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Showing Original Post only (View all)America's Children Face Income Inequality Unseen In Generations [View all]
'America's Children Face Income Inequality Unseen In Generations,' By Paul Buchheit, Truthdig, 12/10/*2018. Excerpts:
- The Inequality to Be Suffered by Our Children:
The fortunate ones will not be suffering. In the past eight years, the richest 5% of Americans have increased their wealth by $30 trillionalmost a third of total U.S. wealthwhile the poorest 50% have seen their average wealth drop from $11,500 to $9,500. There is ample evidence for a nation soon to be made even more unequal by the transfer of wealth from rich baby boomers to their children and grandchildren, who will have done little if anything to earn it.
The middle class will be further crippled by the ongoing growth in inequality. Unless progressive policies are demanded by American voters, most of our children and grandchildren will suffer from the continuing expansion of a Great-Depression-like wealth gap that already dwarfs the rest of the developed world.
- Nearly a Third of U.S. Wealth Will Be Handed Down, Mostly to Rich Kids:
Total U.S. wealth is about $98 trillion. According to an Accenture study, $30 trillion in financial and non-financial assets will be inherited by the children of Baby Boomers in the next thirty to forty years..
Some sources question the claims for massive impending wealth transfers, saying that Boomers may spend most of their money, or that the newly rich young beneficiaries will mismanage their portfolios. Apparently its difficult for some of us to accept the reality of a worsening disparity in U.S. wealth.
- The Rich Kids Will Have Learned How to Avoid the Public Good:
Skipping out on tax obligations will start right away, as over 99.8 percent of estates are not currently required to pay any estate tax. Heres another way for the young heirs to skip out on taxes: Offshore hoarding of private American wealth is estimated to be $3.3 trillion (4% of U.S. $82 trillion financial wealth).
And yet another way: Make a fortune, then move out of the country and renounce U.S. citizenship to avoid taxes. Most infamous for this strategy was Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, who turned decades of American technology research into a billion-dollar fortune before bolting to Singapore and giving up his U.S. citizenship. There are more of these tax avoiders every year. Tech billionaires are building their doomsday bunkers in relatively safe faraway places like New Zealand, the home of the worlds most unaffordable house prices.
Still another way to shirk responsibility, while looking altruistic: Set up a donor-advised fund with a charitable-sounding name. Rich donors can get immediate tax deductions, while the recipients of their largesse dont actually have to use the money for charitable causes, and the fund directors can pay themselves handsome undisclosed salaries.
- The Rich Kids Will Have Private Doctors, Police and Firefighters:
The kids will never have to worry about health care. Theyll continue their parents trend of paying concierge doctors to visit their mansions or yachts, where emergency rooms are equipped with heart monitors, ultrasounds, x-ray machines, and blood analyzers. If a hospital stay is required, they might look into a $2,400 per day penthouse hospital suite complete with butler and grand piano.
In case of fire, they can follow the example of Kanye and Kim and hire a private firefighting service.
For security, the already proliferating private police forces are certain to fill the protection needs of the kids with newly-acquired estates. But private officers tend to be undertrained compared to public police; their acts of aggression are rarely reported; and in some states private forces are not even subject to investigation through the Freedom of Information Act.
- The Growing Number of Poor Kids:...
Source: https://www.truthdig.com/articles/americas-children-face-income-inequality-unseen-in-generations/
- NPR, U.S. Income Inequality Worsens, Widening To A New Gap, Sept. 26, 2019,
https://www.npr.org/2019/09/26/764654623/u-s-income-inequality-worsens-widening-to-a-new-gap
- 'Camp Millionaire' Money Camp for Ultrawealthy Children' BBC,
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20190827-the-camp-that-makes-future-millionaires