I took my over the top beating in in 1987 aka Black Monday. One does not recover from such a loss, no matter who you are. I left the market then and have never returned. Why? there was nothing left and to this day I am still struggling to find a way back. My advice stay out of the market unless you have the resources to take that kind of beet down. What really pisses me off is how some of these Wall Street CEO's and the like avoided prosecution for their outright theft, then get millions from the taxpayers. I no longer have faith in Banks, Wall Street, Hedge Fund Managers and the like. I urge everyone to Bank out of their wallet and pay cash for everything. I am so far off the financial grid now as to be absurd. The only way back for me is to see those responsible pay their debt to society. But am not holding my breath on that playing out. Every chance I get to screw over one of these scum bags I take.

Wow Ned, good job! You are really giving the one-percenters a proper 'BEET DOWN'! You should join the Hedge Clippers though, then you could REALLY make an impact, you know, post a few tweets and shit. That will get the people going. I'll be sure to take your advice and start stuffing my cash under my mattress.

I noticed that Hedge fund billionaire Paul Tudor Jones is STILL a Billionaire!
He is not about to give up ALL of HIS billions so you can have some.

Dem/Lib/Communists preach that YOU must give up your measly 'thousands' so other people can share "your" wealth!

How ironic, I just saw "The Twilight Zone", the lesson for this episode was "The chancellor was obsolete, but so was the state that he served. When the state, any state, does not recognize the basic rights and dignities of man, it becomes obsolete".

Rod Serling is timeless.

Lots of good discussions from some of you guys in here. Some of it I agree with and some of it I don't. But here's my 2 cents worth.

American corporations from the end of WWII until the Berlin wall was torn down had to deal with the cold war, EPA, Labor and I'm sure a whole host of other regulations that cost them money to have to deal with.

And guess what? Through all that these very corporations earned Trillions of dollars annually for well over 15 years and perhaps longer than that. Reported by the IRS!

Let's all remember now this was during the time of the hay days of the unions. Workers being paid 20 dollars an hour to hang a bumper on a car in Detriot.

And your telling me the company's were not profitable? Now were having to deal with WTO, NAFTA, CAFTA, illegal aliens? Company's closing up business's in the US and moving to China, India & Mexico primarily for cheaper wages?

PURE GREED!! Simple as that.

I am in no way a left wing loonie tune. I am a Veteran who clearly states that the day is coming. And for those that are responsible for our country's current situation might want to do as Mr. Cresosote is doing. Finding another place to go live cause you will NOT be welcome in the USA anymore.

And btw Mr. Cresosote....If I were you I'd keep the engines on that pvt jet of yours running and ready to go at a moments notice. But then again we the tax payers have something at our disposal. It's call the US Air Force & US Navy. Maybe you've heard of them. Guess what? Both of them know exactly HOW to get to the Cayman Islands.

What in the world is a left wing loonie toon?

First and foremost, try 60 to 70$ ph to hang that bumper and thats why a decent pickup is 50,000$.

Second, lets talk hypocrite..
You probly have a corp job, and took your corp paycheck, cashed at a corp bank, driving your corp car filled with corp gas to a corp electronics store, buying your corp computer and corp modem, drove back to your corp built house, firing up your corp ISP and logging into a corp website....so you could bash corps.....yup, hypocrite,

what a typical blowhard... gee the system is unsustainable... folks shouldn't get so rich... so "WHile I GOT MINE" lets slam the door to everyone else, while I hop my private jet and move to the Caymans. before the guys with torches get to me.

Most millionaires in the US are first generation. Thus, they made it without a silver spoon in their mouth. Secondly, most became wealthy by the sum of thousands of choices that they made to live below their income. In other words, they got rich slow. Poor people are sometimes poor because of the choices they made earlier in life. Paycheck lenders rob poor people everyday, rent to own, high interest car loans on new or nearly new vehicles are all choices in the end that lead to poverty. If you want to be poor, do poor people things, like above. If you want to be rich, be willing to do without today so you can have what you want tomorrow. This is the root of the problem, we want it all today. No one wants to save up and pay cash anymore. Using credit to finance you life will make anyone broke, no matter what their income. Don't belive me, look at all the pro athletes that are broke two years after they stop playing.

Couldn't have said it any better myself. They are also usually, the most generous. Rather be a lender than a borrower!

So poetic, a place for all of the progressive under-achievers to whine and make excuses for their pathetic station in life.

Let it all out prog-dooches!!!............then keep voting for more liberalism..........it's worked out great so far!!

Hedge Fund managers are at the top of the heap in looting America but it is nice to see one of them feeling a wee bit of guilt and facing that reality.

But he isn't proposing anything "robin hood" towards redistrbution of his own wealth... just everybody else.
Typical do as I say not as I do..... the guy is a douche, but wants to now milk the victim speaker circuit.

Lets talk hypocrite..
You
probly have a corp job, and took your corp paycheck, cashed at a corp
bank, driving your corp car filled with corp gas to a corp electronics
store, buying your corp computer and corp modem, drove back to your corp
built house, firing up your corp ISP and logging into a corp
website....so you could bash corps.....yup, hypocrite,

wow...all posted from your corp made computer.

Arent you supposed to be standing naked on a corner handing out flowers, and selling HariKrishna books?

I call hypocrite on those that screw everyone over to become ridiculously wealthy.... then go on a speaking tour to say how Nobody else shoudl do what he did.... but has no intention of Attoning for his own admitted sins against humanity.
He just Closes the door to the 1% kingdom BEHIND HIM, and tells everyone else to suck it.

next time you have a thought.... take another hit, and just let it go.

The adults are talking.

I am all for capitalism, it's great. The only problem with it is the propensity of human nature to become greedy. That is what will kill the goose that is laying the golden eggs and is what caused the last Great Recession in 2008. Hence, the need for regulation, to curb economic meltdowns like the last one caused by the sub-prime mortgage fiasco and absence of necessary regulations.

Everyone hates paying taxes, but if you want a good infrastructure and a more humane way to treat all of your citizens, you do need to redistribute some of that income for the greater good. This includes paying low skilled workers a decent wage and rewarding those that want to strive for a better living. That is not communism, nor socialism, it is called fairness in an economic system. Obamacare is an example of implementing a type of taxation that gives people healthcare that they may need instead of going bankrupt and losing everything they have worked for. It is like house insurance or car insurance, you hope you will not need it, but it's great to have it when the need arises.

I have heard some members of the GOP refer to taxes as theft. Well, that theft is what pays their friggin generous salaries. So, I guess by their very definition, they are thieves!

ObamaDon'tCare may keep people from suddenly going bankrupt from the need to pay health care expenses, but with its humongous annual deductibles and its humongous premiums, people will go slowly bankrupt. year by year.
You really don't "Have" insurance until you pay whatever the deductible is, and if you never reach the deductible, all those over-expensive premiums have been for naught!

Then, give all of your expendable income to the gov't...........then wait for them to "take care of you".

Then, you might have an ounce of credibility.

I sure don't want the government taking all of my disposable income. I do not believe in a welfare state. That being said, since we have no choice but to pay taxes, in that respect it is a form of thievery. Blame the Romans, since they started it! I would feel like it is theft, except for one thing - if I didn't personally benefit from paying the taxes.

Would you really want to do without; public schools, public transit, like subways, roads, bridges, sidewalks, snow removal, police, the Judicial system, firefighters, clean water, food inspection, the EPA to ensure you have clean air to breathe, the FBI, Homeland Security, the Armed Forces, the Coast Guard, airports, and so on... Not to mention our dumb politicians, who are very often paid more than they are worth.

If you really feel there is no benefit to yourself, then the constitution should be changed to allow people to refuse to pay taxes. It would take a Constitutional Amendment, but I'm sure if Ted C. is elected, he might just introduce one. That would solve everything.

We already had many of those items you listed (and others too) and fought several wars to boot, before the invention of the Income Tax and the IRS

So, J Wolfe, how was your most recent tour in Afghanistan?

That's very liberal of you!

Count me amoung the unapologetic, free-market capitalists who says let the wealth rise to whom it may, unfettered. Gross greed is self-checking AS LONG AS it's not bolstered by all kinds of artificial safety nets against failure.

They are theft end of subject. Just because you are "ok" with it does not mean I have to be.

Why can't more people understand the concept of taxation, like you!

Billionaire offers his "words of wisdom" on wealth inequality. of course he is an uber conservative, and speaks in his own self interest. Like the other .01%, he doesn't want to be at the wrong end of a mob's pitchfork.

"Like the other .01%, he doesn't want to be at the wrong end of a mob's pitchfork."

Exactly.

When the federal government taxes Capital Gains at half the rate of income tax then we are saying working for a living is simply not as important as investing. Folks who are in a position to do so will. If you can invest and keep twice as much of your earnings than being paid by an employer or paying yourself as income why wouldn't you? It is just human nature. Putting the capital gains tax at least on par with income tax would be an easy place to start wouldn't it?
If you run a huge multinational company and can keep your profits overseas instead of bringing them home to America and getting them taxed at a high rate wouldn't you just leave them where they are? Again isn't that what is in your companies best interest? Our political leaders need to sit down and address larger more complex problems like this and less time worrying about professional sports and the like.

Hmmm, I didn't realize that wage earners were prevented from investing, just like the millionaires. When did this come about?

Before you can "Invest like a Millionaire" you must first BE a millionaire.
A paltry couple of thousands as an investment out of your limited income, will not let you "Invest like a Millionaire".
Millionaires have much more disposable income after necessary expenses to invest.

So they were all born with millions in their pockets?

Uh, I hope you aren't serious about that remark. Many millionaires started with a paltry few thousand to reach their wealth-building goal over time. This is available to ANYONE, not just the already-rich.

And the real cost of investing is the often incredible risk of loss that investors take with their OWN money. That risk is worth something to the investor to fuel an economy, and a lower taxable rate is a reasonable return to them for going out on the line for uncertain results.

You are taking away the motivation to invest when you are taxed twice for doing it. Not good for business.

Do you not think the same could be said for working. Why should we work in legitimate W-2 jobs when a large percentage of your salary is going away to taxes. Lets also not forget all of the other things that get taken out of checks when you have W2 income, SS, Medicaid/Medicare etc. I do realize that as far as stocks the entity is taxed and then the individual making the gain is taxed. But still not buying that investors will actually sit on the sidelines with their capital unless they are offered a much lower tax rate. It is a more complicated issue but isn't it something we should be discussing?

Why should labor be different than capital gains? They should half all tax rates.......time to stop punishing success.

Agreed, that was my point why is the marginal rate on capital gains less than half the marginal rate of labor? As Warren Buffet himself said in 2012 why is he paying a lower marginal tax rate than his secretary.

Buffet could always write a additional check to the IRS, if he wanted, and if he was so appauled at the situation.

Mr. Jones' commentary is pleasingly shocking and commendably reveling. I applaud his economic assessment and social philosophy. There are not many wealthy Republicans courageous enough to adopt such an objective paradigm. Congratulations!

America's jobs are overseas. Bring them back. Allowing billionaires to get richer by outsourcing is fine. Right up to the point where the have nots won't take it anymore. And its coming.

Cronyism, the convoluted tax code, excessive regulations, the national debt and the Federal Reserve are the major causes of the widening income inequality gap.

Solutions:
Abolish tax code and IRS.
Enact Fair Tax (national sales tax).
Minimize regulations to only what is absolutely necessary.
Balance the budget.
Start decreasing the national debt.
Abolish the Federal Reserve as we know it. Replace it with an automated system as Milton Friedman suggested.
Treat gold, silver and cryptocurrencies as legal tender (not as an asset) for tax purposes.

The income inequality problem is counterintuitive. Big government equals more income inequality. Smaller government equals less income inequality.

The middle class is the byproduct of a free market economy; it is not manufactured by a politician's tax gimmicks, minimum wage laws, or government redistribution of wealth.

There is no such thing as a living wage; there is only a wage that someone can afford to pay. You have to tailor your living around your wage, not have government tailor your wage around your living.

It is about supply and demand. If you have an easy time filling your employee needs, you offer lower wages, if you have a hard time filling your employee needs, you offer higher wages; because if you do not your competition will and you will be out of business.

It is not about what people deserve or what is fair or what is just; it is about what the market will bear. Blame the consumer for shopping for the lowest price and blame the voter for voting for government to fix their problems.

Spot on the first person I've seen on here that get's it.

I agree with some of the things you say...but you fail to recognize some basic human tendencies that require regulating, same as children need parenting. For the same reason you don't let children do whatever they want and let market forces teach them from failure or loss; you don't let corporations with enormous power regulate themselves as an industry concerned about a backlash from negligent, deceptive behavior. The GOP wants us to believe or buy into a very dangerous false premise: that industry can and should police itself....it not only doesn't work....it is a lie from the start. Supply side economics is a similar lie....Corporations have enormous amounts of cash on their books, issuing debt at near zero rates and paying off higher cost debt, buying back their own shares; when they could easily be paying higher wages to their employees and fueling the very economy they profit from by increasing demand from consumers. What excuse is there now? Before you know it...the economy will slow, as another cycle rotates, and workers will be cut again...before they ever benefit from the sacrifices they made by working insane hours so more employees need not be hired. Its just a game, and it is rigged from start to finish. Corporations in bed with Congressmen has resulted in what can essentially be called an oligarchy. The people are not represented anymore.

Lets talk hypocrite..
You
probly have a corp job, and took your corp paycheck, cashed at a corp
bank, driving your corp car filled with corp gas to a corp electronics
store, buying your corp computer and corp modem, drove back to your corp
built house, firing up your corp ISP and logging into a corp
website....so you could bash corps.....yup, hypocrite,

Everyone who has a pension is invested in corporations. Corporation provide the majority of all jobs. Go off the grid and see how far you get

You've missed the point twice now.....I have no expectations you will get it a third time so here's the last on it. The whole scheme is to make corporate culture the only game in the world. No where else to turn, artificial values infiltrating a state/country and poisoning everything in the waters. Understand....NOT FREEDOM....the opposite.....servants of corporations.

And your under paid employees in your story could work for the competition if the government was out of the way and allowed innovation to take over.

There are complexities in our current societal model that could be done away with through proper evals/audits, and others that are indispensable. The problem is that humans are egregiously short-sighted and not really capable of seeing beyond the bounds of their own life experience. We can all study theory. Even if most of us comprehend that study, the majority are not capable of imagining a society radically different from the one they inhabit.

To enact real change, we have to abandon the capitalist model completely, through rigorous and unflinching analysis of how society can function without it. Any knee jerk "socialism/communism" is bad comments on this proves my point. Individual and collective failures to radically change your thinking is part of why we are stuck with a status quo that is destroying human society, human existence, and our global ecosystems.

Do you want to put humans you don't know in charge of deciding what to do? That will go well

Capitalism is another word for freedom. The delusion that we need to abandon is the idea of a benevolent government.