Society/Culture Billionaires

Sep 15, 2007
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The price of gold going back to when Governments had gold bullion.
does anyone really care what gold is worth other then gold investors?

my purchasing power isn’t impacted by the price of gold tripling.

if the Australian dollar falls by 30 percent though then my standard of living is noticeably reduced.
 
Their ability to dodge laws everyone else is expected to strictly follow has full approval from governments from both major parties.
When governments benefit from this, such as favorable media coverage in the lead up to election that doesn't mention anything about hospital capacity issues, then it should lead to corruption investigations.
 
Sep 15, 2007
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seriously?
Wake up. Do you think I am talking about the people who have plenty of money?
Only 2.3 recent of working people earn the minimum wage. The other 97.7 percent of workers earn more then the minimum.

again. Are you only referring to the bottom 2 percent of workers? Do you think everyone else has plenty of money?
 
Apr 23, 2016
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Only 2.3 recent of working people earn the minimum wage. The other 97.7 percent of workers earn more then the minimum.

again. Are you only referring to the bottom 2 percent of workers? Do you think everyone else has plenty of money?

The minimum wage and award rates aren't the same thing. The Government still sets the award rates.
 
Only 2.3 recent of working people earn the minimum wage. The other 97.7 percent of workers earn more then the minimum.
That's an interesting discussion in itself. This report indicates that 1.4m workers are impacted by the minimum wage rate:


Ten per cent of adult employees, excluding juniors and workers who are not employees, receive an hourly wage of less than or equal to the FMW. This includes 3 per cent receiving wages of no more than 80 cents below or 20 cents above the exact FMW. Another 9 per cent of adult employees have wages up to $2.20 per hour above the FMW. Depending on how closely their wages move in response to an adjustment of the minimum, as many as 1.4 million adult employees have hourly wages that are directly or indirectly affected by FMW decisions.
 
Sep 15, 2007
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That's an interesting discussion in itself. This report indicates that 1.4m workers are impacted by the minimum wage rate:

That report was from 2006. My number was from 2017.

so that probably explains a bit of the gap. Some probably loose accounting in both estimates explains the rest.


nonetheless even if your number was right 10 percent is hardly a major number. It doesn’t represent the working population.
 
That report was from 2006. My number was from 2017.

so that probably explains a bit of the gap. Some probably loose accounting in both estimates explains the rest.


nonetheless even if your number was right 10 percent is hardly a major number. It doesn’t represent the working population.
Not the majority no, but there would be a flow-on effect given the bottom percentages of wage earners spend a far greater proportion of their salary than high wage earners and we're firmly in a 'stimulate the economy' cycle right now.
 
Apr 12, 2010
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I know three billionaires, all of them in their 70s: I have a beer at the pub with one of them every now and again.

B1: left school at 15, scrappy fighter type, worked like a bastard for about 30 years, made sacrifices like I never would, total son-of-a-b*tch when it comes to business, pleasant enough at a personal level but good grief you wouldn’t want to cross him.

B2: left school at 15, scrappy fighter type, worked like a bastard for about 30 years, etc etc

B3: inherited small-to mid-sized business, built it up from there, canny investments, leveraged his contacts which, as he got richer, became more political and (coincidence?) more lucrative. This is the bloke I have a beer with at the local on a “g’day mate how’s it going” basis.

I would say that none of them are particularly happy: broken family relationships, suspicion of other people’s motives bordering on paranoia, and from the little I know about it, their circle of friends appears to be other people like them, rich people with broken family relationships, paranoia, and so on (having said that, the three blokes I’m talking about don’t know each other). None of them are flamboyant about it, nice cars sure but not publicity hounds by any means, low profile more like it.

I know all three donate to charities, but I don’t know how much and I wouldn’t dream of asking. I have no idea what else they do with their wealth but it’s not rocket ships that’s for sure.

Edit: B1 and B2 both from pretty sh*t backgrounds and circumstances.

Being rich gives you options and means to whatever reasonable ends your heart desires.

I feel with the mega rich, wealth actually becomes that end. Like some big dick measuring contest. They forget about what truly makes for a happy life.

There are exceptions, kudos to Bill Gates for his work vaccinating third world countries and making a difference.
 
You can’t have capitalism without honest and earned reward. the notion of equal Wealth is from discredited and obsolete Socialism.
At some point the reward isn’t honest and it’s earned off the back of workers who are not allowed to unionise and fight harsh working conditions or unfair contract terms.

Regulatory capture is a big issue. The people who write rules are beholden to the people the rules apply to.
 
Sep 15, 2007
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Not the majority no, but there would be a flow-on effect given the bottom percentages of wage earners spend a far greater proportion of their salary than high wage earners and we're firmly in a 'stimulate the economy' cycle right now.
They spend a higher percentage of their income on consumption but far less overall making their share of consumption significantly lower then their share of worker percentage.

if there are 5 percent of workers on minimum wage then I’m guessing those 5 percent account for less then 1 percent of overall consumption. I.e. it’s insignificant.
 
Sep 15, 2007
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You can’t have capitalism without honest and earned reward. the notion of equal Wealth is from discredited and obsolete Socialism.
No one is arguing for equal wealth. Having people who aren’t billionaires does not equate to socialism. would you even be able to tell thé difference between a person who has 100 million dollars in assets vs a person who has 1 billion dollars in assets? I sure couldn’t because their life styles are exactly the same.
 
Apr 12, 2010
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Don't be so sure about that.

Bill Gates is just as crooked as the rest of them.

He repudiated that a few days later though.

His initial justification had some merit (being unsure of quality control if it became a free for all) but yeah, there is no doubt a conflict of interest there as well. But this guy is miles ahead of a lot of other folks in that broadly his foundation has really achieved something for the poorest people in the world.

If I want to criticise him it's squarely based on the direction Windows is taking with things like Cortana and compulsory Microsoft accounts. Boo.
 

Eagle Wrath

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Oct 22, 2017
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Wont somebody think of the billionaires hahaha. Check out this idiot on FOX. I'm really not sure who his audience is. A couple of rich fat cats maybe.

 
Wont somebody think of the billionaires hahaha.
IMAGINE YOUR DIAMONDS BEING TAXED!

They would need to reorganise all of their tax-dodging arrangements. Couldn't bodgy up asset valuations to get their cheap lines of credit and keep their salaries small and avoid selling assets to finance their space rockets.



America’s 25 wealthiest individuals saw their net worth grow by $401 billion from 2014 to 2018, according to Forbes. But they paid a total of $13.6 billion in federal income taxes in that same period, amounting to 3.4% of that newly acquired wealth, ProPublica found.

By contrast, a middle-class American in their 40s who had amassed a “typical amount of wealth for people their age,” saw their net worth grow by $65,000 from 2014 to 2018, but paid $62,000 in income taxes, or 95% of that new wealth, according to ProPublica.
 

Coolangatta

Norm Smith Medallist
Oct 27, 2007
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It’s horrifying how socialist bigfooty has become. 100% tax on anything over $12 million?

Clowns like these will be the downfall of this country.

Obviously, if a company like Amazon couldn't earn more than 12 million a year then not only would they be ****ed, but there goes a decent chunk of the global economy and market. But individual wealth? Who the * needs more than 1 million a month while millions of people struggle to survive?
 
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