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iNouda Game profile

Member
1043

Aug 24th 2011, 13:51:36

Part 1: The American Middle Class is fluffed and Insignificant in Terms of the Economy =P

http://www.theatlantic.com/...ddle-class-be-saved/8600/


IN OCTOBER 2005, three Citigroup analysts released a report describing the pattern of growth in the U.S. economy. To really understand the future of the economy and the stock market, they wrote, you first needed to recognize that there was “no such animal as the U.S. consumer,” and that concepts such as “average” consumer debt and “average” consumer spending were highly misleading.

In fact, they said, America was composed of two distinct groups: the rich and the rest. And for the purposes of investment decisions, the second group didn’t matter; tracking its spending habits or worrying over its savings rate was a waste of time. All the action in the American economy was at the top: the richest 1 percent of households earned as much each year as the bottom 60 percent put together; they possessed as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent; and with each passing year, a greater share of the nation’s treasure was flowing through their hands and into their pockets. It was this segment of the population, almost exclusively, that held the key to future growth and future returns. The analysts, Ajay Kapur, Niall Macleod, and Narendra Singh, had coined a term for this state of affairs: plutonomy.


Part 2: Let's Outsource all the Middle Classes' Jobs to 3rd World Countries a.k.a. Corporations Care About Profits, Not Job Creation.

http://sanders.senate.gov/...90-447d-9d01-7c44efa7305a

NukEvil Game profile

Member
4328

Aug 24th 2011, 13:56:44

Part 3: Revolution. See France.
I am a troll. Everything I say must be assumed to be said solely to provoke an exaggerated reaction to the current topic. I fully intend to bring absolutely no substance to any discussion, ongoing or otherwise. Conversing with me is pointless.

JanPaul

Member
503

Aug 24th 2011, 14:04:44

Part 4: Space. See Mars.

iNouda Game profile

Member
1043

Aug 24th 2011, 14:19:25

*facepalm*

trumper Game profile

Member
1559

Aug 24th 2011, 15:12:09

I learned that my girlfriend and I make top 80th percentile of earners, but we would call it lower-middle-to-poor given the ridiculous cost-of-living in the DC-area, haha.

Notable quotables from the article:
"That means, among other things, substantially raising and broadening both national and private investment in basic scientific progress and in later-stage R&D—through a combination of more federal investment in scientific research, perhaps bigger tax breaks for private R&D spending, and a much lower corporate tax rate (and a simpler corporate tax code) overall. "
...
"Regulatory balance is always difficult in practice, but Michael Mandel has suggested a useful rule of thumb: where new and emerging industries are concerned—industries that are at the forefront of the economy and could provide big bursts of growth—our bias should be toward light regulation, allowing creative experimentation and encouraging fast growth. The rapid expansion of the Internet in the 1990s is a good example of the benefit that can come from a light regulatory hand early in an industry’s development; green technology, wireless platforms, and social-networking technologies are perhaps worthy of similar treatment today. "

martian Game profile

Game Moderator
Mod Boss
7845

Aug 24th 2011, 15:19:06

When running a country there is more than economic considerations. Otherwise you get dance dance communist/facist/whatever revolution time.

Regarding regulation, it should depend on what the general risk is to the population population at large. Things like building codes and food safety are somewhat important as are workplace safety standards. Things like the internet matter somewhat less.
you are all special in the eyes of fluff
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RUN IT IS A KILLER BUNNY!!!

deepcode Game profile

Member
309

Aug 24th 2011, 16:09:59

Revolution is the only awnser.

Politicians are pussies, they won't fix the problem.

Sifos Game profile

Member
1419

Aug 24th 2011, 16:56:10

Nope, the middle class is bound to be replaced by ninja frogs within 3 years.
Imaginary Numbers
If you're important enough to contact me, you will know how to contact me.
Self appointed emperor of the Order of Bunnies.
The only way to be certain your allies will not betray you is to kill them all!

JanPaul

Member
503

Aug 24th 2011, 19:11:20

Originally posted by Sifos:
Nope, the middle class is bound to be replaced by ninja frogs within 3 years.


'tis i like.