85 richest people own as much as bottom half of population

[nomo]

Gandhi said:"The Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need but not for every man's greed." and I do agree.

[slimmouse]

I think this information might fit well within the confines of a quiz question, cos we all love quizzes dont we?

Draw a big circle and divide it into 2.

Lets call it "the wealth of the world "

The question is , what percentage of the richest half of the world do we need to include, in order to match the other half of civilisation.

If you were representing it by drawing, Id recommend an extremely fine, almost infinitely sharp pencil.

[Searcher08]

Gandhi said:"The Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need but not for every man's greed." and I do agree.

I think that the purpose of the system can be found from looking at what it does: which is concentration and accumulation of money power and resources into (as GHWB allegedly stated) higher, tighter and righter hands.

If this is the case then surely it points to a scenario where the 85 become the 10, which then consolidates eventually to... perhaps to 3 or even to... 1.

Now if 'Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely', I would suggest that the end result of this total power concentration into the hands of a single individual and/or organisation would be... absolute corruption. I am not sure what that would manifest as - perhaps something like Mordor.

[tazmic]

Gandhi said:"The Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need but not for every man's greed." and I do agree.

I think that the purpose of the system can be found from looking at what it does: which is concentration and accumulation of money power and resources into (as GHWB allegedly stated) higher, tighter and righter hands.

This principle would apply to inanimate matter as well. "It is very tempting to speculate about what phenomena in nature we can now fit under this big tent of dissipation-driven adaptive organization," England said. "Many examples could just be right under our nose, but because we haven't been looking for them we haven't noticed them."

A New Physics Theory of Life

[vanlose kid]

Gandhi said:"The Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need but not for every man's greed." and I do agree.

I think that the purpose of the system can be found from looking at what it does: which is concentration and accumulation of money power and resources into (as GHWB allegedly stated) higher, tighter and righter hands.

This principle would apply to inanimate matter as well. "It is very tempting to speculate about what phenomena in nature we can now fit under this big tent of dissipation-driven adaptive organization," England said. "Many examples could just be right under our nose, but because we haven't been looking for them we haven't noticed them."

A New Physics Theory of Life

Ain't science wonderful? Good thing the rich fund it, huh?

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[semper occultus]

Pressure mounts for corporates’ cash piles to be put to work

By Anousha Sakoui

January 21, 2014 7:08 pm

It is a paradox troubling many in business world: if companies are sitting on record levels of cash, why aren’t they spending it?

In the wake of the financial crisis, the corporate world has built up huge cash reserves. In 2008, the non-financial members of the global S&P 1200 index – 975 of the world’s biggest companies – had a total of $1.95tn in cash. But by the end of 2012, that level had jumped 62 per cent to $3.2tn as a result of companies hoarding cash following a banking crisis which shattered trust in sources of credit.

A 30 per cent rise in the S&P 500 during 2013, recovering economies, rising business confidence and low funding costs should have laid the foundations for greater spending by companies, on mergers and acquisitions, on capital expenditure, and on returning cash to shareholders. Instead, cash levels continue to rise.

One explanation is that the cash is not evenly spread, and is in fact being held by an increasingly concentrated group of companies, according to a study by business advisory and accountancy firm Deloitte of Bloomberg data.

Companies outside this group have actually been taking on more debt. According to S&P, net debt of non-financials has been rising globally in the past few years as companies have taken advantage of historically low interest rates to lock in cheap funding.


Deloitte’s study illustrates the growing concentration of the untapped cash. At the start of the credit crisis in 2007, companies with more than $2.5bn each in cash and near cash items, such as short-term investments, held 76 per of the $1.98tn of cash reserves of the non-financial members of the S&P1200.

By the third quarter of 2013, this had risen to 82 per cent (of a total $2.8tn), the highest percentage since before 2000.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/1e1b9952-794f-11e3-91ac-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2rG4Nz241

Huge cash pile puts recovery in hands of the few

By Anousha Sakoui, M&A Correspondent

January 21, 2014 7:03 pm

The pile of unspent corporate cash that has built up since the start of the financial crisis is being held by an increasingly concentrated pool of companies that will be crucial to hopes of a pick-up in business investment to stimulate the world economy.

About a third of the world’s biggest non-financial companies are sitting on most of a $2.8tn gross cash pile, according to a study by advisory firm Deloitte, with the polarisation between hoarders and spenders widening since the financial crisis.

Of the non-financial members of the S&P Global 1200 index, just 32 per cent of companies held 82 per cent of the aggregate cash pile, the highest level since at least 2000. With nearly $150bn in its coffers, Apple alone was sitting on about 5 per of the total at the end of its fiscal year.

Such concentration has increased since 2007 when companies that held more than $2.5bn in cash or “near cash” items – not including debt – accounted for 76 per cent of the aggregate cash pile in 2007.

Cash hoarding is blamed by some economists for some regions’ slow emergence from the crisis. As companies keep operating costs low and do not invest in equipment, their wealth does not trickle down to benefit the wider economy.


http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/dc46d300-7937-11e3-91ac-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2rG4Nz241

[stillrobertpaulsen]

Gandhi said:"The Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need but not for every man's greed." and I do agree.

I think that the purpose of the system can be found from looking at what it does: which is concentration and accumulation of money power and resources into (as GHWB allegedly stated) higher, tighter and righter hands.

If this is the case then surely it points to a scenario where the 85 become the 10, which then consolidates eventually to... perhaps to 3 or even to... 1.

Now if 'Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely', I would suggest that the end result of this total power concentration into the hands of a single individual and/or organisation would be... absolute corruption. I am not sure what that would manifest as - perhaps something like Mordor.

Sounds like you're describing GlobalCorp. I don't agree with MCR's assessment that this is right around the corner. But it's too close for comfort.

[conniption]

Kevin O'Leary on global inequality: "It's fantastic!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rMPea0lm9U

[conniption]

Michele Bachmann vs. Bernie Sanders CNN Debate Goes Completely Off the Rails

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5LXpcU5DBA
NewsAroundUs
Published on Jan 27, 2014

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...As you can see, the market incomes of the bottom 90% (blue) actually grew faster than the market incomes of the top 10% (red) for quite some time, with the 1950s and 1960s being right on the crest of that trend...Image Link