DECEMBER 31, 2019

GOOD-BYE 2019 !

New Year's Eve:

A time to be thankful for what went well during the last twelve months;

A time to forgive our errors of the past year; and,

A time to look forward to what may be possible in the year ahead of us.

It is my hope that the year ahead will bring everyone more good days than bad.

Stay well and be happy !

With warm regards to each of you . . .

Very best wishes,

Michael Rulon West

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TIDBITS FOR THOUGHT

GETTING MONEY:

In our modern economic lives money payments come from these sources:

- wages and salaries;
- self-employment income;
- gains from asset sales;
- rents;
- interest, and dividends;
- corporate profits;
- prizes and winnings;;
- grants and gifts;
- insurance settlements;
- pensions & transfers
- and inheritances.

With the possible exception of professional gamblers only two of those sources require direct individual employment in exchange for payments received:

- wages and salaries; and,
- self-employment income;

Money received from those activities is earned income.

Money from all other sources is unearned income derived from one’s own or someone else’s past employment in the production and distribution of goods and services.

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DECLINE IN SHARE OF WEALTH OF THE MIDDLE CLASS 2000 - 2015

(Source: Bloomberg)

Asia-Pacific
from 50.4% to 41.6%

Europe
from 47.2% to 40.6%

Africa
from 37.1% to 32.16%

Latin America
from 36.9% to 35.1%

China
from 36.6% to 32.2%

India
from 26.8% to 22.6%

North America
from 23.8% to 21%

DECLINE IN US WORKERS’ SHARE OF INCOME FROM 1947 TO 2015:

Down from 65.4% to 57.9%

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BONUS TIME IN AMERICA

In his new book, “Listen, Liberal.” author Thomas Frank references a 2015 article by Sarah Anderson titled “Off the Deep End: The Wall Street Bonus Pool and Low-Wage Workers,” Institute for Policy Studies, March 11, 2015. Here is Thomas Frank’s statement from his book:

“In 2014, according to a much discussed think report, the total of all bonuses handed out on Wall Street was more than twice as much as the total earned by every person in the country who worked full time for the minimum wage.”
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