America’s Heartless Oligarchs— Following in Russia’s Footsteps
“Wealth and income inequality in the U.S. has increased to an unprecedented level. We refrain from repeating well-known figures that are readily available from the heralded work of Professor Emmanuel Saez at Berkeley. Since 1980, nearly all the gain in our GDP, or national output, has benefitted the top 10 percent of our population, with the lion’s share accruing to the top 1 percent and a disproportionate share of this going to the top 0.1 percent, those with annual incomes above $1.5 million and wealth of over $30 million. How have they done so well since 1980? Under the guise of tax reform and beneficial financial deregulation, Congress changed laws to benefit its financial backers, who in turn continue to increase their financial support of politicians to reap ever-increasing benefits. While Russian oligarchs have been justly labeled corrupt, their American counterparts have achieved their wealth ‘legally’ by supporting lawmakers and promoting their own faction into senior government positions to do their bidding.”