The occupiers are having a good time, except the one who fell 14 feet from a tree in Oakland.
The occupiers are having a good time, except the one who fell 14 feet from a tree in Oakland. We, rock climbers, despise tree-fallers, because a tree is at most category 5.4. Anyway, CBO just helpfully released their "Household income" analysis of Census Bureau data.

http://blog.american.com/2011/10/income-inequality-can-be-explained-by-household-demographics/

Turns out, lower 20% of households made $11K, while upper 20% made $170K. The ratio is 170/11=15. That's an outrage! On the other hand, upper 20% have 1.97 earners per household, almost all working full time, while lower 20% have 0.47 earners per households almost none working full time. 1.97/0.48=4. This still leaves another factor of 15/4=4 unexplained. I am stumped. What can it possibly be? Education (60% vs 12% having college degrees)? Age (75% vs 44% in the prime earning age 35-65)? Accumulated capital? Normal random distribution? Nah, can't be. Must be what starts with J and ends with ooze.

Now, let's get back to the evil 1%-ers.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204346104576638981631627402.html

Edra Blixseth, went from being a paper billionaire to filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy—liquidation—in three years. She says that she and her husband, Tim, were "living on the financial edge" even as they had two yachts, three jets and a California estate with its own 19-hole golf course and staff of 110 people.

"I felt like we were always trying to project the image of success," she says.

[OZ: Ha! No such pressures here, in the slums]

The average price of a Gulfstream V tumbled from $45 million to about $23 million during the latest recession.

[OZ: Selling <$23M jets for $45M? What a ripoff for the rich. Almost as bad as Apple's ripoff for us, the poor. Oh, wait, nobody (except Apple) can have that kind of profit margins. Must be used jets. Gasp. The value of our slightly used car must have fallen by 50% as well!]

The Siegels fired 14 of their 15 housekeepers and pulled their kids out of private school and put them in the local public school.

She does miss one luxury—the Gulfstream. The [OZ: evil] banks seized the plane. The Siegels can use it only occasionally, with the [OZ: evil] banks' permission.

Recently, the family boarded a commercial flight for a vacation. One of the kids asked, "Mom, what are all these strangers doing on our plane?"

[OZ: it's not your plane, you little twerp. Even that Gulfstream V is not your plane. It's not even its rightful owners, us, the 99%-ers. It's evil bankers' plane. Poor child. I hope his mother, at least, bought him a school bus]
http://blog.american.com/2011/10/income-inequality-can-be-explained-by-household-demographics/

Labels: Oleg Zabluda

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