On Thu, Nov 24, 2016 at 3:27 PM, Alain Sepeda <alain.sep...@gmail.com> wrote:
I am not afraid of the extreme wealth. > (1) In a neoliberal democracy such as the US, wealth buys political influence and power. Not necessarily in the same way that it does in a country like Nigeria or India, where you can literally buy votes. But in more subtle but still potent ways. Financial wealth in the context of a country such as the US enables one to hire lobbyists at the national level to influence the shaping of public policy in ways that benefit your financial interests, and in ways that are contrary to the financial interests of many other citizens. Wealth correlates with political power. Concentrated wealth predictably leads to concentrated political power. (2) To a large extent financial wealth is not an absolute quantity but is instead a relative quantity. If there are enough people willing to pay 100 dollars for a bushel of corn, that will potentially raise the price of a bushel of corn for everyone else, requiring a relatively larger portion of their more limited income. This is not a simple rule, and there are countervailing forces, but neither is it something that can be ignored. The extreme concentration of wealth is something to be afraid of. the problem of the 1% is problem of hidden economic rents, monopolies, > hidden barriers to entry, manipulated prices, discriminations... not pb of > wealth. > These are problems that cannot be easily or cleanly separated from the extreme concentration of wealth. Eric
