Be INFORMED

Friday, June 24, 2011

Social Security Under Attack…

…and this should come as no surprise to anyone as you should have known that the Republicans would be placing a target on this most popular program for retirees. Yes, once again, the American Taliban and the Koch Brothers are pushing for privatization of Social Security as well as a rise in the retirement age to the age of 69.

   It is class warfare and you and I are on the losing end of this stick at this point in time only because we have a weak leader in the White House who has a bunch of wimps helping him in both the House and the Senate. Thus far, the majority of the Democrats have been both spineless and gutless when it comes to doing battle against the Republicans and their corporate masters. Let us not forget that quite a few of the Democrats are also bought and paid for by the likes of the Koch brothers and big business. I’m wondering lately if President Obama is also in the midst of the group.

  Let us listen to a little bit of the dirt in the Koch brother’s closet, and to who the two donate some of  their cash to. It seems that spreading falsehoods and misinformation to the general public is an expensive task.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Dismal Times For You, Great Times For The Wealthy

   Take a look at this from Capgemini and Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management World Report for 2011. It would seem that High net worth individuals (HNWIs) are doing just fine in this economy of “ sacrifice ).

Globally, HNWIs’ financial wealth grew 9.7% in 2010 to reach US$42.7 trillion, surpassing the 2007 pre-crisis peak. The global population of HNWIs grew 8.3% to 10.9 million. Regionally:
––The population of HNWIs in Asia-Pacific, at 3.3 million individuals, is now the second-largest in the world behind North America, and ahead of Europe for the first time. The combined wealth of Asia-Pacific HNWIs had already topped Europe’s in 2009, and that
gap widened in 2010.
––Europe’s HNWI wealth totaled US$10.2 trillion after growing 7.2% in 2010, while Asia-Pacific HNWI wealth was US$10.8 trillion, up 12.1%.
––North American HNWI wealth hit US$11.6 trillion in 2010, up 9.1%.
––Latin America saw another modest gain (6.2%) in its HNWI population in 2010 and HNWI wealth rose 9.2%. The Latin America HNWI segment has proved relatively resilient and stable in recent years (the number of HNWIs shrank just 0.7% in 2008) and HNWI wealth is now up 18.1% from 2007.

--India’s HNWI population entered the Top 12 for the first time and Australia edged up another notch to No. 9.

Over time, the HNWI population is very gradually becoming more fragmented across the globe, but its geographic distribution in 2010 was much the same overall as it has been, and 53.0% of the world’s HNWIs were still concentrated in the U.S., Japan, and Germany. Ultra-HNWIs posted slightly stronger-than-average gains in their numbers and wealth. The global population of Ultra-HNWIs grew by 10.2% in 2010 andits wealth by 11.5%. As a result, Ultra-HNWIs accounted for 36.1% of global HNWI wealth, up from 35.5%, while representing only 0.9% of the global HNWI population.

   Of course, the wealthy in the United States are doing extremely well in our tough economy, no major shock there, is there?

The population of HNWIs in North America rose 8.6% in 2010 to 3.4 million, after rising 16.6% in 2009. Their wealth rose 9.1% to US$11.6 trillion. The U.S. is still home to the single largest HNW segment in the world, with its 3.1 million HNWIs accounting for 28.6% of the global HNWI population.

   Still, the Republicans and more than a few Democrats want to give these hoods, most who pay little to no taxes, even more tax cuts while states have to cut their budgets by firing teachers,and basically busting unions of firefighters and police. Let us not forget the pension scam being run by all states under Republican control.