[Cyrien]

Intersting you should mention those wealthy few that can exlude themselves Fyron.

As of 1995, Federal Reserve research found that the wealth of the top one percent of Americans is greater than that of the bottom 95 percent. Three years earlier, the Fed's Survey of Consumer Finance found that the top one percent had wealth greater than the bottom 90 percent.

Imagine if those top 1% actually paid their taxes instead of having access to all the nice tax shelters that they can artificially construct.

Why it might even be...

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) reported in 1998 that the world's 225 richest people now have a combined wealth of $1 trillion. That's equal to the combined annual income of the world's 2.5 billion poorests people.

UNDP calculates that an annual 4 percent levy on the world's 225 most well-to-do people (average 1998 wealth: $4.5 billion) would suffice to provide the following essentials for all those in developing countries: adequate food, safe water and sanitation, basic education, basic health care and reproductive health care. At present, 160 of those individuals live in OECD countries; 60 reside in the United States.

The wealth of the three most well-to-do individuals now exceeds the combined GDP of the 48 least developed countries.


Just some food for thought. And remember just because it is a few people that can exlude themselves doesn't mean it is just a little money you are talking about.

[ April 27, 2004, 03:39: Message edited by: Cyrien ]