The
numbers reveal the deadening effects of inequality in our country, and
confirm that tax avoidance, rather than a lack of middle-class
initiative, is the cause.
1. Only THREE PERCENT of the very rich are entrepreneurs.
According
to both Marketwatch and economist Edward Wolff, over 90 percent of the
assets owned by millionaires are held in a combination of low-risk
investments (bonds and cash), personal business accounts, the stock
market, and real estate. Only 3.6 percent of taxpayers in the top .1%
were classified as entrepreneurs based on 2004 tax returns. A 2009
Kauffman Foundation study found that the great majority of entrepreneurs
come from middle-class backgrounds, with less than 1 percent of all
entrepreneurs coming from very rich or very poor backgrounds.
2. Only FOUR OUT OF 150 countries have more wealth inequality than us.
In
a world listing compiled by a reputable research team (which
nevertheless prompted double-checking), the U.S. has greater wealth
inequality than every measured country in the world except for Namibia,
Zimbabwe, Denmark, and Switzerland.
3. An amount equal to ONE-HALF the GDP is held untaxed overseas by rich Americans.
The
Tax Justice Network estimated that between $21 and $32 trillion is
hidden offshore, untaxed. With Americans making up 40% of the world's
Ultra High Net Worth Individuals, that's $8 to $12 trillion in U.S.
money stashed in far-off hiding places.
Based on a historical
stock market return of 6%, up to $750 billion of income is lost to the
U.S. every year, resulting in a tax loss of about $260 billion.
4. Corporations stopped paying HALF OF THEIR TAXES after the recession.
After
paying an average of 22.5% from 1987 to 2008, corporations have paid an
annual rate of 10% since. This represents a sudden $250 billion annual
loss in taxes.
U.S. corporations have shown a pattern of tax
reluctance for more than 50 years, despite building their businesses
with American research and infrastructure. They've passed the
responsibility on to their workers. For every dollar of workers' payroll
tax paid in the 1950s, corporations paid three dollars. Now it's 22
cents.
5. Just TEN Americans made a total of FIFTY BILLION DOLLARS in one year.
That's enough to pay the salaries of over a million nurses or teachers or emergency responders.
That's
enough, according to 2008 estimates by the Food and Agriculture
Organization and the UN's World Food Program, to feed the 870 million
people in the world who are lacking sufficient food.
For the free-market advocates who say "they've earned it": Point #1 above makes it clear how the wealthy make their money.
6. Tax deductions for the rich could pay off 100 PERCENT of the deficit.
Another
stat that required a double-check. Based on research by the Tax Policy
Center, tax deferrals and deductions and other forms of tax expenditures
(tax subsidies from special deductions, exemptions, exclusions,
credits, capital gains, and loopholes), which largely benefit the rich,
are worth about 7.4% of the GDP, or about $1.1 trillion.
Other
sources have estimated that about two-thirds of the annual $850 billion
in tax expenditures goes to the top quintile of taxpayers.
7. The average single black or Hispanic woman has about $100 IN NET WORTH.
The
Insight Center for Community Economic Development reported that median
wealth for black and Hispanic women is a little over $100. That's much
less than one percent of the median wealth for single white women
($41,500).
Other studies confirm the racially-charged economic
inequality in our country. For every dollar of NON-HOME wealth owned by
white families, people of color have only one cent.
8. Elderly and disabled food stamp recipients get $4.30 A DAY FOR FOOD.
Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) has dropped significantly over the
past 15 years, serving only about a quarter of the families in poverty,
and paying less than $400 per month for a family of three for housing
and other necessities. Ninety percent of the available benefits go to
the elderly, the disabled, or working households.
Food stamp recipients get $4.30 a day.
9. Young adults have lost TWO-THIRDS OF THEIR NET WORTH since 1984.
21- to 35-year-olds: Your median net worth has dropped 68% since 1984. It's now less than $4,000.
That $4,000 has to pay for student loans that average $27,200. Or, if you're still in school, for $12,700 in credit card debt. With
an unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds of almost 50%, two out of
every five recent college graduates are living with their parents. But
your favorite company may be hiring. Apple, which makes a profit of
$420,000 per employee, can pay you about $12 per hour.
10. The American public paid about FOUR TRILLION DOLLARS to bail out the banks.
That's
about the same amount of money made by America's richest 10% in one
year. But we all paid for the bailout. And because of it, we lost the
opportunity for jobs, mortgage relief, and educational funding.
Bonus for the super-rich: A QUADRILLION DOLLARS in securities trading nets ZERO sales tax revenue for the U.S.
The
world derivatives market is estimated to be worth over a quadrillion
dollars (a thousand trillion). At least $200 trillion of that is in the
United States. In 2011 the Chicago Mercantile Exchange reported a
trading volume of over $1 quadrillion on 3.4 billion annual contracts.
A
quadrillion dollars. A sales tax of ONE-TENTH OF A PENNY on a
quadrillion dollars could pay off the deficit. But the total sales tax
was ZERO.
It's not surprising that the very rich would like to fudge the numbers, as they have the nation.
Paul
Buchheit is a college teacher, an active member of US Uncut Chicago,
founder and developer of social justice and educational websites
(UsAgainstGreed.org, PayUpNow.org, RappingHistory.org), and the editor
and main author of "
American Wars: Illusions and Realities" (Clarity Press). He can be reached at
paul@UsAgainstGreed.org.
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