Tuesday, November 01, 2011

The One Percenters

They are CEOs and money managers, doctors and lawyers, as might be expected. But they are also computer technicians, scientists and even farmers. Some are singers and movie stars (even though they may not like to admit it) and the rest of them are spread among various professions.


These days they are also the most vilified members of American society – also known as the 1 Percenters, who control about two-fifths of the country’s wealth and fuel nearly 100 percent of the protests around Wall Street, through the rest of the country and around the world. 


http://www.cnbc.com/id/44960983/



6 comments:

  1. MF Global is first big US victim of Europe crisis
    - a big "investment" gone wrong

    - Looks like the CEO was paid a salary to make these big "investments" with shareholders' money

    http://finance.yahoo.com/news/MF-Global-is-first-big-US-apf-590521534.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=2&asset=&ccode=

    Wonder who is more irresponsible?
    Singaporean Ah Beng who runs up $10,000 in gambling debt
    OR
    These highly educated elites who earn huge salaries "investing" monies that don't belong to them. And failing miserably by losing billions of dollars.

    Wonder if a regulator should worry more about Ah Beng or all these educated elites?

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  2. I have previously mentioned lawyers and doctors, in addition to CEO and finance people, as among the greedy group of people that is causing chaos to our way of life. This has now been confirmed by the article. My observation is correct.

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  3. Agree with TKL, beware of rogue doctors and lawyers, the former who suggest unnecessary surgery to make money, the latter who take on cases and are negligent in their duties, and their clients ending up paying more money to clean up the mess made by their former lawyers.
    When engaging conveyancing lawyers to deal with your property transactions, you should be careful whom to engage, for reasons any person with bit more brain matter would have guessed why.

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  4. Just wondering whether MF Global transfered any clients' money from their Singapore office to US to cover their losses in Europe few days before they declared bankrupt.

    I hope there will not be any repeat of minibonds and DBS high notes 5. MAS must protect small investors.

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  5. I think it's more a sense of injustice and disproportion that is making many people pissed. That certain groups of highly paid people enjoy privileges and ethics and bailouts at the expense of the less-well paid and socially lower-class. And being supported by govt telling you "cannot be helped", it is part of the modern economy, do you want to go back to 3rd world country, etc etc.

    E.g. doctors playing on family emotions and filial piety to undergo treatments costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, even though the family is average-income and there is no certainty of improve outcome, maybe extend life by 3-6 months. Specialist will tell you --- what is the price of allowing your love one to live another 3 months? Priceless!!

    E.g. Lawyers being poker-faced about the feasibility of cases, not being upfront to tell clients -- look, this case no chance, save your money and don't proceed to court. Oh no, they will say everything got chance, don't fight will never find out. And then just go through motion and apply S'pore law open & shut type of procedure. At $500 an hour professional lawyer fees. Plus $5K court fees.

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  6. Last month, I heard a very sad story.
    A man who has been afflicted with terminal cancer sought treatment from a TCM practitioner.
    The sinseh told him his cancer will be cured but he has to take a pill that costs $200-400 EACH.
    Like a drowning man willing to clutch even a straw, this man with cancer faithfully paid for the so called pills for a period of time.
    It is only when the doctors told him his cancer is already at a late stage and he knows he is getting weaker by the day that he realised he had been conned. He had originally wanted to leave his wife and primary school kid with some money after his death.
    This is a terrible world we live in.

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