The plutonomy report that broke the umbrella

My father and me are just back home from cinema after watching "Capitalism: a love story" by Michael Moore.
While we're suggesting everyone of you to go watch it, let me quote down a paragraph I've found on a report that is named in the movie (and that you can open by clicking on the links below).

"Oil and the Consumer: We have heard constantly that oil will slow consumption down as it eats into disposable income. But it remains a conundrum to many that consumption has remained robust, despite oil prices remaining high. What’s going on? We don’t see a conundrum. [...] In the "plutonomy" countries, the rich are such a massive part of the economy, that their relative insensitivity to rising oil prices makes US$60 oil something of an irrelevance. For the poorest in society, high gas and petrol prices are a problem. But while they are many in number, they are few in spending power, and their economic influence is just not important enough to offset the economic confidence, well-being and spending of the rich."

In 2004 the top 10% of Americans got 43% of total income and were holding 57% of total wealth (2.5 million dollars a head on average); the bottom 40% of Americans were getting 10% of total income and held 9% of total wealth (on average 97,000 dollars a head). This huge disparity that is so widespread in the Anglo-Saxon world and its consequences over economy, society and politics are said to be arguably called plutonomy.

Citigroup Oct 16, 2005 Plutonomy Report Part 1
Citigroup Mar 5 2006 Plutonomy Report Part 2

How to delete your facebook account

Here we are.
After I never actively used facebook but simply accepted sporadic friendship invitations, finally I've found the way to delete permanently my account and my extremely valuable piece of information: name, last name, date of birth.
Now I feel muuuch safer.

If you want to do the same, just follow the instructions HERE and then go on enjoying the real life!

The Prize to the intentions

The Nobel Prize 2009 was recently presented to Barack Obama "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples".
Frankly speaking, I like this guy, but I believe that a prize like this should only be awarded at the end of a long and effective career, rather than on the basis of many good intentions and speeches only.
And how not to consider that the U.S. are still at war?

Nobel Prize 2009

Cubicles - 1

If you want to have an idea of how American cubicles look like...