In this time of economic dislocation, with all this talk of rising unemployment, the health care crisis (and that’s for those who have health care), less pay for those who do have jobs, increased poverty, homelessness, and hunger, sometimes it’s hard to remember that the wealthy among us are suffering just as much — no, make that more in many cases — than the rest of us. Thankfully, Nick Carey at Reuters is here to keep us up to date about the travails of those cursed with the awesome responsibility of great wealth:
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Despite some signs that the worst of the U.S. residential housing crisis may be over, many wealthy homeowners are still being squeezed by the combination of weak home prices and the stock market crash.
“I think for wealthy homeowners it will get worse before it gets better,” said Dennis Hedlund, founder of iEmergent, a forecaster for mortgage and real estate companies.
“I don’t think home prices have bottomed yet. Many people are stuck at the high end, as there aren’t many buyers out there,” Hedlund said of owners of luxury properties.
Yes, I cry for them, too. Capitalism can be tough some times, eh? Thank God, though we didn’t over-regulate our financial industry, though, so people of quality and merit who work hard for their money can still make a decent living even in hard times like these.
Major U.S. banks and securities firms are on pace to pay their employees about $140 billion this year — a record high that shows compensation is rebounding despite regulatory scrutiny of Wall Street’s pay culture.
Workers at 23 top investment banks, hedge funds, asset managers and stock and commodities exchanges can expect to earn even more than they did the peak year of 2007, according to an analysis of securities filings for the first half of 2009 and revenue estimates through year-end by The Wall Street Journal.
Total compensation and benefits at the publicly traded firms analyzed by the Journal are on track to increase 20% from last year’s $117 billion — and to top 2007’s $130 billion payout. This year, employees at the companies will earn an estimated $143,400 on average, up almost $2,000 from 2007 levels.
So my advice to the wealthy who are being so devastated by this economy? Next time, get a job as an investment banker or a senior executive at a large Insurance company. Because “too big to fail” means you’ll never have to be forced to sell your estate in the Hamptons to make ends meet.
The rich are the only people who really matter. This is America, after all, not France.
That’s what that CitiCorp memo said that Moore showed in his film re capitalism: only the rich matter. And only our vote stands in the way of a complete plutocracy.
That’s why their pushing Internet voting as the new solution to our problems. TRUE unaccountability. Once they have our vote, they have the world, and we’ll never get it back, because we won’t be able to vote in the people who would help us.
That’s why they’re. Hate that I can’t edit posts.
there is nothing wrong with the attainment of wealth. throughout history, individuals have gotten rich through hard work and dilligence. Dilligence focusing on their ability to see the weaknesses in those whose bodies they have stepped on while climbing the ladder to “success”. Too cynical? Not by half. What this country is experiencing right now has the potential to restructure our whole society on one hand in a manner that will provide oppurtunities for a greater particpation in the “american dream” than at any time in our history. I doubt that that will be the result.
What I do believe is that, as has happened in the past, the powerful will examine just what has threatened their position and they will begin the process of elimination of that threat.
Well since their own short-sightedness is what threatened their position hopefully they can fix that.
There is nothing wrong with wealth they have all the rights we have.
There is a great deal wrong with the kind of wealth accumulation allowed in America, but that’s a whole nother fundamental question.
The rich really are different.
Yes, they have more money.
oh the ignominy of it all…Asia’s Millionaires Could Be Richer Than America’s By 2013…oohh noooo!
all the crocodile tears about to be shed are gonna cause sea level to rise.
The government makes some effort to mitigate the burdens of the poorest by providing resources for them. It has a duty to mitigate the suffering of the rich by relieving them of the burden of excess wealth. Then they no longer have to stand whining at the window about their longing to experience the joys of the lower orders.
On the upside, maybe they’ll start paying their taxes.