He said nothing incorrect, and it's actually not very scary at all. In fact, once one wraps their brain around the idea that politics have FAR less influence on their lives than the decisions they themselves make on a daily basis, it becomes easier to simply ignore 80% of what you hear anyhow. Once you realize that wealth is NOT some sort of infinite pie model, and that one person getting rich is at the cost of someone, somewhere else, it becomes simpler to make financial decisions (and to likewise take the wealthy off the pedestal our society puts them on).
Human progress isn't measured by industry. It's measured by the value you place on a life.
Just, be kind.
Oh, it is semi-infinite (large enough that it may as well be infinite from an individual human's scale), but barring outside factors, money tends to act like mass and is subject to gravity.
For example, if you look at the planets of our solar system
The "top 25%" (top 2 of 8) of planets make up 92% of the mass.
compare
Top 20% make up 93% of the wealth.
Last edited by Masark; 2012-11-15 at 07:22 PM.
Think of it like conservation of energy. The total amount of "potential wealth" and "used wealth" is finite. Inflation changes numbers, but that doesn't change the fact that wealth is only ever exchanged; never created.
---------- Post added 2012-11-15 at 01:20 PM ----------
I commute on the Midtown Greenway, and I go under like 20 bridges that look like they'll be falling down within the next 10 years.
Well, everyone can look at it from their own perspective. But potential wealth is meaningless if it is sitting 100 meters below the surface or in the hands of someone else.
Value (=wealth) is created when goods are exchanged between two persons and both are better off as a result. If I like metallica and you like iron maiden, but i have an iron maiden cd and you have a metallica cd, swapping cd's will create value (=wealth) for us both.
Likewise, the values of a couple grams of cedar, rubber and graphite in separate locations are much lower than the value of a pencil. Wealth is created when these materials are brought together.
Last edited by mmoc43ae88f2b9; 2012-11-15 at 07:55 PM.
I'm talking monetary value, not sentimental value.
Raw materials cost lower than the finished product because of manufacturing processes. This process uses labor. Keep in mind, your paycheck doesn't mean wealth is created. It means wealth has been transferred from your employer to yourself.
So you're going to look at the data and insist that it is wrong in favor of a simplified estimate from over a century ago that fits better with your ideology.
That's certainly conservatism in a nutshell.
80/20 is a general guideline and observation, not proclamation of "how things should be" or a goal to strive for. In the USA, it's about 93/20, as shown. In Norway, it's about 71/20 (pg 17).
Last edited by Masark; 2012-11-15 at 09:08 PM.
There really isn't anything wrong with a Pareto distribution.
Even in socialist countries like Sweden, their wealth follows a Pareto distribution.
The issue is that if the top 20% earn 80% of the income, they should also pay 80% of the taxes.
Money going out should follow a Pareto distribution as well.
And they have done that for YEARS before Obama was even considering running for any office in Washington. You see nothing really is changing in regards to healthcare except that healthcare companies cant cherry pick the customers and send the sick and costly ones to the curb ( you know the ones that cost money for you i mean god forbid we treat those as well since it hurts the quarterly report for some greedy snop in the top 1%)
Companies have hired 29hrs a week crap to dodge healthcare benefits for DECADES folks dont let them try to lie to you and say it is Obamacare doing it. Thanks to Obamacare they will still have a chance to get affordable healthcare which the companies have REFUSED for DECADES with the less than 29hrs a week hirings.
It proves what the #1 prio for greedy companies is, It is GREED. per papa johns own estimate it is 14cents per pie to cover all workers he has. indepentant studies have put it between 3.5 and 4.8 cents per pie. But FACT remains he blows 4 times that amount on his 2 million NFL giveaway. It isnt about the money that it is costing to insure workers it is about GREED folks plain and simple GREED.