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Wealth Inequality

Would YOU work for $3000 a year? by: jamess Sat Dec 05, 2009 at 19:06:00 PST (10 am. - promoted by ek hornbeck) Apparently many workers in China would -- for how much longer though is not entirely clear.  You see the Chinese, want to make more, improve the Standard of Living for their families -- just like Americans and Europeans do. http://iws.punahou.edu/user/JS... 8-12% Raises in Minimum Wages across China, in 2005!? Apparently, Workers around the World, AREN'T Working just for the Fun of it! This new trend toward leveling the the Global playing field, doesn't bode well for the Wal-Marts of the world, who rely on such "captured cheap labor markets" -- to remain quiet, dutiful, and happy with a pittance. Afterall Billions of Dollars (and Euros) are at stake -- those Foreign Workers must not upset that Apple cart. They should just be happy they have a Job! Shouldn't they? There's More... :: (13 Comments, 1551 words in story)

The real reason for the economic crisis by: gjohnsit Sat Oct 24, 2009 at 13:20:01 PDT ( - promoted by buhdydharma )   The economic crisis has the country flailing. That's not a controversial statement. Since early 2008 the federal government has been trying various, and expensive methods, of jump-starting the economy and propping up the housing market. Since December 2007 the Federal Reserve has created an alphabet soup of programs to stabilize the credit markets.  So far all of these attempts to stabilize the economy have had mixed results at best. Trillions of dollars have been spent and yet the economy is still crippled. Why?  The problem is that the people in charge are asking the wrong question. They are asking, "How do we get back to where we were before this crisis?" The question they should be asking is, "How did this happen?"   Unless we understand what happened and why, we will never be able to fix the economy. There's More... :: (24 Comments, 2513 words in story)

Ratigan reviews Frontline's Warning, labels Wall Street as Legalized Gambling by: jamess Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 17:20:06 PDT (noon. - promoted by ek hornbeck) If you missed Dylan Ratigan's interview today with Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) -- well you missed a lot! They spell out in stark relief the very REAL need for serious Wall Street Regulation -- NOW!   (and still!) Or we risk a repeat of the same Bubble-driven collapse of Trillion Dollar Derivative Bets, that occur in the dark, beyond the reach -- or even the Watch -- of any Govt Regulator, or even the Public scrutinity. Nothing has changed, they can STILL Gamble Trillions in Derivatives, and let US the Taxpayers pick up the Tab, whenever their Bets GO Bad! Link to MSNBC Clip to the Ratigan Cantwell Interview Definitely a "Must See", in my opinion. So much so, I transcribed much of it, to help peak your interest ...   There's More... :: (8 Comments, 1756 words in story)

FRONTLINE Presents: The Warning (on the economic meltdown) by: jamess Mon Oct 19, 2009 at 19:17:04 PDT 9:00 FRONTLINE INVESTIGATES THE ROOTS OF THE FINANCIAL CRISIS FRONTLINE Presents The Warning Tuesday, October 20, 2009, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS In the devastating aftermath of the economic meltdown, FRONTLINE sifts through the ashes for clues about why it happened and examines critical moments when it might have gone much differently. In The Warning, airing Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS (check local listings), veteran FRONTLINE producer Michael Kirk (Inside the Meltdown, Breaking the Bank) unearths the hidden history of the nation's worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. At the center of it all he finds Brooksley Born, who speaks for the first time on television about her failed campaign to regulate the secretive, multi-trillion-dollar derivatives market whose crash helped trigger the financial collapse in the fall of 2008. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/... There's More... :: (7 Comments, 1050 words in story)

It's Official: CBPP calls Tax Cuts a Boon to Top 1% by: jamess Tue Oct 13, 2009 at 17:46:18 PDT (noon. - promoted by ek hornbeck) The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities economists just confirmed the trends of the last 8 years -- Most of the the Economic Gains went to the very Wealthy, while the rest of us struggled to just get by TOP 1 PERCENT OF AMERICANS REAPED 2/3 OF INCOME GAINS In last Economic Expansion, Income Concentration in 2007 Was at Highest Level Since 1928, New Analysis Shows By Avi Feller and Chad Stone - September 9, 2009 Two-thirds of the nation's total income gains from 2002 to 2007 flowed to the top 1 percent of U.S. households, and that top 1 percent held a larger share of income in 2007 than at any time since 1928, according to an analysis of newly released IRS data by economists Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez. During those years, the Piketty-Saez data also show, the inflation adjusted income of the top 1 percent of households grew more than ten times faster than the income of the bottom 90 percent of households. There's More... :: (10 Comments, 481 words in story)

When Robber Barons meet Muckrakers ... by: jamess Sat Oct 10, 2009 at 17:26:18 PDT ( - promoted by buhdydharma ) There is a clash of titan forces taking place in the American Economy right now. It's a tale as old as Greed itself.   It is the tale of the "Powers that Be" running into the watchful eyes of the "World that Should Be". The story involves how corporate Robber Barons avoid the watchful glare of the citizen Muckrakers.   It is the tale of Deception and Greed vs Honesty and Fairness ... There's More... :: (14 Comments, 1136 words in story)

The Plutonomy -- aka. that Top One Percent by: jamess Sat Oct 03, 2009 at 21:25:33 PDT (11 am. - promoted by ek hornbeck) I'm just back from seeing Michael Moore's new movie, "Capitalism - A Love Story". It was moving, funny, and educational, all rolled into one. It made me feel both, proud and sad, to be an American. ... but it's recommended viewing if you still want to take OUR Country back, from the Powers that Be. There are many lessons to be learned from the film -- But the one that struck me, the one I'm motivated to write about now -- Is the Lesson of Plutonomy ... There's More... :: (21 Comments, 1427 words in story)