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The Richest 20 Own More Than Half The People
America's richest 20 people own more than the bottom half of America - 152 million people combined. That is just one of the startling revelations in a new report, Billionaire Bonanza: The Forbes 400 and the Rest of Us, just released by the Institute for Policy Studies.
Dec 02, 2015
America's richest 20 people own more than the bottom half of America - 152 million people combined. That is just one of the startling revelations in a new report, Billionaire Bonanza: The Forbes 400 and the Rest of Us, just released by the Institute for Policy Studies.
Wealth inequality has reached new heights. The wealthiest 100 people now own about as much wealth as the entire African American population in the United States. Among the Forbes 400, but not in the top 100, just two individuals are African American--Oprah Winfrey and Robert Smith.
The report also finds that the wealthiest 186 members of the Forbes 400 own as much wealth as the entire Latino population. Only 5 Latinos from 3 families are part of the Forbes 400
This tremendous concentration of wealth has been largely created since the 1970's. It can be un-created. The report makes several recommendations for immediate and longer-term action.
The first requirement is to stop the flight of capital. Over 8 trillion dollars is now held overseas in tax havens and secret investment accounts. No one knows the exact amounts but it is certain that the funds are increasing rapidly.
Secondly, the tax loopholes that have been created by the corporate and political elite must be plugged and the rates paid must be much higher for the rich. We need to see how unjust and how unfair the 76,000-page IRS tax code has become. We must make it impossible for Warren Buffet (number 2 on the Forbes 400) to pay income tax at a lower rate than his secretary.
The report also proposes a direct tax on wealth to break up the concentration of wealth and generate trillions of dollars in new revenue to invest in wealth building opportunities for working families.
With a combined worth of $2.34 trillion, the Forbes 400 own more wealth than the bottom 62 percent of the country combined, a staggering 194 million people. The wealth of just those 400 people, divided amongst all the 115 million households in America would add over $20,000 to the wealth of every family, while more than doubling the wealth of typical African-American, Latino, Native American, poor white and Asian-American families.
How much is enough? How long will people stand for these atrocious inequalities? Those are questions each of us must ask ourselves . . . and then act on those answers. Billionaire Bonanza: The Forbes 400 and the Rest of Us begins to chart the course to recovering the dignity and the wealth that has been taken from so many of us if we listen, learn and act.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
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Dariel Garner
Dariel Garner is the inspiration for Billionaire Buddha, a novel by Rivera Sun about a man who had incredible riches, turned his back on wealth and found everything that is truly of worth. He speaks, holds workshops on wealth and income inequality and blogs at riverasun.com. You can reach him by email at dariel@riverasun.com
America's richest 20 people own more than the bottom half of America - 152 million people combined. That is just one of the startling revelations in a new report, Billionaire Bonanza: The Forbes 400 and the Rest of Us, just released by the Institute for Policy Studies.
Wealth inequality has reached new heights. The wealthiest 100 people now own about as much wealth as the entire African American population in the United States. Among the Forbes 400, but not in the top 100, just two individuals are African American--Oprah Winfrey and Robert Smith.
The report also finds that the wealthiest 186 members of the Forbes 400 own as much wealth as the entire Latino population. Only 5 Latinos from 3 families are part of the Forbes 400
This tremendous concentration of wealth has been largely created since the 1970's. It can be un-created. The report makes several recommendations for immediate and longer-term action.
The first requirement is to stop the flight of capital. Over 8 trillion dollars is now held overseas in tax havens and secret investment accounts. No one knows the exact amounts but it is certain that the funds are increasing rapidly.
Secondly, the tax loopholes that have been created by the corporate and political elite must be plugged and the rates paid must be much higher for the rich. We need to see how unjust and how unfair the 76,000-page IRS tax code has become. We must make it impossible for Warren Buffet (number 2 on the Forbes 400) to pay income tax at a lower rate than his secretary.
The report also proposes a direct tax on wealth to break up the concentration of wealth and generate trillions of dollars in new revenue to invest in wealth building opportunities for working families.
With a combined worth of $2.34 trillion, the Forbes 400 own more wealth than the bottom 62 percent of the country combined, a staggering 194 million people. The wealth of just those 400 people, divided amongst all the 115 million households in America would add over $20,000 to the wealth of every family, while more than doubling the wealth of typical African-American, Latino, Native American, poor white and Asian-American families.
How much is enough? How long will people stand for these atrocious inequalities? Those are questions each of us must ask ourselves . . . and then act on those answers. Billionaire Bonanza: The Forbes 400 and the Rest of Us begins to chart the course to recovering the dignity and the wealth that has been taken from so many of us if we listen, learn and act.
Dariel Garner
Dariel Garner is the inspiration for Billionaire Buddha, a novel by Rivera Sun about a man who had incredible riches, turned his back on wealth and found everything that is truly of worth. He speaks, holds workshops on wealth and income inequality and blogs at riverasun.com. You can reach him by email at dariel@riverasun.com
America's richest 20 people own more than the bottom half of America - 152 million people combined. That is just one of the startling revelations in a new report, Billionaire Bonanza: The Forbes 400 and the Rest of Us, just released by the Institute for Policy Studies.
Wealth inequality has reached new heights. The wealthiest 100 people now own about as much wealth as the entire African American population in the United States. Among the Forbes 400, but not in the top 100, just two individuals are African American--Oprah Winfrey and Robert Smith.
The report also finds that the wealthiest 186 members of the Forbes 400 own as much wealth as the entire Latino population. Only 5 Latinos from 3 families are part of the Forbes 400
This tremendous concentration of wealth has been largely created since the 1970's. It can be un-created. The report makes several recommendations for immediate and longer-term action.
The first requirement is to stop the flight of capital. Over 8 trillion dollars is now held overseas in tax havens and secret investment accounts. No one knows the exact amounts but it is certain that the funds are increasing rapidly.
Secondly, the tax loopholes that have been created by the corporate and political elite must be plugged and the rates paid must be much higher for the rich. We need to see how unjust and how unfair the 76,000-page IRS tax code has become. We must make it impossible for Warren Buffet (number 2 on the Forbes 400) to pay income tax at a lower rate than his secretary.
The report also proposes a direct tax on wealth to break up the concentration of wealth and generate trillions of dollars in new revenue to invest in wealth building opportunities for working families.
With a combined worth of $2.34 trillion, the Forbes 400 own more wealth than the bottom 62 percent of the country combined, a staggering 194 million people. The wealth of just those 400 people, divided amongst all the 115 million households in America would add over $20,000 to the wealth of every family, while more than doubling the wealth of typical African-American, Latino, Native American, poor white and Asian-American families.
How much is enough? How long will people stand for these atrocious inequalities? Those are questions each of us must ask ourselves . . . and then act on those answers. Billionaire Bonanza: The Forbes 400 and the Rest of Us begins to chart the course to recovering the dignity and the wealth that has been taken from so many of us if we listen, learn and act.
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