Wealth Distribution in the USA

[InvisibleJim]

It should be noted that if one were to redistribute the wealth as advertised the results would add no extra beef stew to the dinner plates of Americans. Say you half the inequality whilst completely and perfectly preserving the value of the US economy. It would be roughly true that the price of beef stew would double because twice the amount of cash would be chasing the same supply and demand problem.

There is an argument that you could actually force the price up above double because stripping the money out of investments in beef farms would cause many of them to shut down; also leading to wider unemployment; which is likely countermanded by people targeting investment in beef - if they believe the profits won't be stolen which is rather more difficult to convince them off once you've just used the government to asset strip the previous investors...

The primary reason that the wealth in the US has been growing wider is the mixed impact of globalisation and minaturisation. In the 70s you could buy a pocket calculator for about $100 in todays money. For that money today you can have a mobile phone much more powerful than the rocket which took men to the moon. As the pocket calculator was made locally the cost was much higher for labour because other americans had to be employed. Now China makes everything at a fraction of the cost and the US/Japanese whoever company pumps the profits out to pay for the equity that whatever pension fund or investment house gave it as finance. The return on invesment just floats above the base rate by a risk factor and enough return to get chumps in the US to put their money into the bank.

The great thing about the free market is that it's great at generating shit that people want as quickly as possible. Gas to heat old folks homes and computers to talk about the free market on. 80/20 to 90/10 is just consequence of the requirement that investment money has to sit somewhere. It's important to remember that the richest men in the world are self made - Slim, Buffet and Gates. So the capital is just floating to the people who deliver institutional growth.