THE 99.99th PERCENTILE
From Paul Krugman’s
column in Monday’s
New York Times:
. . . Between
1972 and 2001 the wage and salary income of Americans at the 90th percentile of
the income distribution rose only 34 percent, or about 1 percent per year.
So being in the top 10 percent of the income distribution, like being a college
graduate, wasn't a ticket to big income gains. But income at the 99th percentile rose 87 percent [you’re in that happy
percentile if your income these days is around $400,000 -- A.T.]; income at the 99.9th percentile rose 181 percent [you’re in that happy percentile if your income is
around $1.7 million]; and income at the
99.99th percentile rose 497 percent [bliss, thy name is $6 million-plus].
[. . .]
Should we be worried
about the increasingly oligarchic nature of American society? Yes, and not just
because a rising economic tide has failed to lift most boats. Both history and modern experience tell us
that highly unequal societies also tend to be highly corrupt. There's an
arrow of causation that runs from diverging income trends to Jack Abramoff and the K
Street project.
And I'm with Alan
Greenspan, who - surprisingly, given his libertarian roots - has repeatedly warned that growing
inequality poses a threat to "democratic society."
F It is a GRAND time to be rich and powerful in America – and
the Republican Party has made its top priority slashing taxes of the ultra-rich
so that, after tax, the inequality Krugman reports gapes even wider. (It’s what Jesus would have done.)
REBATES
Peg: “Reading your reply to that
Russian student inquiring about mail-in rebates, I couldn’t help but think
about my friend Bob Hamman. Bob has been the world’s top tournament bridge player
for years. But, in addition to that (as
if it wouldn’t be enough), he started a very interesting company about 20 years
ago. If you poke around his website,
you’ll see that, essentially, Bob is one
of the world's biggest bookies. Bob
goes to companies, assesses the risk involved in a particular rebate offer, and
then tells the company that for ‘X dollars,’ he will handle the overage above a
certain ceiling, no matter how many rebates come in. Of course, old Bob usually can calculate the
odds well enough so that the ceiling is not exceeded and he just keeps those X
dollars. Nevertheless, companies
appreciate his service, because it’s easier for them to factor in a known
dollar figure for a promotion than to assume an unknown liability. Bob’s told me that the percentage of folks
who actually return the rebate forms is ridiculously small.”
F Peg – who has written in many times before without ever
identifying herself as more than just Peg – attached a photo this time of her
in between Bob and another bridge acquaintance, Bill Gates. Turns out, she’s a former national bridge
champion herself. She would never brag
about this, but I’ll brag for her – I get a huge kick out of my terrific,
modest, and diverse readership.
Well
– this clever guy, for example:
HE SHOOTS – HE SCORES!
Glenn Hudson: “I liked your method of
calming yourself about your investment: ‘I
keep telling myself: Television did catch on.
Television did catch on.’ I
am in the process of introducing an inexpensive revolutionary basketball-shooting practice device, the shootAndstar Rebounder. It
catches both made and missed shots and returns them quickly to the shooter. If I had a nickel for everyone that told me
what a great idea it was, I would already be rich from it. It’s so obvious that they should just be
flying out the door. Yes, I have had
some success since its introduction a little over a year ago, selling units in
over 30 states and as far away as Australia. However, I have had some times when I became
somewhat frustrated with the initial growth of units sold. When that happens, I always remind myself of
the research that I did concerning the marketing of new inventions and the story of the person who invented the
shopping cart. Apparently, they had
trouble getting people to use them when they first put them in stores. People were so used to taking a basket with
them to the store and putting the items they purchased in their own basket that
they wouldn’t even try the carts. To
solve the problem, the inventor eventually figured out that he had to hire
people to push the carts around the stores until the average person became
comfortable enough to try one. Now if you can’t get a shopping cart
when you’re at a store, you get upset about it.
For some reason, no matter how great or obvious a new idea or invention
is, it just takes time and money to get it across to the general public. I would guess the problem is that the
majority of people have great difficulty in accepting new ideas and making
changes to their lives. Anyway, I use
this story to calm myself because I know if I keep plugging away, one day I
will be tremendously successful.”
THEN SHE BEATS THE CRAP OUT OF HIM
Anon: “First, I must ask that
you not print my name. I am female, and
grew up in a household in which my mother abused my father. My mother was a small woman, but my father
would never strike her or even protect himself.
I have watched my brother take on a similar marriage. We were an upper middle class family, and yet
this was a violent situation. (Alcohol
was involved, and once my mother got sober, the violence stopped, but i was well into adulthood.)
My husband’s mother beat him, and his ex beat him, yet he was arrested
for abusing her simply because the laws in our state allow a female to accuse a
male of abuse and the male is automatically arrested. Men and boys do not tell anyone about this
because it is so societally embarrassing to have a
woman beat you up. Most child abuse
is perpetrated by women, probably because they are the primary care
givers. Thank you for at least raising
these sorts of secrets in a different public forum. And again, please don't use my name, as I
would not want to cause my family the embarrassment that they have managed to
hide from all these years.”