A new report by Oxfam has found the richest 10 percent of the world’s population produce half of the Earth’s climate-harming fossil fuel emissions. The poorest half – about 3.5 billion people – are responsible for only around 10 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions. Oxfam’s report is titled “Extreme Carbon Inequality: Why the Paris climate deal must put the poorest, lowest emitting and most vulnerable people first." We speak with the report’s author Tim Gore, head of policy for Oxfam International on food, land rights and climate change.
Showing posts with label rich. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rich. Show all posts
18 May 2015
The American Poor
Last week President Obama committed the cardinal sin of calling out Fox News (according to Fox News) on their downright pejorative coverage for years on anything concerning the poor. Fox fired back by essentially playing dumb and pondering why Obama was attacking them? Then Jon Stewart got involved offering a well-timed and spot on rebuttal of their lying ways. Of course, as skilled and pointed as it was, many still rebuffed it as “just comedy.” Coincidentally many of the same people who think things like gravity and climate change are “just theories.”
27 Jan 2014
Super-Rich Businessman Compares Treatment Of The Rich To The Holocaust
A billionaire has compared the treatment of the wealthy to the treatment of the Jews during the Holocaust.
Venture capitalist Thomas Perkins wrote an eyebrow-raising letter to the editors at the Wall Street Journal, comparing the plight of the rich to the mass murder by the Nazis, called "Progressive Kristallnacht Coming?"... and the WSJ published it.
"I would call attention to the parallels of fascist Nazi Germany to its war on its 'one percent,' namely its Jews, to the progressive war on the American one percent, namely the 'rich,'" Perkins writes. Thomas Perkins, one of the founders of venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, was comparing taxes on the super rich to the slaughter of millions in the Holocaust.
17 Dec 2013
Head Doctor Says A Rich Kid Isn't Guilty BECAUSE He's Rich. Reporter Says What We're All Thinking.
This whole "affluenza" thing has thrown us all for a loop. For those who don't know, 16-year-old Ethan Couch was sentenced to 10 years of probation after driving drunk, killing four people and injuring nine. The excuse? A psychologist (being questioned by Anderson below) said he suffered from affluenza — being a rich kid and thus having no consequences in life and not realizing the severity of his actions.
Sure, psychologists the world over have said sentencing in this case is atypical, but the reasoning behind it is something that we as a people need to put up for examination. The whole situation is pretty absurd. And if you apply this same logic to a poor person: "I stole a loaf of bread because I was so hungry I didn't realize the consequences of my actions," that poor person would be in jail right now.
8 Dec 2013
British MPs' pay rise
David Cameron and Ed Miliband will face embarrassment this week when it is announced that MPs will be paid an annual salary of £74,000 from 2015 despite their calls for "cheaper politics". The independent parliamentary standards authority, Ipsa, is to reveal its decision to increase salaries by 11%. (The Observer)
The coalition of millionaires
David Cameron’s coalition Government may have adopted ‘fairness’ as one of its defining slogans, but his team of Ministers has been drawn almost exclusively from the ranks of the financial elite – leading to accusations that politics is once again becoming the preserve of the wealthy. Of the 29 Ministers entitled to attend Cabinet meetings, 23 have assets and investments estimated to be worth more than £1million. (Daily Mail - may 2010)
4 Apr 2013
Leaks reveal secrets of the rich who hide cash offshore
Millions of internal records have leaked from Britain's offshore financial industry, exposing for the first time the identities of thousands of holders of anonymous wealth from around the world, from presidents to plutocrats, the daughter of a notorious dictator and a British millionaire accused of concealing assets from his ex-wife.
The leak of 2m emails and other documents, mainly from the offshore haven of the British Virgin Islands (BVI), has the potential to cause a seismic shock worldwide to the booming offshore trade, with a former chief economist at McKinsey estimating that wealthy individuals may have as much as $32tn (£21tn) stashed in overseas havens.
In France, Jean-Jacques Augier, President François Hollande's campaign co-treasurer and close friend, has been forced to publicly identify his Chinese business partner. It emerges as Hollande is mired in financial scandal because his former budget minister concealed a Swiss bank account for 20 years and repeatedly lied about it.
In Mongolia, the country's former finance minister and deputy speaker of its parliament says he may have to resign from politics as a result of this investigation.
But the two can now be named for the first time because of their use of companies in offshore havens, particularly in the British Virgin Islands, where owners' identities normally remain secret.
The names have been unearthed in a novel project by the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists [ICIJ], in collaboration with the Guardian and other international media, who are jointly publishing their research results this week.
21 Jan 2013
Oxford College Being Sued For 'Discriminating Against The Poor'
An Oxford college is being sued for allegedly discriminating against poor students after it rejected applications from postgraduates who couldn't prove they had £21,082 for tuition and living costs. Damien Shannon, 26, is taking St Hugh's college to court claiming the policy amounts to "selecting by wealth" and bars all but the wealthiest of students.
Shannon had successfully applied to take an MSc in economic and social history but was told his place was conditional on meeting Oxford's financial requirements. According to the Guardian, Shannon's submitted legal papers state: "It is my contention that the effect of the financial conditions of entry is to select students on the basis of wealth, and to exclude those not in possession of it.
30 Sept 2012
31 Jul 2012
Billionaire Mayor Bloomberg Sues to Keep New Yorkers' Wages Low
The world's 20th richest man declared recently that a living wage bill passed (over his veto) by New York's city council was the next best thing to Communist central planning. Michael Bloomberg, who's also made news recently trying to ban large sodas, today took the next step in proving how serious he is about keeping wages low--I mean, keeping New York City a "business-friendly" climate.
Bloomberg is suing to prevent not just the living wage bill, but a companion "prevailing wage" bill that the City Council also passed over his veto, from going into effect. The living wage bill requires employers that get more than $1 million in taxpayer subsidies to pay their workers at least $10 an hour with benefits or $11.50 an hour without them, and the prevailing wage bill would up wages to $20 an hour for certain building services workers in buildings that receive subsidies of over $1 million or where the city leases a significant amount of property.
25 Jul 2012
Tony Blair associates
Thank you for calling Tony Blair associates.
If you are corrupt dictator looking for expensive advice on how to deflect attention from your appalling human rights record, please press 1.
If you are a banking lobbyist and you need Tony to tell some journalist something stupid and fundamentally disingenuous like “don’t take 30 years of liberalisation and say this is what caused the financial crisis”..., please press 2.
If you are a right wing media mogul whose TV channel denies climate science and helped convince Americans that Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11 and you want Tony to become godfather to your grandchild, press 3.
If you are a multinational looking for Tony to call a in favor from those who benefited from his time at number 10 or as peace envoy in the Middle East, press 4.
If you are an ordinary Palestinian or Israeli hoping for Tony to help deliver peace, please press 5 and wait for assistance, forever.
If you are the CEO of a major global bank and want Tony to speak at your son's graduation ceremony like he did for Barclay's Bob Diamond, please press 6.
If you are from a major global bank and you want to engage Tony for unspecified 'advice' for more than the 2,5 million pounds a year that JP Morgan is currently paying him, then please press 7 and speak to Tony directly.
If you are a citizen and looking for Tony to speak truth to the power of finance the way one would expect from an elder statesman, please press 'hang up', look in the mirror and ask yourself: who are we kidding?
Joris Luyendijk Bankingblog on Facebook - Tony Blair Associates on Wikipedia
10 Jun 2012
The rich flee to London
London is facing an unprecedented surge in the number of companies offering concierge and other special services to the very wealthy, as new groups of rich émigrés relocate to the UK to escape instability abroad.
Russians have been joined by Indians and continental Europeans among the overseas buyers that have purchased 60% of the prime property available in central London in the past few years, according to estate agents. The growth in foreign purchases appears to be matched by the growth in companies that are willing to do anything for their clients – any time, any place, anywhere.
Alistair Gill, the manager of Mayfair Concierge, which started business last month, said companies such as his were there to open doors, simplify procedures and obtain the unobtainable for those who could afford it. "While times are tough, there are still a lot of people who enjoy a high quality of life – who are cash-rich and time-poor. It's a growth market," he said.
29 Apr 2012
Wealth of richest grows to record levels
The combined wealth of the 1,000 richest men and women in Britain has risen to record levels in the past year, despite the country’s continuing economic slump. Their total fortune has risen by just under five per cent since 2011, to £414 billion, according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List.
That exceeds the previous record of £412.8 billion set in 2008, which came just a few months before the financial crash from which the wider British economy has yet to recover.
Heading the list for the seventh year running is the steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, although his wealth has fallen £4,814m to £12,700m, placing him just £385m ahead of Alisher Usmanov, whose Metalloinvest is Russia’s biggest iron ore producer. Usmanov’s fortune has also fallen, in his case by £85m in the past year, in part because of charitable donations of £91m. Third placed Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea FC has seen his wealth fall by £800m to £9,500m.
11 Jan 2012
Americans Boycott Kim Kardashian - Over 1/2 Million Americans Have Had Enough!
Kim Kardashian has made a mockery of American culture, doing whatever it takes to extend her fifteen minutes of fame so that she can selfishly profit from her celebrity status. By aligning herself with brands and products to promote Kim has made millions at the expense of normal everyday Americans. Through a series of distasteful and carefully planned publicity stunts, beginning with a strategically released sex tape, a scripted "reality" show, and now a (for profit) 72 day marriage, Kim Kardashian continues to bait the media into giving her more unjustified coverage and allowing her to cash in financially. Setting a horrible example for her young viewers and insulting Americans of all backgrounds and ages, Kim Kardashian cares little about the example she sets so long as her lust for attention and profits are met. Unfortunately, for many parents it is near impossible to monitor their children and keep them away from parasites like Kim Kardashian.
19 Dec 2011
US CEO pay jumps 36.5%
Who says American salaries are stagnating.
After two years of lower pay packages, chief executives at the nation's major companies enjoyed a 36.5% jump in pay last year, according to a leading survey of CEO compensation.
The average pay hike is for the top executive at each of the Standard & Poor 500 companies, according to GMI, the research group formerly known as the Corporate Library. A broader survey of CEO pay at 3,000 companies posted an average 27% increase.
Paul Hodgson, senior research associate at GMI, said the sharp rise in pay was out of line with the relatively modest improvement that companies typically achieved in profits or share price during 2010.
The most lucrative sector for CEO pay was health care.
5 Dec 2011
Income inequality growing faster in UK than any other rich country
Income inequality among working-age people has risen faster in Britain than in any other rich nation since the mid-1970s owing to the rise of a financial services elite who through education and marriage have concentrated wealth into the hands of a tiny minority, according to a new report by the OECD.
Economists from the thinktank, which is funded by developed world taxpayers, say the annual average income in the UK of the top 10% in 2008 was just under £55,000, about 12 times higher than that of the bottom 10%, who had an average income of £4,700.
This is up from a ratio of eight to one in 1985 and significantly higher than the average income gap in developed nations of nine to one. However, the report makes clear that even in countries viewed as "fairer" – such as Germany, Denmark and Sweden – this pay gap between rich and poor is expanding: from five to one in the 1980s to six to one today. In the rising powers of Brazil, Russia, India and China the ratio is an alarming 50 to one.
The OECD warned about the rise of the top 1% in rich societies and the falling share of income going to poorer people.
10 Nov 2011
The Top 1%
The richest 1% of US Americans earn nearly a quarter of the country's income and control an astonishing 40% of its wealth. Inequality in the US is more extreme than it's been in almost a century — and the gap between the super rich and the poor and middle class people has widened drastically over the last 30 years.
23 Sept 2011
Capitalism
Twenty-five of the 100 highest paid U.S. CEOs earned more last year than their companies paid in federal income tax, a pay study by a Washington think tank said on Wednesday.
At a time when lawmakers are facing tough choices in a quest to slash the national debt, the Institute for Policy Studies said it also found many of the companies spent more on lobbying than they did on taxes.
26 Apr 2011
The UK government has no idea how many gagging orders are in place to protect the rich
The UK government has no idea how many draconian gagging orders have been imposed by judges to protect secrets of the rich, it emerged yesterday. Incredibly, Justice Secretary Ken Clarke's bungling department does not keep a record of superinjunctions issued. The Chairman of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee said: "When we asked the Ministry of Justice to give us the figures, they said that, whilst the number of applications was collected, the outcomes weren't."
At least 26 rich and famous people have so far been granted all-encompassing injunctions to hide their shameful behaviour. The Sun revealed yesterday that these celebs are worth £10billion between them. Some orders are so strict they last for a celebrity's entire life and can apply to the world, not just the UK.
7 Mar 2011
America Is Not Broke
Speech delivered by Michael Moore at Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, March 5, 2011
Contrary to what those in power would like you to believe so that you'll give up your pension, cut your wages, and settle for the life your great-grandparents had, America is not broke. Not by a long shot. The country is awash in wealth and cash. It's just that it's not in your hands. It has been transferred, in the greatest heist in history, from the workers and consumers to the banks and the portfolios of the uber-rich. More on The Huffington Post
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