Good News: The Rich Are Getting Richer… And there’s a Lot More of Them, Too
A recently announced survey of affluent households by The Spectrem Group, a Chicago-based financial services market research firm, found that the number of affluent households in the US has increased dramatically in the past 10 years. There are now record numbers of affluent Americans.
Spectrem listed several categories of such households, starting with those with a net worth of $500,000 NIPR (not including primary residence), up to those with a net worth of $5 million NIPR and above. The number of households in each category of “affluence” reached an all-time record high in 2006.
Those of us who are fervent believers in free market capitalism understand that this dramatic rise in American affluence is directly tied to the Bush administration’s economic policies, including specifically the Bush tax cuts. In the last 100 years, 5 US presidents’ economic policies have included cuts in tax rates, and in every instance the US economy has increased its rate of growth, creating more wealth for more people while generating more tax revenues in the process.
Those on the Left will see these survey results differently, as proof that the evil rich are getting richer, justifying their call for raising taxes. Whether from ignorance or sheer partisan stupidity, liberals mistakenly see economic activity as a zero-sum endeavor, that is, that one individual’s success and affluence is always achieved at the expense of another. This explains why those on the left are so cognitively oblivious when the subject at hand is economic growth and expansion.
The idea that some people can increase their own affluence without diminishing the economic status of others is simply beyond the comprehension of those on the Left, despite all the available evidence. Zero-sum class warfare is the doctrinal opiate of the liberal masses, a creed as dear to those on the Left as the Nicene Creed is to those of the Catholic faith.
Our next president will face an array of daunting economic policy questions while in office. What we need are policies that promote more economic growth, more success, and more affluence, not less. We need more people getting rich, not fewer.
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