge 50% for income above $2M, 65% on income above $20M, and 80% on income above $200M? And as income from physical & physical labor is replaced by income from capital investments, make sure the tax code shifts too. Tax the robots, for example, at a higher rate than the humans.

    Paul Ryan Collected $500,000 In Koch Contributions Days After House Passed Tax Law (Huffington Post) — Koch brothers also spent hundreds of millions on:

    * Showy political front groups,
    * Deceitful ad campaigns,
    * Think Tanks that reinforce their beliefs,
    * Voter suppression schemes,
    * Anti-unions efforts, and
    * A long-term strategy to unravel America’s campaign finance laws.

    Clearly, strategic support of the future you want has high ROI. We should all learn that lesson and make sustained contributions to our own future like the tithe (10% of income) we give to church. (http://ramona4tx.com/political-investments-with-high-roi/)

    The Gilded Age — This 2-hr PBS program covers the great wealth created during the Post-Civil War Industrial Age, as well as the resulting wealth divide that led us to the Great Depression. In doing so, it can help us understand today’s politics and guard against policies that primarily benefit the wealthy rather than all of society. Just as Railroads back then helped knit the nation and propel a move away from commerce based on local merchants and locally-produced products, and toward a national economy where goods can come from anywhere, today the Internet is doing the same thing to enable globalization and a New Gilded Age. But those left with no high-speed Internet access are left out economically.

    America 2018: Even More Gilded Than America 1918 Can we compare the concentration of wealth today to the height of the Gilded Age? Yes, and it’s actually worse. Popular movements are rising to share the wealth. Hopefully it won’t take another recession for them to succeed.

    Access to high-speed internet in America is leading to a digital divide (4-min TODAY show video, 1/20/19) — Based on this show, I added new comments to my previous article, FCC’s Broadband Progress Report.

    The bad behavior of the richest: what I learned from wealth managers (The Guardian) While those in poverty are called lazy, the rich are dubbed bon vivants.

    (VICE News) Unauthorized Immigrants Paid $100 Billion Into Social Security Over Last Decade Unauthorized workers are paying an estimated $13 billion a year in social security taxes and only getting around $1 billion back, according to an interviewed senior government statistician.

    WHO OWNS THE WORLD? — This comic book style infographic shows that Power and influence are the most concentrated they’ve been since the gilded age.

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