Aside from "we're making pass-through millionaires at a record rate" happy talk, the core message here is the real-time inequality graph from the WSJ. The US economy is being looted from the inside, with the wealth being trickled up to the very top. In the meantime, K-12 and public universities are losing funding, educational debt has exploded, the healthcare system is a train wreck and getting worse. The US infrastructure is crumbling, and the national debt ballooning. All this is a result of tax cuts (since Reagan) for the wealthy and corporations. This is the GOP long game that started with Nixon's Southern Strategy and the Powell Memorandum (1971). For a progress report see Citizens United v FEC, Shelby County v Holder, Trump v United States (President has broad criminal immunity for official acts), and Project 2025. "We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we cannot have both", widely attributed to Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis
In his Meditations, Marcus Aurelius is grateful to his great-grandfather for teaching him to “dispense with the education of the schools and have good masters at home instead.” Family is the best home life. Reading for yourself is the best education. I’m not saying ‘don’t go to college’ - but there has to be some counterweight to what individuals do beyond the confines of some secluded campus.
I love seeing some data behind what I have observed my entire working life. I golf most weekends with successful contractors, real estate brokers and car dealers. I myself was an unremarkable kid who completed college half way through my career, loved to help people and loved to sell.
Same here Bob, left school at 16 in London. Hard work, being curious and able to sell has abled me to retire at the top of my game, knowing I have employed 100’s of people and shared the wealth. Who wants to be the richest in the graveyard. Onwards.
Not only are they paying lower rates than corporations (when first started), they are now paying lower rates than if they were wage earners. Also worth noting that many of these everywhere millionaires are in businesses with artificially constrained competition.
As usual, another thoughtful article. However, I could poke so many holes in this optimism that it would take me a dissertation to do it. In sum, we're a second-world nation, $40T in debt, with truly no rule of law. And the US has cemented its global perma-reputation as the "country to be least trusted."
Good piece. Keep this up and if the message spreads far enough, more people will realize that there are many paths to wealth and work fulfillment, not all of which require the proverbial arm and a leg (or Harvard) to achieve. The future may belong to those who can 'do' the work that so many others can only write checks for.
The boring-business point lands. But “follow your talent” can become another neat story told after someone wins. A capable founder still needs capital, customers with money, and room to survive a first failure. We celebrate the winner and call the runway a personality trait.
YES! This is good, but too many of them are "lower class" in terms of taste and sophistication and conversation and intellectual curiosity. Having lots of money is the goal here but not elsewhere.
And 70% are obese too. And 9 out of 10 have CKM. Rich and fat.
Aside from "we're making pass-through millionaires at a record rate" happy talk, the core message here is the real-time inequality graph from the WSJ. The US economy is being looted from the inside, with the wealth being trickled up to the very top. In the meantime, K-12 and public universities are losing funding, educational debt has exploded, the healthcare system is a train wreck and getting worse. The US infrastructure is crumbling, and the national debt ballooning. All this is a result of tax cuts (since Reagan) for the wealthy and corporations. This is the GOP long game that started with Nixon's Southern Strategy and the Powell Memorandum (1971). For a progress report see Citizens United v FEC, Shelby County v Holder, Trump v United States (President has broad criminal immunity for official acts), and Project 2025. "We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we cannot have both", widely attributed to Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis
Keep this up and people are going to think that you’re a capitalist!
In his Meditations, Marcus Aurelius is grateful to his great-grandfather for teaching him to “dispense with the education of the schools and have good masters at home instead.” Family is the best home life. Reading for yourself is the best education. I’m not saying ‘don’t go to college’ - but there has to be some counterweight to what individuals do beyond the confines of some secluded campus.
I love seeing some data behind what I have observed my entire working life. I golf most weekends with successful contractors, real estate brokers and car dealers. I myself was an unremarkable kid who completed college half way through my career, loved to help people and loved to sell.
Same here Bob, left school at 16 in London. Hard work, being curious and able to sell has abled me to retire at the top of my game, knowing I have employed 100’s of people and shared the wealth. Who wants to be the richest in the graveyard. Onwards.
I chuckled at the car dealer mention since many states have anticompetitive laws precluding direct sales to consumers.
Not only are they paying lower rates than corporations (when first started), they are now paying lower rates than if they were wage earners. Also worth noting that many of these everywhere millionaires are in businesses with artificially constrained competition.
As usual, another thoughtful article. However, I could poke so many holes in this optimism that it would take me a dissertation to do it. In sum, we're a second-world nation, $40T in debt, with truly no rule of law. And the US has cemented its global perma-reputation as the "country to be least trusted."
Bingo.
Good piece. Keep this up and if the message spreads far enough, more people will realize that there are many paths to wealth and work fulfillment, not all of which require the proverbial arm and a leg (or Harvard) to achieve. The future may belong to those who can 'do' the work that so many others can only write checks for.
The boring-business point lands. But “follow your talent” can become another neat story told after someone wins. A capable founder still needs capital, customers with money, and room to survive a first failure. We celebrate the winner and call the runway a personality trait.
Hmmm Dave Ramsey did a study saying....
At my age, succession planning has become less about what happens after I die and more about why it’s taking so long.
The heirs are ready. The paperwork is ready. I appear to be the bottleneck.
YES! This is good, but too many of them are "lower class" in terms of taste and sophistication and conversation and intellectual curiosity. Having lots of money is the goal here but not elsewhere.
And 70% are obese too. And 9 out of 10 have CKM. Rich and fat.