Current Events > Rich People in America Have Too Much Money

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http://www.newsweek.com/rich-people-america-buffett-629456

One big problem in America is that while there is plenty of money, rich people have too much of it. So says the world’s second-richest man, Warren Buffett. The 86-year-old CEO of investing house Berkshire Hathaway has a net worth of $75.6 billion, according to Forbes, and he says massive sums like that are the reason why many people are struggling to get by.

“The real problem, in my view, is the prosperity has been unbelievable for the extremely rich people,” he told PBS News hour Monday. “If you go to 1982, when Forbes put on their first 400 list, those people had $93 billion. Now they have $2.4 trillion, [a multiple of] 25 for one. This has been a prosperity that’s been disproportionately rewarding to the people on top.”

Since the 1980s, the richest 1 percent of Americans have seen their share of total income roughly double, to 20 percent. Meanwhile, the bottom 50 percent have seen their share decline in a big way, to 12 percent from 20 percent. Inequality in America is now even more pronounced than in China.

“The economy is doing well, but all Americans aren’t doing well,” Buffett added. “But we have got $57,000 or $58,000 of [gross domestic product] per person. That is a lot of stuff.”

Buffett said that the inequality is a natural result of an evolving economy in the U.S., but that more needs to be done in order to help those who have seen their jobs go by the wayside.

“We actually export 12 or 13 percent of our GDP,” he said. “It was only 5 percent in 1970. But it benefits us. It benefits the rest of the world. It doesn’t benefit the steelworker maybe in Ohio. And that’s the problem that has to be addressedbecause when you have something that’s good for society, but terribly harmful for given individuals, we have got to make sure those individuals are taken care of.”

Buffett pointed out that the economy has been growing since 2009, following the recession the previous year. Since entering the White House in January, and even before, President Trump has been quick to claim credit for any sign of further improvement in the economy.

Buffett, though, urged Trump to be careful what he claimed responsibility for.
“If I ever get elected president, I will never claim credit for anything the market does, because I don’t want to be blamed when it goes the other direction,” he said.

I think my copy-paste didn't mangle that too badly :P
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Buffett is one of the few really, really rich dudes that can see the bigger picture and isn't afraid to speak up about it, I bet his fellow billionaires hate him.
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Huge respect to Buffett for admitting this. And he's right, too. As to what to do about it, that's another matter. But it's going to get worse before it gets better.
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I mean, he talks a good game and I agree with him

But why hasn't he donated 90% of his net worth to walk the walk
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Wait, whats the problem with rich people having a lot of money

Is Warren under the assumption that there is a finite amount of fiat bills and that the rich are hogging it all?
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pegusus123456 posted...

I mean, he talks a good game and I agree with him

But why hasn't he donated 90% of his net worth to walk the walk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k98mh8yCHMM
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Why can't he give me like 10-20 million then

He'd still have over 75 billion dollars. His bank account would hardly be scratched.
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"Since he isn't voluntarily giving money to the government because he thinks it doesn't matter unless the tax code is changed, he's a hypocrite and his point is invalid."
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Mal_Fet posted...

Wait, whats the problem with rich people having a lot of money

Is Warren under the assumption that there is a finite amount of fiat bills and that the rich are hogging it all?

yes, that is what causes economic meltdowns

tbh I can't wait til the next collapse, got money saved up so I'll be good, and I can get into the housing market (buying a house right now is stupid)
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ShotOJameson posted...

yes, that is what causes economic meltdowns

Actually what caused the last economic meltdown was the government forcing banks to give out subprime housing loans. Not the prevalence of rich people.
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Mal_Fet posted...

ShotOJameson posted...

yes, that is what causes economic meltdowns

Actually what caused the last economic meltdown was the government forcing banks to give out subprime housing loans. Not the prevalence of rich people.

the government wasn't forcing banks to do that, but regulations preventing them from doing it were removed during the bush administration
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Mal_Fet posted...

ShotOJameson posted...

yes, that is what causes economic meltdowns

Actually what caused the last economic meltdown was the government forcing banks to give out subprime housing loans.

Which is happening again
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ShotOJameson posted...

Mal_Fet posted...

ShotOJameson posted...

yes, that is what causes economic meltdowns

Actually what caused the last economic meltdown was the government forcing banks to give out subprime housing loans.

Which is happening again

Not right now. The exact same thing, however, is happening with subprime auto loans.
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Mal_Fet posted...

Wait, whats the problem with rich people having a lot of money

Is Warren under the assumption that there is a finite amount of fiat bills and that the rich are hogging it all?

There is a finite amount of money in the world though.

Sure, the government/s can always print more, but then inflation.
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pegusus123456 posted...

I mean, he talks a good game and I agree with him

But why hasn't he donated 90% of his net worth to walk the walk

He will donate almost all his fortune to charity when he dies. His children will only get token sums, just enough for support but not enough to avoid working to fend for themselves.

Why doesn't he do it now? Because of his ability to compound wealth. The longer he has to work with his money, the more he can leave behind to the society when he dies.
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I agree with him but we need more than just words

Still, it's a start
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they're TOO successful
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Garioshi posted...

the government wasn't forcing banks to do that, but regulations preventing them from doing it were removed during the bush administration

The CRA was under Clinton, bro.

itachi15243 posted...

There is a finite amount of money in the world though.

There's not a finite amount of value. And the existence of a lot of rich people has no bearing on how much money you can make.

Would you rather have 1% of a $1 million pie, or 10% of a $1 thousand dollar pie?
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