10 Disturbing Facts About Our Economy

[one...two...tree 2,762]

1. Only THREE PERCENT of the very rich are entrepreneurs.

According to both Marketwatch and economist Edward Wolff, over 90 percent of the assets owned by millionaires are held in a combination of low-risk investments (bonds and cash), personal business accounts, the stock market, and real estate. Only 3.6 percent of taxpayers in the top .1% were classified as entrepreneurs based on 2004 tax returns. A 2009 Kauffman Foundation study found that the great majority of entrepreneurs come from middle-class backgrounds, with less than 1 percent of all entrepreneurs coming from very rich or very poor backgrounds.

2. Only FOUR OUT OF 150 countries have more wealth inequality than us.

In a world listing compiled by a reputable research team (which nevertheless prompted double-checking), the U.S. has greater wealth inequality than every measured country in the world except for Namibia, Zimbabwe, Denmark, and Switzerland.

3. An amount equal to ONE-HALF the GDP is held untaxed overseas by rich Americans.

The Tax Justice Network estimated that between $21 and $32 trillion is hidden offshore, untaxed. With Americans making up 40% of the world's Ultra High Net Worth Individuals, that's $8 to $12 trillion in U.S. money stashed in far-off hiding places.

Based on a historical stock market return of 6%, up to $750 billion of income is lost to the U.S. every year, resulting in a tax loss of about $260 billion.

4. Corporations stopped paying HALF OF THEIR TAXES after the recession.

After paying an average of 22.5% from 1987 to 2008, corporations have paid an annual rate of 10% since. This represents a sudden $250 billion annual loss in taxes.

U.S. corporations have shown a pattern of tax reluctance for more than 50 years, despite building their businesses with American research and infrastructure. They've passed the responsibility on to their workers. For every dollar of workers' payroll tax paid in the 1950s, corporations paid three dollars. Now it's 22 cents.

5. Just TEN Americans made a total of FIFTY BILLION DOLLARS in one year.

That's enough to pay the salaries of over a million nurses or teachers or emergency responders.

That's enough, according to 2008 estimates by the Food and Agriculture Organization and the UN's World Food Program, to feed the 870 million people in the world who are lacking sufficient food.

For the free-market advocates who say "they've earned it": Point #1 above makes it clear how the wealthy make their money.

6. Tax deductions for the rich could pay off 100 PERCENT of the deficit.

Another stat that required a double-check. Based on research by the Tax Policy Center, tax deferrals and deductions and other forms of tax expenditures (tax subsidies from special deductions, exemptions, exclusions, credits, capital gains, and loopholes), which largely benefit the rich, are worth about 7.4% of the GDP, or about $1.1 trillion.

Other sources have estimated that about two-thirds of the annual $850 billion in tax expenditures goes to the top quintile of taxpayers.

7. The average single black or Hispanic woman has about $100 IN NET WORTH.

The Insight Center for Community Economic Development reported that median wealth for black and Hispanic women is a little over $100. That's much less than one percent of the median wealth for single white women ($41,500).

Other studies confirm the racially-charged economic inequality in our country. For every dollar of NON-HOME wealth owned by white families, people of color have only one cent.

8. Elderly and disabled food stamp recipients get $4.30 A DAY FOR FOOD.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) has dropped significantly over the past 15 years, serving only about a quarter of the families in poverty, and paying less than $400 per month for a family of three for housing and other necessities. Ninety percent of the available benefits go to the elderly, the disabled, or working households.

Food stamp recipients get $4.30 a day.

9. Young adults have lost TWO-THIRDS OF THEIR NET WORTH since 1984.

21- to 35-year-olds: Your median net worth has dropped 68% since 1984. It's now less than $4,000.

That $4,000 has to pay for student loans that average $27,200. Or, if you're still in school, for $12,700 in credit card debt.

With an unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds of almost 50%, two out of every five recent college graduates are living with their parents. But your favorite company may be hiring. Apple, which makes a profit of $420,000 per employee, can pay you about $12 per hour.

10. The American public paid about FOUR TRILLION DOLLARS to bail out the banks.

That's about the same amount of money made by America's richest 10% in one year. But we all paid for the bailout. And because of it, we lost the opportunity for jobs, mortgage relief, and educational funding.

Bonus for the super-rich: A QUADRILLION DOLLARS in securities trading nets ZERO sales tax revenue for the U.S.

The world derivatives market is estimated to be worth over a quadrillion dollars (a thousand trillion). At least $200 trillion of that is in the United States. In 2011 the Chicago Mercantile Exchange reported a trading volume of over $1 quadrillion on 3.4 billion annual contracts.

A quadrillion dollars. A sales tax of ONE-TENTH OF A PENNY on a quadrillion dollars could pay off the deficit. But the total sales tax was ZERO.

It's not surprising that the very rich would like to fudge the numbers, as they have the nation.

http://www.alternet....ch-would-fudged

[lostinblue 1,989]

A quote by Tomas Sowell, " why is it considered being greedy for a person to keep what they earned, but it is not greedy for those who have earned nothing to take what others have earned?

If the IRS grabbed 100 percent of income over $1 million, the take would be just $616 billion. That’s only a third of this year’s deficit. Our national debt would continue to explode.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/danbigman/2012/04/03/john-stossel-tax-the-rich-the-rich-dont-have-enough-really/

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

1. Only THREE PERCENT of the very rich are entrepreneurs.

According to both Marketwatch and economist Edward Wolff, over 90 percent of the assets owned by millionaires are held in a combination of low-risk investments (bonds and cash), personal business accounts, the stock market, and real estate. Only 3.6 percent of taxpayers in the top .1% were classified as entrepreneurs based on 2004 tax returns. A 2009 Kauffman Foundation study found that the great majority of entrepreneurs come from middle-class backgrounds, with less than 1 percent of all entrepreneurs coming from very rich or very poor backgrounds.

2. Only FOUR OUT OF 150 countries have more wealth inequality than us.

In a world listing compiled by a reputable research team (which nevertheless prompted double-checking), the U.S. has greater wealth inequality than every measured country in the world except for Namibia, Zimbabwe, Denmark, and Switzerland.

3. An amount equal to ONE-HALF the GDP is held untaxed overseas by rich Americans.

The Tax Justice Network estimated that between $21 and $32 trillion is hidden offshore, untaxed. With Americans making up 40% of the world's Ultra High Net Worth Individuals, that's $8 to $12 trillion in U.S. money stashed in far-off hiding places.

Based on a historical stock market return of 6%, up to $750 billion of income is lost to the U.S. every year, resulting in a tax loss of about $260 billion.

4. Corporations stopped paying HALF OF THEIR TAXES after the recession.

After paying an average of 22.5% from 1987 to 2008, corporations have paid an annual rate of 10% since. This represents a sudden $250 billion annual loss in taxes.

U.S. corporations have shown a pattern of tax reluctance for more than 50 years, despite building their businesses with American research and infrastructure. They've passed the responsibility on to their workers. For every dollar of workers' payroll tax paid in the 1950s, corporations paid three dollars. Now it's 22 cents.

5. Just TEN Americans made a total of FIFTY BILLION DOLLARS in one year.

That's enough to pay the salaries of over a million nurses or teachers or emergency responders.

That's enough, according to 2008 estimates by the Food and Agriculture Organization and the UN's World Food Program, to feed the 870 million people in the world who are lacking sufficient food.

For the free-market advocates who say "they've earned it": Point #1 above makes it clear how the wealthy make their money.

6. Tax deductions for the rich could pay off 100 PERCENT of the deficit.

Another stat that required a double-check. Based on research by the Tax Policy Center, tax deferrals and deductions and other forms of tax expenditures (tax subsidies from special deductions, exemptions, exclusions, credits, capital gains, and loopholes), which largely benefit the rich, are worth about 7.4% of the GDP, or about $1.1 trillion.

Other sources have estimated that about two-thirds of the annual $850 billion in tax expenditures goes to the top quintile of taxpayers.

7. The average single black or Hispanic woman has about $100 IN NET WORTH.

The Insight Center for Community Economic Development reported that median wealth for black and Hispanic women is a little over $100. That's much less than one percent of the median wealth for single white women ($41,500).

Other studies confirm the racially-charged economic inequality in our country. For every dollar of NON-HOME wealth owned by white families, people of color have only one cent.

8. Elderly and disabled food stamp recipients get $4.30 A DAY FOR FOOD.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) has dropped significantly over the past 15 years, serving only about a quarter of the families in poverty, and paying less than $400 per month for a family of three for housing and other necessities. Ninety percent of the available benefits go to the elderly, the disabled, or working households.

Food stamp recipients get $4.30 a day.

9. Young adults have lost TWO-THIRDS OF THEIR NET WORTH since 1984.

21- to 35-year-olds: Your median net worth has dropped 68% since 1984. It's now less than $4,000.

That $4,000 has to pay for student loans that average $27,200. Or, if you're still in school, for $12,700 in credit card debt.

With an unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds of almost 50%, two out of every five recent college graduates are living with their parents. But your favorite company may be hiring. Apple, which makes a profit of $420,000 per employee, can pay you about $12 per hour.

10. The American public paid about FOUR TRILLION DOLLARS to bail out the banks.

That's about the same amount of money made by America's richest 10% in one year. But we all paid for the bailout. And because of it, we lost the opportunity for jobs, mortgage relief, and educational funding.

Bonus for the super-rich: A QUADRILLION DOLLARS in securities trading nets ZERO sales tax revenue for the U.S.

The world derivatives market is estimated to be worth over a quadrillion dollars (a thousand trillion). At least $200 trillion of that is in the United States. In 2011 the Chicago Mercantile Exchange reported a trading volume of over $1 quadrillion on 3.4 billion annual contracts.

A quadrillion dollars. A sales tax of ONE-TENTH OF A PENNY on a quadrillion dollars could pay off the deficit. But the total sales tax was ZERO.

It's not surprising that the very rich would like to fudge the numbers, as they have the nation.

http://www.alternet....ch-would-fudged

Yes. Communism is the answer. Thank you for posting this.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

A quote by Tomas Sowell, " why is it considered being greedy for a person to keep what they earned, but it is not greedy for those who have earned nothing to take what others have earned?

If the IRS grabbed 100 percent of income over $1 million, the take would be just $616 billion. That’s only a third of this year’s deficit. Our national debt would continue to explode.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/danbigman/2012/04/03/john-stossel-tax-the-rich-the-rich-dont-have-enough-really/

Have you no heart? Just because there are not enough life boats doesn't mean only the paying passengers get off a sinking ship.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Here's another disturbing fact about our economy:

Third-quarter growth revised up to 2.7%

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Yes. Communism is the answer. Thank you for posting this.

If our only options are the two extremes - oligarchy and communism, then we're screwed. The 1950's and the growth of the largest Middle Class this country has ever had shows there's a third alternative.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

If our only options are the two extremes - oligarchy and communism, then we're screwed. The 1950's and the growth of the largest Middle Class this country has ever had shows there's a third alternative.

As long as we have an oligarchy, they get to hope for crumbs to fall off the oligarchs tables. If we have a revival of the middle class, they'll have to learn to handle full cookies again. It's not easy to make that switch, I suppose.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

If our only options are the two extremes - oligarchy and communism, then we're screwed. The 1950's and the growth of the largest Middle Class this country has ever had shows there's a third alternative.

The 1950's were created by mortgaging the future. There is no future left to mortgage.

As long as we have an oligarchy, they get to hope for crumbs to fall off the oligarchs tables. If we have a revival of the middle class, they'll have to learn to handle full cookies again. It's not easy to make that switch, I suppose.

That was a one trick pony. The pony died. Old people killed it.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

The 1950's were created by mortgaging the future. There is no future left to mortgage.

That was a one trick pony. The pony died. Old people killed it.

I see. The only sustainable economy is that where a handful of individuals amass all the wealth and the rest of the world lives in poverty. Got it.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

I see. The only sustainable economy is that where a handful of individuals amass all the wealth and the rest of the world lives in poverty. Got it.

Way to not get it. Government needs to live within it's means, whether it is a command economy, or a free market. Wealth disparity has less to do with it than you think, but if you think that is the problem, then by all means go to a command economy. Just don't spend more money than you take in revenues.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

I see. The only sustainable economy is that where a handful of individuals amass all the wealth and the rest of the world lives in poverty. Got it.

You must be talking about old people. Old people have a disproportionate amount of the wealth in this country, and receive most of the entitlements.

Edited November 29, 2012 by The Patriot

[one...two...tree 2,762]

The 1950's were created by mortgaging the future. There is no future left to mortgage.

You think the growth of the Middle Class was largely an illusion, unsustainable?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Way to not get it. Government needs to live within it's means, whether it is a command economy, or a free market. Wealth disparity has less to do with it than you think, but if you think that is the problem, then by all means go to a command economy. Just don't spend more money than you take in revenues.

Government always spends more than it takes in. Healthy spread between revenue and expenditure is equal to the rate of growth. That way, the debt to GDP ratio is stable. Growing income and wealth disparity has certainly not helped this economy maintain the kind of growth rates that we've seen before we decided to surrender to the oligarchs.

You think the growth of the Middle Class was largely an illusion, unsustainable?

Did we sustain it?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Way to not get it. Government needs to live within it's means, whether it is a command economy, or a free market. Wealth disparity has less to do with it than you think, but if you think that is the problem, then by all means go to a command economy. Just don't spend more money than you take in revenues.

Living within its means you don't hold on to unrelenting ideological stances like refusing to increase tax revenue.

Eisenhower steered a balanced course economically. SomeRepublicans called for rolling back the New Deal, but the president realizedthat many of Franklin D. Roosevelt's libeal social programs were both popularand effective. Instead of getting rid of Social Security, for example, Ikeactually expanded it to cover another ten million people who had been left outof the original program. Instead of turning away from big public worksprojects, he instead invested federal money in the Interstate Highway System,one of the largest public spending projects in the country's history.

The main economicgoal that Eisenhower pursued through both his terms in office was to achieve abalanced federal budget. The government ran a small deficit in 1954 and 1955,then registered a surplus for each of the next two years. As the nation wentinto a recession in 1958 and 1959, Eisenhower allowed the federal deficit togrow in order to stimulate the economy. By 1960, he managed to return to asurplus.

To achieve abalanced federal budget was a balancing act in itself. Democrats were clamoringfor increases in defense spending in order to counter the Soviet threat.Congressional representatives from both parties pushed for tax cuts. Eisenhowerused his credentials as an experienced military leader to reassure the nationthat the defense budget did not need to be increased as much as some wanted.Though he favored low taxes himself, he dug in his heels and fought tax cuts whenever they threatened to plunge the government into debt.

http://www.shmoop.co...0s/economy.html

Edited November 29, 2012 by Lincolns mullet

[james&olya 1,121]

A quote by Tomas Sowell, " why is it considered being greedy for a person to keep what they earned, but it is not greedy for those who have earned nothing to take what others have earned?

If the IRS grabbed 100 percent of income over $1 million, the take would be just $616 billion. That’s only a third of this year’s deficit. Our national debt would continue to explode.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/danbigman/2012/04/03/john-stossel-tax-the-rich-the-rich-dont-have-enough-really/

The problem centers around the definition of 'earned'!