There's a good article on Yahoo this morning about why the rich folks matter.  As everyone knows, our economy is driven by consumer spending for things from cars, appliances, etc. down to ballpoint pens.

Those who earn the top 5% of the income in the U.S. account for 37% of all spending.  When the wealthy stop buying, especially discretionary items, the economy falters.  When things are good, and they are spending vast sums, that spending drives the economy forward.

Whether you like this fact doesn't matter - it's still a fact.  When you put purchasing power into the hands of those at the top, they spend and create demand that in turn creates jobs for those who produce what is bought.  When you have gov't policies, like high taxes, tight credit, and other forces that diminish spending, we all suffer.

Bill -

Some of that is true.  But don't forget vacation homes in the U.S., Harleys, Cadillacs, boats made here, etc.

And German cars are sold by U.S. dealerships that employ salesmen, shop mechanics, bookkeeping staff, etc.

Imported clothes are sold by stores here in the U.S. that employ sales people, tailors, janitors to clean the stores, etc.

The place of manufacture doesn't determine who all benefits from the sale - in fact, very little of it.

Take a foreign car - on a one time basis, the foreign manufacturer benefits a few hundred bucks in profit from the sale.  Thereafter, the dealership and its employees benefit, as do the maint. technicians who service it for the next 100,000+ miles.  It's not as simple as just the country of manufacture.

When I was tending bar in Long Beach there was several wives that got together and flew off to Hong Kong to do there xmas shopping.
Mostly clothing ,mens suits and shirts.I'm sure that didn.'t help our economy.BTW the guys were all lawyers,most of my customers were lawyers and stock brokers.

It's all quite complex but Jerry explained it well, yes, money trickles down.

The economy (as we all know it) will NEVER recover in a million years
without money circulating at all levels, i.e.  from pens to bentleys, but
here is the kicker: it's not supposed to, not for a while, here is why.

---

It all has to do with WHO is making your plastic pen or luxury car.

What is happening right now is a sort of filter for little unwanted
companies and for that very unwanted pesky middle class that
were told in the 80's that SOCIAL MOBILITY was possible, haha,
well it's NOT and it's time to knock them all out of their cloud.


Here is the thing, COKE and PEPSI are NOT in competition with
each other, neither are BMW, PORSCHE and BENZ or TIME WARNER,
DISNEY, BARTELSMANN, VIACOM with SONY, etc. It does not matter
where you shop as long it's in one of their stores/products.


In reality they are all just a huge monopoly that only give the
illusion of free market competition. It's all a STAGED SHOW!!!!  
...just like wreastling.

These guys have 3 golden rules:

1.- Competition is a sin.
We are a cartel, a family.
2.- Don't place all your eggs in one basket
If a factory shuts down only the workers and the city suffers not us, who cares.
3.- People forget, but still always keep the public dumb and entretained (distracted).
american idol, no! Monday night football, oh! look at the cat playing keyboard! ...awww

You don't believe me?  
Ok, fine, then just answer this:

WHY are small banks shutting down left and right all while
specific LARGE banks get FREE money (bailout) to keep operating?
...and it's the same story in every single sector of industry and trade.


why?   ...simple, they own these banks and these companies, it's all connected.

yes, they're all connected in a way, and if they are not
they are kept around for a reason, maybe as a supplier
/producer of a specific non-competing good they need or
to give the illusion of competition; remember, to them,
competition is a sin, period... only that no one told the
managers and workers of these companies, that's why
it looks/feels real and why a CEO (one of them) usualy
makes anywhere from 30 to 200 times more than a
regular employee.


And who are 'they'? well no conspiracy here or anything,
look it up yourself, start at the top and follow the money.

A good place to start is with the media companies.
See what does GE, VIACOM, SONY, ETC own:

- tv/cable channels
- movie studios
- radio stations
- magazines
- music lables
- telecommunications
- real estate
- overseas tv networks and/or holdings

- what BANKS all the money runs through
and how these banks change name in every
region or country but are the SAME bank!

- where/how do these companies diversify into
other industries like sports franchises, food, heavy
industries, contractors, etc

do this and and you'll start to get the picture  

Sorry, Stimpy -

All of this is crap.  You and JOG ought to get together for a flushing out of all world wide conspiracies.

My local bank is owned by local shareholders.  I have a few shares - wish I could afford more.

Jerry Eichenberger wrote on 08/09/10 at 06:19:27:


... and so,... those tax cuts for the rich, and the lax lending regulations are what GW used to give us this robust economy and high employment...
Yeah,... we should do that again... ...

You can't seriously be arguing in favor of a repeat of that policy after 8 years of proven failure...
Is this hole not deep enough?...

fortunately we have good ole GM!  Spending $500M right here in North America, well at least in Mexico........


http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100803-721411.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines

thanks for the bailout guys!