20 January 2014 (12:25 UTC-07 Tango)/18 Rabi ‘al-Awwal 1435/30 Dey 1392/20 Gui-Chou (12th month) 4711
As the economy continues to contract did you ever wonder “Where’s all the money going?” According to a new study out of the Bilderberg British empire member known as United kingdom, almost half the World’s wealth is being funneled into the pockets of just 85 people!
Oxfam International says “The wealth of the one percent richest people in the world amounts to $110 trillion. That’s 65 times the total wealth of the bottom half.”
In the United States, the top 1% used the 2009 recession to capture 95% of wealth in the U.S., making the majority of U.S. citizens poorer: “…the wealthiest one percent captured 95 percent of post-financial crisis growth between 2009 and 2012, while the bottom 90 percent became poorer. The Great Recession did not change the trend in concentration of income: the share of US national income going to the top decile stands at 50.4 percent – its highest since World War I.”
The Oxfam study, Working for the Few, says the austerity (government spending cuts and increased taxes) is a scam run by the rich: “…..the combined wealth of Europe’s 10 richest people exceeds the total cost of stimulus measures implemented across the European Union (EU) between 2008 and 2010 (€217bn compared with €200bn). Furthermore, post-recovery austerity policies are hitting poor people hard, while making the rich even richer. Austerity is also having an unprecedented impact on the middle classes.”
Oxfam blames the growing disparity on tax policies and anti-competition laws that favor the rich. Oxfam also admitted “It is likely that the full concentration of wealth is in fact even worse, as a significant amount of wealth among those at the top of the scale is hidden away in tax havens. It is estimated that $18.5 trillion is held unrecorded and offshore.”
The laws favoring the 1% is the result of outright bribery of your ‘elected’ officials. Oxfam gave several examples, here’s one: “In 2010, President Obama signed into law the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (known as the Dodd-Frank Bill). The objective of this legislation is to regulate financial markets to protect the economy from a second major crash. However, the financial industry has spent more than $1bn on hundreds of lobbyists to weaken and delay the Act’s full implementation. In fact, in 2012 the top five consumer protection groups sent 20 lobbyists to defend Dodd-Frank, while the top five finance industry groups sent 406 to defeat it. Even though Dodd-Frank was signed into law more than three years ago, only 148 of its 398 rules have been finalized….”
Oxfam discovered that the true shadow government and banking system is that which belongs to the global 1%: “….a global network of tax havens has evolved that has far-reaching implications for increased economic inequality. Large amounts of wealth are hidden from view, and are largely untaxed, denying national treasuries vital resources that could be used to benefit society………This network of secrecy and low tax rates facilitates the illicit flows of large amounts of capital from the poorest countries. It is estimated that between 2008 and 2010, sub-Saharan Africa lost on average $63.4bn dollars this way each year, or more than twice what it received in aid.”
The study also confirmed the adage that the rich get richer, pointing out that it’s children of wealthy parents who get richer, while children born into families of middle and lower classes get poorer. Oxfam says it’s the result of an effect they call the “privilege cascade”.
Unfortunately the report does not name names, but the biggest share of the global wealth stealing is being done by the 1% of the United States.