Hi, Shrewd!        Login  
Shrewd'm.com 
A merry & shrewd investing community
Best Of PoliticsBest OfAll BoardsThe Shrewd’m WeeklyLearn to InvestHow to Become Shrewd
Search
Shrewd'm.com Merry shrewd investors
Search
Best Of PoliticsBest OfAll BoardsThe Shrewd’m WeeklyLearn to InvestHow to Become Shrewd


The week's question
In December 2024, in the thread "Re: BRK: Why Not XOM?", BreckHutHigh asked the members: "What about the long road trips with kids?" This week it is put to everyone again. The button below opens the small thread re-asking it - read what others have said so far, then give your own answer as an ordinary reply.
Answer this questionContinue to Shrewd'mThis note won't appear again
Halls of Shrewd'm / US Policy
Unthreaded | Threaded | Whole Thread (12) |
Author: very stable genius   😊 😞
Number: of 84364 
Subject: Re: Inflation down to 3.2%, gas prices below $3
Date: 11/14/23 6:14 PM
Post New | Post Reply | Report Post | Recommend It!
No. of Recommendations: 3
<If Democrats don't get their head on straight and recognize that there's a lot about the economy that voters legitimately don't like, instead of always asking why Biden isn't getting more credit for how awesome the economy is doing, they're going to get spanked in 2024.>

True. Unfortunately a major part of the problem is vast wealth inequality. The folks at the top have all the wealth. And that is not changing anytime soon.
It's the reason (imo) that many Americans are angry, and rightly so.
Thanks to ongoing Republican tax cuts for the wealthy, (and corporations) the inequality of wealth has substantially increased in the U.S. in recent decades.
The 400 wealthiest Americans own as much wealth as America's bottom 64%, nearly two-thirds of the nation's households, combined.
More than 10% of families have a negative net worth. It's no wonder that some of these folks think they might be better off under a christo-fascist authoritarian. (They will not.)

Look at the The Gini coefficient, it is used to determine a countries wealth inequality, the higher the number, the higher the wealth inequality.
The U.S. currently has a rather high 85% Gini coefficient. That puts us right in line with Haiti and Gambia. (No other industrialized country has a number that high!)

Janet Yellen has said, "There's no question that we've had a trend toward growing inequality and that this trend can shape and determine the ability of different groups
to participate equally in a democracy and have grave effects on social stability over time."

Economist Thomas Piketty argues, "Extremely high levels of wealth inequality are incompatible with the meritocratic values and principles of social justice
fundamental to modern democratic societies and that the risk of a drift towards oligarchy is real and gives little reason for optimism about where the United States is headed."

The answer is rather simple. We need to tax the wealthy, like we did in the 1940's, the 1950's, the 1960's and the 1970's and part of the 1980's. (Of course that is not gonna happen.)
Post New | Post Reply | Report Post | Recommend It!
Print the post
Members reply directly to very stable genius here — and replies get answered. Reading is free; so is joining the conversation. Join Shrewd'm »
This community has written 84,309 posts about US Policy. The article-length ones it recommended most:
It's going to get worse · 33 recs · 2025
G’day Donny · 30 recs · 2026
Old Related Story · 28 recs · 2026
HCR is a national treasure · 27 recs · 2025
Fascism in America · 27 recs · 2025
Unthreaded | Threaded | Whole Thread (12) |


Announcements
US Policy FAQ
Contact Shrewd'm
Contact the developer of these message boards.

Best Of Politics | Best Of | Favourites & Replies | All Boards | Followed Shrewds | Open Questions | Moving a community