Much is made here and elsewhere of the extreme concentration of wealth in the top 1% of the world’s population (63 million people) and perhaps most excessively in the top 0.1%. Now, we must also recognize that these very same people, the world’s multi-millionaires and billionaires, contribute in similar excessive —>> read more –>>
October 2024 The US Congressional Budget Office has updated it findings on wealth inequality. Since 1989 the top 10%’s share of wealth has increased from 56.5% to 60.1% in 2022. As usual the top 1% did even better with its wealth share gaining 4.4% over the same time period. —>> read more –>>
The rich and corporations are on a path to set a new record for the amount of money spent in Washington on lobbying. The total spending for 2024 is poredicted to reach $4.2 billion. No surprise, the number of lobbyists will also set a new record. OpenSecrets.org reports, “Record-breaking federal —>> read more –>>
Milton Friedman asserted in his 9.13.1970 NYTimes opinion piece that “there is one and only one social responsibility of business—to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open —>> read more –>>
With yet another school shooting yesterday 9.3.2024 in Georgia I found myself barely moved. The frequency of these events and the now ritualized sequelae have extinguished any other reaction. Here is a chart I came on today in The Conversation. It is shocking, even to me, that we have taken —>> read more –>>
The 8.27.2024 NYTimes featured this interactive article: “When A.I.’s Output Is a Threat to A.I. Itself – As A.I.-generated data becomes harder to detect, it’s increasingly likely to be ingested by future A.I., leading to worse results.” by Aatish Bhatia. Simply put, AI (artificial intelligence) systems have already eaten virtually —>> read more –>>
In the mid-1980s, my wife Karen took me on a camping trip in the American Southwest. We stopped at Chaco Culture National Park. It was immediately evident that a very sophisticated civilization had created these structures and figured out how to live in a semi-arid environment with trade ties to —>> read more –>>
In a recent case, SNYDER v. UNITED STATES, the US Supreme Court declared that money, gifts, and other emoluments given after a decision or action by a public official are gratuities (gifts), not bribes. This looks like the laughable logic of a six-year-old trying to explain away some crime to —>> read more –>>
A frequent topic here is the staggering success of the rich and corporations in extracting income and wealth from the economy. In my 1.2.2024 post, Three charts that define the last 45 years in the US, I described how the rich and corporations have used a set of policies and —>> read more –>>
My production rate has fallen seriously since February 2024. Why? It’s not because I have not been regularly provoked with concerns. No, I am in the process of leaving Hudson NY, where I have lived for the past 15 years. Shortly, I will take up residence in West Palm Beach, —>> read more –>>
It is a bit of commonplace rhetoric to describe the US as a democracy. This recent opinion piece in the Washington Post is an example: We have a radical democracy. Will Trump voters destroy it? by Robert Kagan. Democracy, by every definition, is characterized by majority rule. We don’t need —>> read more –>>
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) has given a long series of talks, beginning two years ago and now reaching number 30, titled “The Scheme”. This is his investigation of how dark money, fake organizations, and fake facts have enabled the rich and corporations to seize control of the US Supreme Court. —>> read more –>>
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