It has been posited numerous times that the United States functions as a “plutonomy.” Plutonomy is a portmanteau of plutocracy and economy, and it means that the American economy is run and owned by the richest of the wealthy. Some people insist the U.S. economy was that way to begin with. Recent figures indicate the richest few are what have driven any relative improvements in the economy.
Plutonomy doesn’t involve a cartoon dog
The word denotes the economy revolves around a small number of very rich individuals. There is reason to think the richest of the wealthy have been behind any recent signs of life within the economy. Moody’s keeps track of consumer spending patterns, and found some interesting things, according to the Wall Street Journal. Over the past 20 years, the richest 5 percent alone contributed 37 percent of consumer spending. A scant 40 percent was from the bottom 80 percent. Almost 50 percent of all income earned goes to only 10 percent of the population in the U.S.
The math works
As of 2006, 10 percent of the nation holds 70 percent of the wealth, according to a Federal Reserve study by Arthur Kennickell. For each and every dollar worth of wealth, 90 percent of the populace holds collectively 30 cents. It seems Reagan’s trickle went upward, and it was no mere trickle; it was a tidal wave.
Of, by, and for the rich
Historians for instance Howard Zinn and others have posited the Founding Fathers were all the wealthiest of the wealthy. 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. No less than James Madison estimated only a third of Americans were in favor of the Revolution. It is within the nature of republics to encourage aristocracies. If there is a universal predictor of the collapse of a society, it is the wealthiest few taking economic ownership of the numerous.
Further 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, demands Adobe Reader
