GOP Candidates Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry accuse Mitt Romney of “Vulture Capitalism

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District of Columbia, District of Columbia, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) January 12, 2012 --

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GOP Candidates Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry accuse Mitt Romney of “Vulture Capitalism

Why is Robin Hood still a legendary hero after so many centuries? It seems that every few years there is another new take on the man who robbed the rich to give to the poor. Never is he portrayed as a petty criminal or a politician who divides a people with class warfare. Whether it’s Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner, or Errol Flynn, the character is always presented as a hero fighting against economic injustice. So, where is Robin Hood today when we now face the medieval conditions of 400 people controlling more wealth in America than 150 million of their fellow citizens? Visit the site: http://cannibalcapitalism.com/

When the top 1 percent has a higher net worth than the 90 percent of the country, you have a problem. When the living on the country’s median household income feels like poverty, you have a problem. When the wants of the wealthy outweigh the needs of everyone else, you have a problem. We can love the concept of meritocracy and reaping the rewards of individual achievement, but economic self-interest that is exclusively individualistic will inevitably work against the common interest. To doggedly pursue self-interest, when you know that it is undermining if not destroying the broader interests is cannibalistic. I call it cannibal capitalism.

Cannibal Capitalism is the aggregate whole of all the myopic, profit-driven activities commonly practiced in today's economy that destroy long-term wealth building capacity. It's the constant exchange of real commodities and services for the artificial paper wealth of the financial sector without the use of the "paper wealth" to initiate new "real" commercial activity. Cannibal Capitalism "eats" real wealth and spits out paper subject to the whims of speculation, bubble and bust. It results in wealth disparity where those with wealth hoard instead of reinvesting. It's anticompetitive business practices that lead to industry consolidation resulting in the lack of healthy competition to maintain downward pricing pressure. It's ignoring the global implications of a developing world to the environment and the equitable distribution of natural resources. It's not only biting the hand that feeds you, it is ignoring that hand entirely while attrition of the middle-class and inadequate education decimates the wealth-building capacity of the next generation.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, the top 1 percent wealthiest households in 2009 had net worth that was 225 times greater than the median family net worth, up from 181 times greater in 2007. In 1983 the ratio was 131 times the median family net worth. All indications are that the ratio got even worse in 2010. In terms of income, the richest 1 percent of Americans now brings in almost 24 percent of ALL income, up from almost 9 percent in 1976. As 2010 ended and the new year has begun with a rally in the markets, the wealth of the wealthy continues to expand while the majority still feels the recession with an unemployment rate near 10 percent.

The gut reaction to all of this varies according to ideology. Those on the left whine about the unfairness of it all. Those on the right downplay these statistics out of fear of more aggressive taxation and wealth redistribution. Everyone else shrugs it off, as if to say, “So, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. What else is new?”

But, this is “a very disturbing trend” as former Fed chief Alan Greenspan noted. Fairness is beside the point. This is bad for business and therefore the recovery and growth of the economy. This is the direction of a “Third World America” not that of the greatest economic powerhouse on the planet. Using the worsening income disparity of America as a metric, we find ourselves moving away from the standing of a developed nation and toward the what is more typical in the underdeveloped world.

There is an old story of Henry Ford being asked why he paid his workers so well. He reportedly said that someone has to be able to buy his cars. As a business owner, I can really relate to that statement. I had to close down one of my operations because, in the wake of the recent economic crisis, there just weren’t any more buyers for what I was selling. Some of the unemployed used to work for me and other business people like me. I can honestly say that tax cuts alone would not cause me to hire anyone back. Businesses need customers.

Something has to be done about income and wealth disparity, not because of some liberal ideology, but because of the simple fact that no one wants to try to run a business in a nation of broke people. In my book, Cannibal Capitalism I discuss what happened, what is happening, and what needs to happen. There are ways to preserve the benefits of American capitalism without the destructive effects of cannibal capitalism. We don’t need a Robin Hood, but if free market solutions like those described in the book aren’t embraced soon, there may yet be a broad based campaign to take from the rich and give to the poor, which now numbers nearly half the population.

Cannibal Capitalism – How Big Business and The Feds Are Ruining America is on sale now everywhere books are sold.

Visit the site: http://cannibalcapitalism.com/

class warfare     economics     Mitt Romney     Newt Gingrich     Rick Perry     Vulture Capitalism