Harold Crumpley: Understanding more clearly what the wealthy really want

A Time magazine article this week about the Davos Economic Summit – which it described as a place where billionaires go to talk to millionaires about the plight of the middle class – made a few points to which we should all pay attention.

In 1967 the UN estimated 28 percent of the world’s population was living in dire poverty; last year it was only 10 percent. That means America’s affluence since World War II, compared to other nations, is being challenged. We were warned: “What happens when others want their share of the economic pie?” Trump’s answer is: “It’s ours! And we are going to protect it!”

More troubling is that in 2017, four or every five dollars in income went to the top 1 percent in the world. How can such inequality be corrected? Somehow, the 1 percent have to see it as in their best interests to share with the rest of us. Instead, the richer they are the more they want. Trump’s “tax reform” measure only feeds the problem.

This story was originally published February 1, 2018 at 11:42 AM with the headline "Harold Crumpley: Understanding more clearly what the wealthy really want."