Bill Moyers on Plutonomy
http://youtu.be/...
Uploaded by buffalogeek on May 2, 2010
Bill Moyers signs off his last broadcast with an editorial discussion on why plutocracy and democracy don't mix.
Moyers quoted from this Report for the super-rich (a Top 1 Percent, investment guide).
Citibank Plutonomy Memo Scandal
http://youtu.be/...
Uploaded by akscldn on Apr 21, 2011
from Capitalism: A Love Story, a movie by Michael Moore.
For a more in-depth look at this "eyes-only" Report, take the leap ... and invest a few minutes ...
Tired of $64 words ... What exactly does Plutonomy mean anyways?
Plutonomy:
noun. An economy that is driven by or that disproportionately benefits wealthy people, or one where the creation of wealth is the principal goal.
[Blend of pluto- (wealth) and economy.]
In a report called "The Plutonomy Symposium Rising Tides Lifting Yachts," Ajay Kapur, Citigroup's global strategist, says the balance sheets of the rich are "in great shape, and will get much better," [...]
The United States is one of the plutonomy countries countries whose economies are powered by a relatively small number of rich people.
link
So was Ronald Reagan the first Plutotarian?
Hey Ronnie, I think most of us are still waiting for "our rising tide" to come in ...
Here's the "exclusive" Report cited by both Moyers and Moore. That someone in Citigroup kindly leaked ...
Citigroup Plutonomy Report (pdf)
Oct 16 2005
SUMMARY [pg 1]
-- The World is dividing into two blocs -- the Plutonomy and the rest. The U.S., UK, and Canada are the key Plutonomies -- economies powered by the wealthy.
[...]
[pg 5]
With the exception of the boom in the Roaring 1920s, this super-rich group kept losing out its share of incomes in WWI, the Great Depression and WWII, and till the early eighties. Why? The answers are unclear, but the massive loss of capital income (dividend, rents, interest income, but not capital gains) from progressive corporate and estate taxation is a possible candidate. The rise in their share since the mid-eighties might be related to the reduction in corporate and income taxes.
[...]
[pg 24]
A third threat comes from the potential social backlash. To use Rawls-ian analysis, the invisible hand stops working. Perhaps one reason that societies allow plutonomy, is because enough of the electorate believe they have a chance of becoming a Plutoparticipant. Why kill it off, if you can join it? In a sense this is the embodiment of the “American dream”. But if voters feel they cannot participate, they are more likely to divide up the wealth pie, rather than aspire to being truly rich.
[pg 25]
Could the plutonomies die because the dream is dead, because enough of society does not believe they can participate? The answer is of course yes. But we suspect this is a threat more clearly felt during recessions, and periods of falling wealth, than when average citizens feel that they are better off. There are signs around the world that society is unhappy with plutonomy -- judging by how tight electoral races are. But as yet, there seems little political fight being born out on this battleground. A related threat comes from the backlash to “Robber-barron” economies. The population at large might still endorse the concept of plutonomy but feel they have lost out to unfair rules. [...]
Our overall conclusion is that a backlash against plutonomy is probable at some point. However, that point is not now. So long as economies continue to grow, and enough of the electorates feel that they are benefiting and getting rich in absolute terms, even if they are less well off in relative terms, there is little threat to Plutonomy in the U.S., UK, etc.
But the balance of power between right (generally pro-plutonomy) and left (generally pro-equality) is on a knife-edge in many countries. [...]
The Plutocrats really don't want you to see this report, or the crass Investment advice it contains -- designed to help them to get even richer from the social unrest and global imbalances, that their Plutonomy (captured government) has created for "the rest of us" (ie. the other 99%).
PS. I had a heck of a time finding a copy of this Citigroup Plutonomy Report (pdf) again since the first time I wrote about it, back in Oct 2009.
Please save a copy of the pdf, and then read and reference the Report, when you get a chance. No telling how long, before this copy gets removed, too. Afterall it is intended for a very select clientele. Not for us chattel folks, that the Plutocrats are trying to keep on our side of the divide ... by whatever unconstitutional means necessary.
This report spells out what we are up against.
This report is NOT what Democracy looks like.