The United States is shifting towards a plutonomy

The concern has been raised many times over whether the United States is turning into or already is a “plutonomy.” Plutonomy is a portmanteau of plutocracy and economy, and it means that the American economy is run and owned by the wealthiest of the rich. Some people insist the U.S. economy was that way to start with. Recent figures indicate that the richest few are what have driven any relative improvements in the economy. Article resource – Economists suggest the United States has become a plutonomy by Personal Money Store.

Plutonomy doesn’t involve a cartoon dog

The term implies the richest of the rich are who the economy revolves around. There is reason to think any “improvements” during the recession have anything to do with the spending habits of the richest few. The Wall Street Journal reported on the findings of Moody’s of consumer spending patterns. Within the last 20 years, 37 percent of all consumers spending was from the richest 5 percent. The bottom 80 percent (i.e. the rest of us) contributed less than 40 percent. The richest 10 percent make about half the income of the U.S.

Everyone lies but numbers do not

According to a study released in 2006 by the Federal Reserve, economist Arthur Kennickell found that the wealthiest 10 percent of the nation held almost 70 percent of the wealth. That means for every dollar of value in the sum total of all non-public assets of the United States, 90 percent of the population owns only 30 cents worth. Reagan’s trickle went up, and was no trickle but rather a tidal wave.

Of, by, and for the rich

Historians such as Howard Zinn and others have posited the Founding Fathers were all the wealthiest of the rich. The commoners were less affected by British taxes than the rich were. They rebelled to form a new land of oligarchy by privilege. No less than James Madison estimated only a third of Americans were in favor of the Revolution. Republics, by their nature, foster aristocracies. If there is one universal harbinger of doom for a society, it is a growing and vast disparity between the wealthiest few and also the many poor.

Discover more information on this subject

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, requires Adobe Reader