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Sunday, April 21st, 2013

America’s New Math: 1 Wall Street Hour = 21 Years of Hard Work For the Rest of Us

Author:     LES LEOPOLD
Source:     AlterNet (U.S.)
Publication Date:     18-Apr-13
 Link: America’s New Math: 1 Wall Street Hour = 21 Years of Hard Work For the Rest of Us
Stephan:   The figures in this report are jaw dropping, really. I read them, and then checked them, not believing they could be correct. They are. Imagine 10 people made $10.2 billion, one earned over a million dollars an hour. The financial structure of the United States has been transformed into a system that enriches the few at a level that can hardly be imagined while beggaring millions of decent hard working people. The system is corrupt, lacking in governmental oversight, and desperately out of kilter, and few are ever held accountable.

The new Rich List is out — yet another example of financial pornography. While nearly 15 million Americans still can’t find jobs due to the 2008 Wall Street-created crash, the top hedge manager, David Tepper, earned $1,057,692 an HOUR in 2012 — that’s as much as the average American family makes in 21 years!

America’s new math: 1 Wall Street hour = 21 years of hard work for the rest of us.

Together the top 10 hedge fund managers waltzed off with $10.1 billion in 2012, which is more than enough to hire 250,000 entry level teachers or 196,000 new registered nurses.

It’s not just that these financial gurus are filthy rich. It’s that they are the richest of the rich and we don’t even know what they do. Overall, hedge fund managers make 50 to 100 times more than our top athletes, movie stars, CEOs, lawyers, writers, doctors and celebrities. Yet, their activities are treated like state secrets.

So what is a hedge fund? No, it has nothing to do with the wholesale garden supply business. Nor does all that money come from hedging against unforeseen negative economic events. Rather, hedge funds are investment vehicles for the super rich — for […]

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