The State of the Union and the State of Capitalism

The State of the Union and the State of Capitalism The 1% are getting richer — The 99% are getting poorer. By Roland Sheppard

 Many reporters and politicians point out flaws and lies, that Trump made in his ‘La La Land’ depiction of the United State last night, about civil rights, immigration, the environment, permanent war for permanent peace, and global warming etc.. But on the economy, he repeated the lies that  the 1% Democrats and the Republican duopoly have said over the years. 

La La Land

To begin with, every ‘tax reform’, starting with President Kennedy’s ‘ Robon Hood In reverse’ tax policy, has been an increase in taxes for the 99% and a decrease in taxes for the 1%. Trump policies are just more blatant! Economic Figures Reveal the real state of the United States! The anti-poverty organization Oxfam in it’s Report Reward Work, Not Wealth, reveals how the global economy empowers the richest 1% while hundreds of millions of people struggle to survive.:

“Oxfam found that 82% of the global wealth produced last year went to the richest 1% of the world’s population. In other words, four out of every five dollars of wealth created in 2017 went into the pockets of the 1%.  While a new billionaire was created every other day, the 3.7 billion people making up the poorest half of the world’s population saw no increase in their wealth last year. “The billionaire boom is not a sign of a thriving economy but a symptom of a failing economic system,” said Winnie Byanyima, the Executive Director of Oxfam. “The people who make our clothes, assemble our phones and grow our food are being exploited to ensure a steady supply of cheap goods, and swell the profits of corporations and billionaire investors.” Oxfam reported that the 42 richest people now own as much wealth the poorest half of the world’s population. Since 2010, billionaire wealth has risen annually by 13%, a rate six time higher than that of average workers.

“Oxfam found that 82% of the global wealth produced last year went to the richest 1% of the world’s population. In other words, four out of every five dollars of wealth created in 2017 went into the pockets of the 1%.

“While a new billionaire was created every other day, the 3.7 billion people making up the poorest half of the world’s population saw no increase in their wealth last year.

“The billionaire boom is not a sign of a thriving economy but a symptom of a failing economic system,” said Winnie Byanyima, the Executive Director of Oxfam. “The people who make our clothes, assemble our phones and grow our food are being exploited to ensure a steady supply of cheap goods, and swell the profits of corporations and billionaire investors.” report, Reward Work, Not Wealth, reveals how the global economy empowers the richest 1% while hundreds of millions of people struggle to survive.

“Oxfam found that 82% of the global wealth produced last year went to the richest 1% of the world’s population. In other words, four out of every five dollars of wealth created in 2017 went into the pockets of the 1%.

“While a new billionaire was created every other day, the 3.7 billion people making up the poorest half of the world’s population saw no increase in their wealth last year.

“The billionaire boom is not a sign of a thriving economy but a symptom of a failing economic system,” said Winnie Byanyima, the Executive Director of Oxfam. “The people who make our clothes, assemble our phones and grow our food are being exploited to ensure a steady supply of cheap goods, and swell the profits of corporations and billionaire investors.

“Oxfam reported that the 42 richest people now own as much wealth the poorest half of the world’s population.

“Since 2010, billionaire wealth has risen annually by 13%, a rate six time higher than that of average workers.

“Key factors contributing to this concentration of wealth, Oxfam found, are erosion of workers’ rights, corporate influence in political and labor policy-making, rewarding inherited wealth, tax evasion, and cutting costs to maximize profits for company owners.

“A perfect storm is driving up the bargaining power of those at the top while driving down the bargaining power of those at the bottom,” Paul O’Brien, Oxfam America’s Vice President for Policy and Campaigns, explained. “If such inequality remains unaddressed, it will trap people in poverty and further fracture our society.

The following graphs by Shadow Government Statistics graphically demonstrates the extent of the lies.

Shadow Government Statistics  demonstrates that real wages have been falling since since the 1972 wage price freeze!:

Shadow Government Statistics: Real Average Weekly Earnings, Production and Nonsupervisory Employees, 1965-to-Date 

“Figures Don’t Lie —But Liars Can ‘Figure’ 

Trump Stated at the Davos Conference: “America is roaring back and now is the time to invest in the future of America,”(He made similar ‘mistatements’ last night:

Shadow Government Statistics Corrected” Real GDP Index (2000 – 2017), First-Estimate of Fourth-Quarter 2017  Shown in the first graph of each set (Graphs 1 and 3) of official Headline Real GDP, GDP activity has been reported above pre-2007 recession levels—fully recovered and in economic expansion—since third- quarter 2011, and headline GDP has shown sustained growth since (growth pauses or interruptions for second-half 2012 and first-quarter 2014 excepted). Adjusted for GDP inflation (the implicit price deflator or IPD), the first estimate of fourth-quarter 2017 GDP currently stands 15.2% above its pre-recession peak estimate of fourth-quarter 2007. Again, no other major economic indicators show recovery or expansion close to the GDP’s. None of the series covered in this section or in No. 859 has shown a significant recovery to pre-recession highs, let alone formal economic expansion. In contrast, the “corrected” GDP version, in the second graph of each set (Graphs 3 and 4), shows the first-estimate of fourth-quarter 2017 GDP activity still to be down by 6.4% (-6.4%) from its pre-recession peak of first-quarter 2006.