Economist.com survey of the very rich (registered users only) contains an entertaining quote from Dean Dorman, who worked for Chemdex which went from $239 a share in Feb 2000 to $0.37 now, Those who made $2m-10m are pretty damn happy they did, though disappointed they didnt take out more. That sort of money allows you to take a sabbatical, clear your head for a year or two.
A year or two? For the rest of us working stiffs that would set us up for life – or next to it…
Also here is an absurdly optimistic (but typically Economist) quote:
“Millionaires are not what they used to be. In industrial countries, almost anybody prepared to work hard, save diligently and live like Scrooge can become one.”
(Well, perhaps a millionaire on retirement – by which time it would not be worth what it was when you started).
And here is some specious reasoning on taxing the rich:
“The main consequence of the bash-the-rich rhetoric of much public discourse … may be to discourage them from putting their wealth to use for the common good… How much better to … debate constructively with them how best to put their resources to work … is most easily done under a fiscal regime that requires them to pay a fair but not excessive amount of tax.” I don’t have the evidence to hand but I would guess that if you look at the %age of money given to good causes by the American super-rich it doesn’t come close to compensating for the amount they benefit by the lower taxes that they pay (compared with Europe).
There is also a brief overview of Saint Bill (Gates) and his foundation which is looking for vaccines for diseases afflicting the developing world. Support the Microsoft hegemony and help save billions of lives – that’s an appeal I can support…credit phone accept card paymentaccreditation collegescore 500 creditpaypal credit cards with accept onlinecredit of 4 cscard 0 credit bank japanesenews union credit americanaccept mexico accept card canada credit Map
