It has been posited numerous times the United States functions as a “plutonomy.” The word plutonomy is a portmanteau of “plutocracy” and “economy,” meaning an economy based on a plutocracy, which means the richest few command the economy. It’s been argued that it was always that way. Some just lately published figures indicate that recent optimistic economic activity has every little thing to do with the richest of the rich.
Plutonomy has nothing to do with cartoon dogs
What the term plutonomy implies is the economy is driven by and depends on a small number of the wealthiest people. Good reasons exist to think that the positive signs in the economy have had every little thing to do with what the richest of rich people are doing. Moody’s keeps track of consumer spending patterns, and found some interesting things, as outlined by the Wall Street Journal. The richest 5 percent have spent about 37 percent of all consumers spending for the last 20 years. The bottom 80 percent (i.e. the rest of us) contributed less than 40 percent. Only 10 percent of the population makes about half the total income within the U.S.
The math works
A 2006 Federal Reserve study by Arthur Kennickell found 70 percent of the wealth in the nation was owned by 10 percent of the population. For every dollar worth of wealth, 90 percent of the populace holds collectively 30 cents. Reagan’s trickle went up, and was no trickle but rather a tidal wave.
In order to establish a more perfect union for the rich
A few scholars, such as Howard Zinn, observed the Founding Fathers of this country were the richest of the rich. Their profits were affected more by British taxes than the commoners were. Thus, they revolted and established a nation in which they would enjoy an oligarchy of advantage. James Madison estimated only a 3rd of Americans were actually for the American Revolution, the rest being either opposed or indifferent. Republics inherently favor the growth of aristocracy and oligarchies. If there is a universal predictor of the collapse of a society, it is the wealthiest few taking economic ownership of the many.
Additional reading
online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703988304575413432696177258.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_inequality_in_the_United_States
federalreserve.gov/pubs/feds/2006/200613/200613pap.pdf – PDF, calls for Adobe Reader
