Eddy Gaston
Psychology of Diversity
An Investment Manager’s View on the Top 1% (Response) I selected this topic for review because I believe that the alarming gap between the wealthy and poor is the root of most problems in America. Aside from the general consensus that the 1% possess a majority of the country’s wealth, within the 1% is another group of elitist with even greater amounts of wealth. This group is referred to as the upper half of the 1%. According to the anonymous author of this article, the gap between the upper half of the 1% and its lower half is also significant. Members of this group are those whose net worth exceeds $24 million. These individuals also have influence over the political/authoritative laws enforced within the country. It is also these individuals who are largely responsible for the collapse of the economic system in 2008 with the goal of gaining profit in mind. America's top corporations reported 31% profit growth and a 31% reduction in taxes, the latter due to profit outsourcing to low tax rate countries. Research from Thomas Piketty at the Paris School of Economics and Emmanuel Saez at UC Berkeley indicates that, adjusting for inflation, the bottom 90% of workers have seen a decline in their income of 10.7% from 2002 through 2012; meanwhile, the top 1.0% to 0.5% have seen a gain of 11.3%, and the top 0.1% to 0.01% have seen a gain of 29.5%. Because membership into the .05% is even more exclusive than the 1%, this group continues to make financial decisions that effects the entire working class yet
