The Paradox of Affluence…

or the Logic of (Unbridled) Capitalism?

Some Striking Global Statistics

•Of 4.4 billion people in developing countries, 3/5 lack basic sanitation; 1/3have no safe drinking water; 1/5 are undernourished; 1/5 have no access tomodern health services•$40 Billion: Additional cost to achieve and maintain universal access to basiceducation, healthcare, food, water, sanitation (slightlymore than the combined sum of $36 Billion that Americans spend oncosmetics and pet food and Europeans on ice cream)•$40 Billion = 4% of the combined wealth of the 225 richest people in the world•$1 Trillion = Combined wealth of world’s 225 richest people•$1 Trillion = Annual income of the poorest 47% of Earth’s population, or 2.5billion people•GDP of 48 least developed countries = assets of world’s three richest people•One child born in London, Paris, or New York will consume, waste, pollutemore in a lifetime than 50 children born in a developing country•In 1960, the gap between the world’s richest and poorest 20% was 30 to 1;in 1991, it was 61 to 1; in 1994, it was 74 to 1.(Figures from 1998 United Nations Human Development Report)

Some Striking National Statistics

•Top 1/10 of 1% of US income earners (300,000) earn the equivalent of thebottom 50% (150 million); greatest disparity since Great Depression•Top 1% owns more wealth than bottom 90%•Top 1% garnered 80% of income gains in recent years. (Hence, increases inGDP or per capita income are not accurate barometers of broader economic wellbeing)•Top 10% account for all income gains in 2005•2006 Bush Tax Cuts: Bottom 20% of income earners received $23;middle 20% received $448; top 1% received $39,000;top 1/10 of 1% received $200,523•Between 1979 and 2005, income of top 5% increased from 11x as much to22x as much as bottom 20%, whose real income declined by 1%•In 1970s, CEOs earned 30-40x more than average worker; in 1990, theyearned 100x more; in 2005, they earned 400x more•U.S. Personal Savings Rate declined from 11.2% in 1982 to -1.1% in 2006(a debtor nation)

(Figures from www.inequality.org, citing U.S. Census Bureau, EPI, and scholarly studies)