Just 62 individuals – 53 of them men – control the same amount of wealth as 3.5 billion people, or the poorer half of the human race, according to Oxfam’s findings. Just five years ago, 388 individuals controlled that level of wealth. Moreover, the riches of these 62 people have nearly doubled since 2010, reaching an absolute figure of $542 billion.
Is Vast Inequality Necessary?
Reading someone like Mr. Graham, you might imagine that America’s wealthy are mainly entrepreneurs. In fact, the top 0.1 percent consists mainly of business executives, and while some of these executives may have made their fortunes by being associated with risky start-ups, most probably got where they are by climbing well-established corporate ladders.
.. This may in part be because a strong safety net encourages risk-taking
‘The Zhaos’ — The Demarcation of a Divide
As the year 2015 was drawing to its end, a new expression was born on China’s social media: “the Zhaos” (“赵家人”). New phrases pop up regularly online in China, but “the Zhaos” has been hailed as revolutionary. Never has an expression captured the essence of China’s politics and economy with such pithiness and precision—that a class of people thinks China belongs to them, acts like its owner, and is indeed the owner. Compared to the phrase “your country,” (an inversion of the official reference to China as “our country”) which has been in vogue for a while, “the Zhaos” brings into focus a critical divide that has never been encapsulated. It is, many believe, destined to permanently enter the Chinese lexicon. This article presents a compilation of explanations and uses of the expression, and its social and political interpretations.
.. Thus, the four types of people that make up the contemporary Zhao state are: The Zhaos, the Zhao helpers, the Zhao farmhands, and the small farmers who don’t dare offend the Zhao or its family.
.. During the last 20 years, the system has intensified its nationalist and ideological propaganda and education in order to fill the vacuum created by the collapse of communist ideology.
.. That netizens freely utter the ironic joke “Do you think you’re worthy of the name Zhao?” demonstrates their resistance to this hypocritical patriotic propaganda, as well as their dissatisfaction with the status quo.
Why the Gap Between Worker Pay and Productivity Is So Problematic
Though productivity (defined as the output of goods and services per hours worked) grew by about 74 percent between 1973 and 2013, compensation for workers grew at a much slower rate of only 9 percent during the same time period, according to data from the Economic Policy Institute.
.. Without a strong middle class we see weak consumption. With unhappy workers we have a less productive set of people for business to hire. If we’re only tapping the creativity and potential of a small fraction of our population that can’t be good for society. If working, middle-class Americans are not thriving, eventually they become anti-business voters.
.. I think that business leaders just need to recognize that companies can’t thrive for long if their communities are struggling.
.. The current path is one where federal policy makers squabble for partisan gains, delay tough choices, and make America a less attractive place to compete. Business leaders pursue their narrow short-term interest and free ride off each other’s investments—the business environment deteriorates, businesses leave America, the government enacts anti-business policies, companies reduce their U.S. activities further, and distrust deepens.