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
