Categories: income

The Wealth Watch: 10 Must-Read Links

Posted by: Dan Beucke on January 15

Trip to Long Island's Gold Coast: Among the 1%, Many Variations (NY Times) The income gap: Unfair, or Are We Just Jealous? (NPR) Cost of globalization: White House Brags...

A Closer Look at the Hands that Make Apple iPads and Victoria's Secret Panties

Posted by: Dan Beucke on January 13

It's an uncomfortable fact of modern life that many iconic consumer products are built by people who could never afford to buy them. Yet there is great risk to...

The 5 Percent Solution to Paying for College

Posted by: Dan Beucke on January 12

There's an interesting post and comment stream over at Lou Lavelle's B-schools blog, about an alternative plan for funding a college education in California. The Fix UC proposal would...

Romney Attack Video Goes Places Democrats Only Dream of Going

Posted by: Dan Beucke on January 11

Ronald Reagan famously popularized the Eleventh Commandment, "thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican." Now that my colleague Josh Green has obtained a copy of the highly...

Romney Gets a Lesson in Creative Destruction From GOP Rivals

Posted by: Dan Beucke on January 09

Mitt Romney knew he'd eventually come in for a beating for his role as a buyout specialist who restructured companies, sometimes chopping jobs in pursuit of a profit. He...

The Wealth Watch: 10 Must-Read Links

Posted by: Dan Beucke on January 08

Misreading college majors: How Art History Powers the Economy (View, Postrel) Beware narcissistic CEOs: The Ego Has Landed (WSJ) 12 years to close the gap: Shrinking Job Opportunities (Hamilton...

The Winners and Losers in Today's Jobs Report

Posted by: Dan Beucke on January 06

The jobs pictured brightened considerably at the end of 2011 -- and if you were in mining and oil, it's positively booming. This morning's Bureau of Labor Statistics report...

Opportunity in America: One Campaign Fight Worth Waging

Posted by: Dan Beucke on January 05

A front-page article in today's New York Times examines the long odds of rising from the lowest rungs of American society. It's a more complex issue, of more consequence,...

Chevy Salesman Santa Thumps Lexus 'Insufferables'

Posted by: Dan Beucke on January 04

Yes, Virginia, people buy cars at Christmas. And last month, they bought a lot of them. Just not that many Lexuses. As you no doubt recall, last month we...

The Wealth Watch: 10 Must-Read Links

Posted by: Dan Beucke on January 02

The rich seek refuge: New Art Buyers Boost 2011 Sales to $1.7 Billion (Bloomberg) Occupy's Rose Parade float: 70-foot octopus of corporate greed (LA Times) Resolutions: Saving the New...

Sympathy for the Successful: Billionaires Bite Back

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 21

A story from Bloomberg's Max Abelson yesterday noted the opening of a media counter-offensive by the 1 percent against what many of them believe are unwarranted attacks on wealth,...

Timely Retirements, Outrageous Bonuses, and Other Epic Executive Handouts

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 21

Experienced financial reporters know that the best dirt on executive excess isn't found in a press release or annual report, but gets buried deep in routine reports corporations file...

The Wealth Watch: 10 Must-Read Links

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 18

Occupy Rome: Roman Empire more equal than the U.S. (Marginal Revolution) "Story ends badly": China's Local Government Debts Dwarf Official Data (Bloomberg) Feel-good story: Anonymous donors pay off Kmart...

China's Wealth Disparity Erupts in Wukan Protests

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 16

The Occupy Wall Street protests in the U.S. are a delayed reaction to a bursting property bubble, which led to a jobs crisis and rising anger over financial influence...

Bonuses Dive, Stocks Tank: Goodbye Income Gap?

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 14

2011 is ending with a clunk for Masters of the Universe. Charlie Gasparino of Fox Business just Tweeted: "Sources at BOFA's Merrill unit say execs are bracing for some...

The Great Compression: How War And Taxes Made Us All Middle Class, And Why That's Changed

Posted by: Mark Gimein on December 14

Last week, my colleague Dan Beucke wrote about the latest work of economists Thomas Picketty, Emmanuel Saez, and Stefanie Stantcheva, who presented a case for top tax rates as...

Welcome to the Income-Gap Capital of the U.S.A.

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 12

At the height of the Occupy Wall Street protests, some critics pointed out that the lower-Manhattan camp was misplaced in that it missed the real seats of financial power:...

Lexus Christmas Commercials and Wealth Envy

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 12

Pity the folks at Team One, the unit of ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi that works the Lexus account. Each year they have to come up with new ways...

The Wealth Watch: 10 Must-Read Links

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 10

Occupy campus recruiting: An Orange and Black Eye for 2 Banks (DealBook) From a rich American: Rich People Don't Create Jobs (Blodget, Business Insider) Post-grads' lament: Trapped by $50,000...

Top Income Tax Rate: How's 83% Sound?

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 09

This should get Grover Norquist up off the couch: a paper by a prominent team of economists says the tax rate for top U.S. earners could be hiked to...

Obama: I Don't Hate the Millionaire Next Door

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 07

Here's one way to interpret President Obama's speech yesterday in Osawatomie, Kansas: It's his attempt to tie together the loose-knit complaints of the 99% -- against wealth accumulation by the...

Corporate Profits Recover, Taxes Not So Much

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 07

As the election cycle turns up the heat on the wealth debate, look for companies to argue that any corporate tax hike will be a vote against U.S. job...

Tuesday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 06

Ask the birds: What makes a rogue trader? (FT, HT/The Big Picture) Hurt feelings?: It's Tone, Not Taxes, a Tycoon Tells Obama (Dealbook, NY Times) It's a Wonderful Lie:...

The Income Gap Grows -- As Does the Spouse Gap

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 05

The gap between rich and poor is growing, and not just in the U.S. The latest report on the topic from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development tells...

Monday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 05

Advice from the 1%: Lever Up, Drop Out (Lewis, View) Powerball payoff: Hedge fund lottery winners donate $1M for veterans (AP) Black college major choices: 'Opting Out' (Inside Higher...

Weekend Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 03

Jobs and 2012: Democrats, GOP Seize on Competing Narratives (NY Times) Why 8.6%=bad news: A Note on the Unemployment Rate Drop (Brad DeLong) 8% more to go: Home Prices...

Black Friday Shoppers: Not as Poor as You Thought

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 02

The Black Friday shopper may be wealthier than we thought. A week ago, I posed the question of whether there is a class divide between those who hit the...

Friday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 02

Surprise: U.S. Jobless Rate Unexpectedly Declines to 8.6% (Bloomberg) Finding Community at OWS: All the Angry People (New Yorker) Don't say "capitalism": Teaching the GOP to talk about OWS...

Thursday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on December 01

Occupied on the inside: On Wall Street, Some Express Quiet Outrage (DealBook) Young Analyst To 99%: 'The Finance Industry Is A Complete Scam' (Business Insider) Forget job creators: The...

NBA's Super-Elite Get Even Super-Eliter: Why the 1% Do Just Fine in New Contract

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 30

For those following the wealth debate, the contract battle just ended between NBA players and owners raises all sorts of issues: labor vs. capital, pay disparity, the way we...

Wednesday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 30

Occupy LA, Philly: Police Raids Clear Camps (Bloomberg) Shadow of Assange: OWS and Advantages of a Leaderless Movement (NY Magazine) Peer pressure: At Top Colleges, Anti-Wall St. Fervor Complicates...

Tuesday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 29

$100 billion IPO: Why Greedy Stockholders Could Hurt Facebook (TechCrunch) "Crony capitalism": How Paulson Tipped Hedge Funds to GSE Plan (Bloomberg) More, please: Bloomberg Report Exposes the Fed Doing...

Monday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 28

Occupy LA: Police and Los Angeles protesters skirmish (Reuters) Secrets of the Fed: Banks Made $13B on Undisclosed Loans (Bloomberg) 2012=1968?: How OWS could consume Obama (NY Magazine) A...

Weekend Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 27

To leave or stay in LA: Some vow civil disobedience at midnight (LA Times) 5 PM deadline: Occupy Philadelphia weighs options (Philly Inquirer) Protest becomes performance: The Man Behind...

Black Friday, Pepper Spray, and Holiday Shopping Myths

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 25

It's now official: 2011 will go down as the Year of Pepper Spray. First, the incidents of police spraying Occupy demonstrators in New York and at UC Davis. And...

Friday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 25

Cuff loan approvers?: America's Modern-Day Debtor's Prison (McArdle, Atlantic) Big plans: Protesters Look for Ways to Feed the Web (NY Times) Forget college: 9 Hot Blue Collar Jobs (The...

No College Degree Will Buy Your Way Into The Top 1%

Posted by: Mark Gimein on November 23

One common perception about the widening income gap is that it's driven by social and economic trends that have put a higher value on education. That idea has been...

Wednesday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 23

Low value-added: What's the Contribution of the Financial Sector? (Naked Capitalism) "Homogeneously high-skilled": The Great Work Divide (McArdle, Atlantic) $30 camcorders: Stores Bow to Shoppers on Black Friday (Bloomberg)...

Finding the Humor in Occupy Wall Street

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 22

Before "Saturday Night Live," before "Animal House," there was "Lemmings" -- a biting 1973 Off-Broadway musical satire about Woodstock and the peace movement. Written by young comic geniuses from...

Tuesday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 22

Unoccupied: Wave of Layoffs Hits Wall Street (Bloomberg) Pepper-spray apology: Angry UC Davis protesters confront chancellor (SF Chronicle) "Modern-day debtor's prison": Debtor Arrests Criticized (WSJ) Home of the 1%:...

Monday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 21

Bizarro Supercommittee: A Neverending Cycle of Dysfunction (Atlantic) Goodbye, growth: The supercommittee's real failure isn't on the deficit (Klein, WashPost) Lobbyist: Banks should "undermine" Occupy protesters (MSNBC, HT/ Business...

Weekend Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 20

UC Davis, call for restraint: Too Much Violence, Pepper Spray (Atlantic) UC Davis reactions: The Moral Power of an Image (Fallows, Atlantic) The near-poor: Older, Suburban and Struggling (NY...

OccupyTheInternet.com*: The OWS Digital Land Grab

Posted by: Suzanne Woolley on November 18

While Occupy[fill-in-the-blank]ers are being rousted from camps in the U.S. and abroad, there's a digital land grab underway. Godaddy.com has sold 5,200 domain names with "occupy" in them from September...

Friday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 18

March on Wall Street: Clashes, 240 Arrests Mark 'Day of Action' (NY Times) Going mobile: Occupy Wall Street's new tactics (NY Magazine) "The consumer is an income stream": Why...

Occupy Wall Street After 2 Months: A Scorecard

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 17

It began on Sept. 17 with a few hundred people gathering in lower Manhattan. The protest -- against banks, moneyed influence in Washington, corporate power, and a host of...

Thursday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 17

Live coverage: Occupy Wall Street's day of action (Guardian) Subways, stock exchange: New York City Protesters on the March (Bloomberg) Dennis Gartman: God bless income disparity (FT Alphaville) Tick:...

OWS: Simple as You Want It to Be

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 16

At the tail end of a long interview with Betty Liu on Bloomberg TV today, AIG Chairman Steve Miller was asked what he thought of Occupy Wall Street's criticism...

Wednesday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 16

Now what?: Occupy Wall Street's Eviction Was a Lucky Break (Atlantic) Hold the pepper spray: After an Earlier Misstep, a Minutely Planned Raid (NY Times) Heard on the street:...

Tuesday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 15

NYC cracks down: Police Clear Zuccotti Park of Protesters (NY Times) What's next: Mayor speaks, protesters plan next move (NY Times, City Room blog) Prelude to the crackdown: Protesters...

Crackdown at Occupy Camps in Oakland, Portland

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 14

Police in Oakland, Calif., moved in overnight to clear out the Occupy Oakland camp, hours after police in Portland, Oregon, did the same in that city. At last report...

Monday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 14

Perfect timing: Is Congress trading stock on inside information? (60 Minutes, CBS) Capitol gains: Congress and stocks: Does it matter? (Atlantic) Fee for all: Banks Quietly Ramping Up Costs...

Military Veterans and Corporate America

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 13

My post last Friday about the jobless picture for young veterans clearly struck a nerve. The commentary that followed ranges across issues of war, peace, hope, despair, skills training --...

Weekend Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 12

Chef takes heat: Bankers Blast Batali; Others Say 'Leave Mario Alone!' (Bloomberg) Sandy Weill's $88 million downsizing: Occupy This, OWS (Greiff, Bloomberg View) Back at ya: Occupy Wall Street...

Unemployment for Young Vets: 30%, and Rising

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 11

On Veterans Day in America, it's sobering to realize just how badly the job market has turned against the men and women who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their...

Occupy Wall Street, Day 56

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 11

Margaret Brennan of Bloomberg Television provides a quick roundup of OWS news from, where else, the New York Stock Exchange floor. Here's some more context on the first two...

Friday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 11

J.C. Penney takes a stand: Thanksgiving as Day to Shop Meets Rejection (NY Times) Congrats, you made the 10Q: OWS Gets CME Group's Attention (Footnoted.org) Bad day for OWS:...

Thursday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 10

Bobby Bailout, Flash Cash: Meet OWS's Mysterious Finance Committee (NY Magazine) Down the sewer: Jefferson County in Biggest Municipal Bankruptcy (Bloomberg) Bragging rights: Ultra Wealthy in U.S. to Outnumber...

Wednesday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 09

Tide turns: Ohio Turns Back a Law Limiting Unions' Rights (NY Times) Tapping energy: Occupy Movement Inspires Unions to Embrace Bold Tactics (NY Times) Economic bias: I Was Wrong,...

Tuesday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 08

The "safe" side: The Truth About Crime And Sexual Assault At OWS (Business Insider) Too big for bonuses: End Bonuses for Bankers (Taleb, NY Times) $1 million medallion: Taxi...

The Web's Next Big Thing: Cheap Labor

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 07

For $25, Daniel H will help debug your software. Valerie asks just $20 to pick your folks up from the airport. Miss Minty, for $50, will teach you to...

Even Bankers Think Bankers Are Paid Too Much

Posted by: Mark Gimein on November 07

A popular take on those who work in finance is that they don't care about the income gap and would just as soon tell the poor to shove off....

Monday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 07

Lending bubble: China Credit Squeeze Spurs Suicides, Violence (Bloomberg) What caused the crisis? The Big Lie goes viral (The Big Picture) Do I hear 10 years?: The Trials of...

Weekend Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 05

How long?: Occupy Wall Street Protest Reaches a Crossroads (NY Times) Occupy My Wallet: Moving Money Off Wall Street (Bloomberg PF) Plight of the puppeteer: Not From the Onion...

Friday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 04

Residents' revolt: Calls grow for Mayor Bloomberg to act on protest camp (Guardian) No $12 million severance: Corzine Resigns From MF Global (NY Times) Today's tepid jobs report: A...

Occupiers Put Goldman on 'Trial'

Posted by: Kenzie Delaine on November 03

Bloomberg reporter Kenzie Delaine and producer Annmarie Hordern put together this piece on the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators' mock trial today of Goldman Sachs. After "trying" Goldman for what...

Bank Fees Are a Gift for Credit Unions

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 03

Kristen Christian, a 27-year-old Los Angeles gallery owner, came up with the idea for Bank Transfer Day after getting socked with one bank fee after another. Now that big banks...

Thursday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 03

Port shut down: Protest in Oakland Turns Violent (NY Times) Occupying Jamie Dimon: Occupy Seattle swoops in on JPMorgan CEO (LA Times) Portrait of Scott Olsen: Veteran's journey from...

Wednesday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 02

Goodbye, debit-card fee: Will BofA Just Accept a $2 Billion Loss? (Atlantic) Head count: They're occupying, but who's counting? (Washington Post) Occupy London: St Paul's holy smokescreen lifts to...

Full Tilt Trading?

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 01

If the collapse of MF Global wasn't enough for critics who accuse Wall Street of being one big casino, this should do it: Reports say that the big brokerage was...

Misery is the River of the World

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 01

If you're out of work and see that prices are rising, you have every right to feel miserable. And there's a chart for that: the misery index (above) --...

OWS Does Halloween

Posted by: Kenzie Delaine on November 01

Bloomberg videographer Kenzie Delaine recorded Occupy Wall Street demonstrators dressed up as vampire bankers, bleeding bank customers, and zombie billionaires as they marched at the New York City Annual...

Tuesday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on November 01

Update: Banks fold: BofA Eliminates Plan for $5 Debit-Card Fee (Bloomberg) Making Volcker's point: MF Global Exposes Trading Risk (Bloomberg) Gimme shelter: Homeless Stake a Claim at Protests (NY...

Will 'Generational War' Replace 'Class War'?

Posted by: Dan Beucke on October 31

It's looking dicey for the Congressional "super committee" that's charged with slicing $1.2 trillion from the federal budget. If it falls on its face, as many people believe, expect...

Monday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on October 31

Update: Broker-dealer gone bust: MF Global Files for Bankruptcy Protection (Bloomberg) Arrests update: Recapping A Clash Between Denver Police and Protesters (Atlantic) Bankers as black hats: In The Halls...

Weekend Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on October 29

On second thought: Wells Fargo Cancels $3 Monthly Debit-Card Fee (Bloomberg) Foreclosure mill's ghoulish party: What the Costumes Reveal (NY Times) From Iran's Greens: 10 ways OWS can Excel...

Occupy Wall Street Comes to Park Avenue

Posted by: Dan Beucke on October 28

On Friday, Occupy Wall Street marched north. Long before the marchers arrived, knots of New York City police could be seen in front of just about any financial office...

MTV Explains 'True Life: I'm Occupying Wall Street'

Posted by: Dan Beucke on October 28

Stephen K. Friedman, president of MTV Networks, was on Bloomberg Television today explaining how the once-music, now reality-show network came up with the idea for its new series on...

Friday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on October 28

Occupy the world: Why Many in China Sympathise with Occupy Wall Street (The Atlantic) Behind the mask: David Graeber, the Anti-Leader of Occupy Wall Street (BusinessWeek) He's not alone:...

Occupy Wall Street, Kent State, and Chicago

Posted by: Dan Beucke on October 27

Depending on your point of view, the Occupy Wall Street movement may be 1968 -- or 1970 -- all over again. And this week may mark the point where the...

Thursday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on October 27

Oakland and elsewhere: Cities Begin Cracking Down on 'Occupy' Protests (NY Times) Casualty report: Veteran Scott Olsen Could Be First To Die At a Protest (Business Insider) Political fallout:...

NYC Restaurant Struggles With OWS Barricades

Posted by: Dan Beucke on October 26

Wednesday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on October 26

'It sounded like bombs': Police Fire Tear Gas at Protesters in Oakland (NY Times, The Lede) Where the jobs are: Earn $2,000 a night as a boomtown stripper (CNN...

The Misery Of The 98th Percentile

Posted by: Mark Gimein on October 26

The Congressional Budget Office released its report on trends in household income Tuesday afternoon, concluding that (drumroll) since 1979 income has risen much faster at the top than lower down...

Occupy Wall Street and the Housing Crisis

Posted by: Dan Beucke on October 25

Can Occupy Las Vegas tap into homeowner anger? It's an intriguing question that gets to how sustainable the OWS movement can be as it spreads out of downtown New York...

Tuesday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on October 25

Links from across the income gap: The 20 percent plan: Perry calls for major spending and tax cuts (Washington Post)No tax break left behind: The Little Bit of Big Government...

Ms. Rand, Meet Singapore. Mr. Hayek, Meet Norway.

Posted by: Mark Gimein on October 24

Is rising inequality the price of rapid economic growth? Advocates of deregulation often argue that the increasing concentration of wealth is driven by greater rewards going to innovators and...

Monday Morning Wealth Watch

Posted by: Dan Beucke on October 24

Random links to enrage or reaffirm faith in capitalism, depending on your point of view: How Mitt Romney remade Corporate America: The Romney Economy (New York) IRS closes in on...