capitalist aren't greedy, they just have closed minds

Edward Conard, Mitt Romney's ex-partner in Bain Capital, is not merely a member of the 1 percent but member of the 0.1 percent, justifies his wealth and proudly defends Wall St. He presents the capitalist case that it was the poor people, and not the finance industry, who were responsible for the financial crisis and subsequent recession. That the ultra-wealthy are wealthy because they are smarter and work harder than everybody else, and that they are resented for their success. That the ultra-wealthy are being victimised by prejudice by the envious and jealous who want to impose more regulation and  higher taxes upon the hard-done-by capitalist.

Some capitalists try to argue that an individual's greed turns free-market capitalism into prosperity for all. The successful businessman is the hero, while the rest of us lesser mortals are deadbeat leeches, living parasitically from their superior drive, brains and skills and talents that lead to innovation. Profits are the reward for risk-taking. (hmmm...and follow the herd investment mentality is taking a risk). In fact we should all be very grateful to the mega-wealthy

But they are wrong. The rich are not more hardworking than the masses. They are not any smarter. Nor do people whose  business of extracting royalties and copyright fees or interest by moving rich people’s money around are in any way “job creators.”

When  Facebook goes public, Mark Zuckerberg he will be worth more than $17 billion. If Zuckerberg had never been born, would no one else have come up with the idea of Facebook? (oh, somone else did and thats why he had to pay compensation, wasn't it?)

Why do people try to maximise their incomes? The poor person wants more money in order to eat, a better house or a new washing machine. Even a comfortably well-off person may want an even better house or a servant to cook and clean . But what more does a really, really rich person — worth hundreds of millions — want that money can buy? What motivates him or her to go to work every morning - simply trying to accumulate even more. But, to be sure, it is not personal greed. It is simply the rationale of accepting an economic system that demands such a constant process of reproduction of capital and being unwilling to break with it.

Capitalists rule - ok

In a 1901 article James Connolly writes "Socialists are always accused of trying to create ill feeling, to bring about a class struggle, to “set class against class”. Of course, the real fact is, we only point out what already exists,....His masters who are interested in keeping him in that plentiful lack of knowledge are always careful to raise the cry “Capital and labour are brothers” and don’t “set class against class”....while the worker is not class-conscious – that is, knowing and understanding his class subjection and its cause, and therefore knowing and understanding his class interest in overthrowing the institutions which keep him so – it is not so with the landlord and capitalist. They, as a rule, are thoroughly class-conscious and in all their measures never lose sight of the cardinal principle of the class struggle. While the average worker makes a great show of having nothing much to do with politics, the other class have calculated to a nicety its exact value not merely to their whole class, but even to each of their sections. All government is therefore class government."

Members of the US Congress had a collective net worth of more than $2 billion in 2010. The 50 richest Members of Congress who hold 80 percent of the net worth of the institution. The wealth overall is scattered fairly evenly between the two parties. Of the 435 members of the House, 244 current members of Congress are millionaires - that's about 46 percent and that includes 138 Republicans and 106 Democrats. By comparison, around 1% of Americans are millionaires. Therefore, no other minority group is as over-represented in Congress as the rich.

The richest 70 members of China’s legislature added more to their wealth last year than the combined net worth of all 535 members of the U.S. Congress, the president and his Cabinet, and the nine Supreme Court justices. The wealthiest member of the U.S. Congress is Representative Darrell Issa, the California Republican who had a maximum wealth of $700.9 million in 2010, according to the center. If he were in China's National Peoples Congress, he would be ranked 40th.

In the Kremlin Russian oligarchs, the class of ultra-rich that emerged during the 1990s, have notoriously close ties to the country's political class and have even created their own political parties. Critics of the governing United Russia party say it serves the wealthy at the expense of the rest of the country. Multi-billionaire tycoon and owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team Mikhail Prokhorov ran as an independent candidate in the 2012 presidential election. According to Sergey Alexashenko, the former vice president of the Russian Central Bank and now a lecturer at Moscow State University of Economics "These days, the oligarchs work with the government and do their lobbying quietly in the background"

In the UK millionaires, as we have recently seen, regularly donate to the financial coffers of the main political parties to gain influence and access to decision meakers.

It was Warren Buffet the third wealthiest man in the world who famously said, "There's class warfare, all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning."

While the workers accept the poisonous nonsense that capital should have a fair profit, while they swallow the lies and humbug of the capitalist apologists that the interests of the master class are the interests of the community or society they will be easily led to vote their masters into possession of the power to rule society. When the working class rids itself of this stupidity they will find that the way to their emancipation lies through organisation for control of the political power, wresting control of the state from the capitalist class.

Meet the 1%

Among the top one percent category are the following:

Warren Buffett...................USD 39 billion (Berkshire Hathaway)
Charles Koch.....................USD 25 billion (Koch Industries Inc)
George Soros.....................USD 22 billion (Soros Fund Management)
Sheldon Adelson................USD 21.5 billion (Las Vegas Sands Corp)
Michael Bloomberg.............USD 19.5 billion (Bloomberg L.P)
John Paulson......................USD 15.5 billion (Paulson & Co)
Carl Icahn............................USD 13 billion (Viacom)
Anne Cox Chambers.................USD 12 billion (Cox Enterprises)
Ronald Perelman.......................USD 12 billion (MacAndrews & Forces Holdings Inc)
Abigail Johnson.....................USD 11.7 billion (Fidelity Investments)

The rise of the richer worker in Asia

Although "middle class" is more a subjective sociological term rather than an objective economic definition many socialists would prefer to describe such people as simply higher paid members of the working class, as they are just as often to be associated collectively in trade unions and recognise their class unity against the real true wealthy elite.

The Asian Development Bank define India’s middle class as those who spend anywhere between $2 and $20 (Rs 93 to Rs 930) a day on purchasing power. Broken down, the lower-middle class falls between US$2 and US$4 per day, the middle-middle class spends between US$4 and US$10 per day and is able to save and consume non-essential goods, and the upper-middle class consumes between US$10 and US$20 per day.

However, more than three-fourths of India’s 274 million-strong middle class face the risk of slipping back into poverty in the event of a major economic shock as they are in the lowest spending bracket of $2-4 (Rs 93-186) a day.Another financial crisis, wars or large natural disasters can reverse people’s move into higher income categories."Asia's rapidly-growing middle class remains vulnerable ... A major shock can easily send them back into poverty," said Jong-Wha Lee, chief economist at the ADB.

Over the next two decades, the Indian middle class population is expected to touch one billion. And 55% of the world’s middle class will be in Asia by 2030, up from 25% now.China had 817 million people, or 63% of its population, in the middle class bracket in 2008.

Diabetes, heart disease and cancer on the rise among Asian middle class and that people are adopting Western eating habits that may lead to obesity. The rise in obesity in China and India is cause for concern, especially when much of emerging Asia’s population is still living in poverty. China has almost 11 percent of its population living below the minimal level of dietary consumption while over 20 percent of Indians are dealing with the same problem.
“All indications are that in the next 20-30 years, Asia will be faced with an increasing number of chronic diseases on a scale previously unseen,”

Perfectly understandable

The Edinburgh home of former Royal Bank of Scotland boss Sir Fred Goodwin has been attacked . A police car is now guarding the entrance to Sir Fred's home, in the Grange area of the city.

Three smashed ground-floor windows of the stone villa were clearly visible. In the driveway, the rear window of a dark-coloured Mercedes saloon was smashed, as well as the nearside rear passenger window.

A statement was issued to Edinburgh's Evening News on Wednesday morning by a group which claimed it was behind the attack.
It said: "We are angry that rich people, like him, are paying themselves a huge amount of money, and living in luxury, while ordinary people are made unemployed, destitute and homeless. This is a crime. Bank bosses should be jailed. This is just the beginning."

No comment ;-)

Where are they now

Everybody blames the bankers for the crisis , and probably rightly so , but just how much of the consequences of their actions have they had to confront and face ?

The Independent describes how failed bank directors still sit in the board-rooms :

Bradford & Bingley
Michael Buckley (non-exec 2007-08). A director of Nicola Horlick’s Bramdean Alternatives and sits on the M&T Bank board in the US.
Ian Cheshire (n-x 2003-08). Chief executive of Kingfisher, the B&Q group.
Nick Cosh (n-x 1999-2008). Director of City brokers Icap.
Sir George Cox (2000-07). Commentator on the banking crisis and chairs Warwick Business School’s advisory board.
Rod Kent (n-x chairman 2002-08). A governor of Wellcome Trust and chairs the Duke of Westminster’s £13bn Grosvenor empire,
Lady Patten (n-x 2003-08). Sits on the Marks & Spencer board and chairs the Brixton property group.
Stephen Webster (n-x 2003-08). Finance director at Wolseley plumbing goods group.

HBOS
Sir James Crosby (1994-2006). Is still senior independent director at ITV and the Compass catering group, and last month became a director of Mysis, the software company.
Charles Dunstone (n-x 2000-08). A director of Daily Mail & General Trust and the Prince’s Trust besides running Carphone Warehouse.
Mike Ellis (finance director 1987-2004, 07-09). Is now a WH Smith director.
Tony Hobson (n-x 2001-06). Chairs Northern Foods and is a director of water company Glas Cymru.
Philip Hodkinson (finance director 2005-08). Chairs the audit committees at BT and Travelex. Director of HM Revenue & Customs.
Andy Hornby (1999-2009). Remains a director of Home Retail, the Homebase and Argos chains.
Sir Brian Ivory (n-x 1998-2007). Director of Scottish American Investment Trust and Rémy Contreau.
Karen Jones (n-x 2006-09). The founder of Café Rouge recently joined the Virgin Active board.
Kate Nealon (n-x 2004-09). Sits on the Cable & Wireless and Shire drugs group boards.
David Shearer (n-x 2004-07). Senior independent director at STV and chairman of Crest Nicholson.
Lord Stevenson (chairman 1999-2009). Director of Western Union and Loudwater Investments.
Mark Tucker (finance director 2004-05). Returned to the Prudential, where he is chief executive.

Northern Rock
David Baker (1973-2007). Chairs Northeast Enterprise Bond.
Sir Ian Gibson (n-x 2002-08). The former senior independent director chairs Trinity Mirror and the Wm Morrison supermarket group.
Michael McQueen (n-x 2005-08). Chief executive of the FTSE 100 private-equity group 3i.
Nichola Pease (n-x 1999-2007). Deputy chairman at JO Hambro Capital Management.
Matt Ridley (1996-2007 and chairman from 2004). Remains a governor of the Ditchley Foundation conference group with government ministers.
Sir George Russell (n-x 1996-2006). Deputy chairman of ITV and the veteran of boardrooms from 3i and Taylor Woodrow to Camelot.
Sir Derek Wanless (n-x 2000-07). Chaired credit and risk committees. Vice-chairman of Statistics Commission and chairs Northumbrian Water.

Royal Bank of Scotland
Colin Buchan (n-x 2002-). Remains an RBS director. His other boards include Standard Life and two Merrill Lynch trusts.
Jim Currie (n-x 2001-09). Director of Dutch aluminium group Vimetco plus the Met Office.
Larry Fish (1993-2008). Chairman of US Citizens Bank and director of Textron – the Cessna and Bell Helicopter group.
Sir Fred Goodwin (1998-2008). Chairman of the Prince’s Trust.
Archie Hunter (n-x 2004-). Audit committee chairman, still sits on the board and is director of Macfarlane Group and an investment trust.
Bud Koch (n-x 2004-09). A director of the federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati.
Janis Kong (n-x 2006-09). Director of Kingfisher, Portmeirion pottery, Visit Britain and chairs the Forum for the Future environmental group.
Joe MacHale (2004-). Still senior non-exec and a director of Morgan Crucible and Brit Insurance.
Sir Tom McKillop (2005-08). Director of BP and a Spanish drugs group, plus a trustee of the Council for Industry & Higher Education.
Sir George Matthewson (2001-06 after nine years running the bank). Now chairs the Edinburgh government’s Council for Economic Advisers.
Gordon Pell (2000-). Still an RBS executive director. Chairs the Business Commission on Racial Equality and is on the FSA Practitioner Panel.
Sir Steve Robson (n-x 2001-09). The former adviser to the Chancellors is now a director of JP Morgan Cazenove, mining group Xstrata and the Government’s Partnerships UK.
Bob Scott (n-x 2001-08). Chairs the Yell group with directorships of Swiss-re and Crimestoppers.
Peter Sutherland (n-x 2001-09). Chairman of BP and Goldman Sachs International and advises EC president Jose Barraso on climate change.
Guy Whittaker (2006-). Now finance director.

Not too bad for people with now a track record of incompetence and negligence

slumdogs and millionaires

According to here
Out of India's population, 76% live below the poverty limit of $2 a day, compared to 73% in Sub-Saharan Africa. That is 800 million people living in abject poverty - in one country.

One third of all the world's ultra poor are Indians. 40% of all malnourished children are Indian.

but then there is this
Four of the top eight billionaires in the world are from India. Topping the ranks is steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, whose worth Forbes puts at $45 billion. Next up are the Ambani brothers, Mukesh and Anil, with $43 billion and $42 billion repsectively, largely from petrochemicals. Rounding out the list is KP Singh, the real-estate magnate, at $30 billion. All four of the Indian billionaires inherited substantial fortunes, suggesting that in India, wealth is still determined more by your parents than by your career or your ideas.

India's Riches

India is minting new millionaires at a faster pace than anywhere else in the world, buoyed by a fast-growing economy, according to a new study.
There were an estimated 123,000 millionaires in India at the end of 2007 -- 22.7 percent more than in the previous 12 months . India's millionaires have a combined wealth of 440 billion dollars.

And ,of course, big money requires the lifestyle fashion gurus to accompany it . Men's magazine GQ India hits the newsstands, following in the footsteps of other male-only publications such as Men's Health, Maxim, and FHM.

mediocre talent - rich rewards

"At the heart of many of Wall Street's problems has been a serious misalignment between the interests of managers and shareholders. It's clear a number of investment banks overlooked basic risk controls in their drive to increase profits. This pattern of behaviour has been exacerbated by a remuneration structure which has encouraged some employees to take spectacular short-term risks, confident that if things work out well they will reap huge rewards, and that if they don't they won't be around to pay the price." - said Richard Lambert , director general of the CBI

The bonus culture has turned thousands of relatively mediocre performers in the banking industry into multi-millionaires, while top performers have earned vast sums. The head of Barclays investment banking, Bob Diamond, was paid £36m last year even though Barclays took a £1.6bn hit from the US sub-prime crisis.

Who has the wealth ?

Warren Buffett, head of the Berkshire Hathaway corporation, has landed the top spot in Forbes' magazine 2008 list of World Billionaires and is now the richest man in the world , surpassing Bill Gates reports The Herald .

Buffett has amassed a personal fortune of $62billion (£31 billion).

Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim Helu who is said to have a fortune of $60billion (£30bn) was named the world's second richest man .

Gates, whose wealth is estimated at $58billion (£29bn), has slipped into third place on the list .

For the first time, there are more than 1000 billionaires on the Forbes list, rising from 946 in 2007 to 1125 this year.

Together, those on the 2008 super-rich list have a combined net worth of $4.4 trillion (£2.2trillion) - the same amount as the projected US government's healthcare bill in a decade's time.

The list also carries entries of 50 billionaires who are aged under 40, including 23-year-old Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of social networking site Facebook, who is valued at $1.5bn.

Billionaires listed in Forbes come from 54 countries and the top 10 includes four Indians who have made their fortunes through steel and real estate.

The average age of a billionaire on the Forbes list has dropped to 61, thanks in part to the growth of wealth in Russia, where the average age of a billionaire is 46.
There are 35 British billionaires, although 49 billionaires actually live in the UK and 36 of those call London their primary residence.

Who rules America

An interesting read on Power to the People blog.

"Through open and direct involvement in policy planning, through participation in political campaigns and elections, and through appointments to key decision-making positions in government" the upper class are able to rule America and influence decisions affecting the bottom 80% of the population. This power stems from their great concentration of wealth which is derived from ownership and control of large income producing corporations. As Domhoff states allowing corporate leaders to "invest money where and when they choose; expand, close, or move their factories and offices at a moment's notice; and hire, promote, and fire employees as they see fit. These powers give them a direct influence over the great majority of Americans, who are dependent upon wages and salaries for their incomes. They also give the corporate rich indirect influence over elected and appointed officials, for the growth and stability of a city, state, or the country as a whole can be jeopardized by a lack of business confidence in government."

But ultimately this small elite rule through the passive consent of the exploited majority , since we do not act in our own interests but adopt the interests of our masters as if they were our own and we do not exercise the political power that we do possess , but that we always fail to wield .

Putin's Pennies

Citing sources inside the president's administration, Russian political expert Stanislav Belkovsky claims that after eight years in power Putin has secretly accumulated more than $40 billion (£20bn). The sum would make him Russia's - and Europe's - richest man.

In an interview with the Guardian , Belkovsky repeated his claims that Putin owns vast holdings in three Russian oil and gas companies, concealed behind a "non-transparent network of offshore trusts".
Putin "effectively" controls 37% of the shares of Surgutneftegaz, an oil exploration company and Russia's third biggest oil producer, worth $20bn, he says. He also owns 4.5% of Gazprom, and "at least 75%" of Gunvor, a mysterious Swiss-based oil trader, founded by Gennady Timchenko, a friend of the president's .
"Putin's name doesn't appear on any shareholders' register, of course. There is a non-transparent scheme of successive ownership of offshore companies and funds. The final point is in Zug in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Vladimir Putin should be the beneficiary owner."

Belkovsky adds that the west has misunderstood Putin and has been distracted by his "neo-Soviet" image. Putin, Belkovsky claims, is ultimately a "classic" businessman who believes money can solve any problem .

The wave of renationalisations under Putin has transformed Putin's associates into multimillionaires. Members of Putin's cabinet personally control the most important sectors of the economy - oil, gas and defence. Medvedev is chairman of Gazprom; Sechin runs Rosneft; other ministers are chairmen of Russian railways, Aeroflot, a nuclear fuel giant and an energy transport enterprise . Putin has created a new, more streamlined oligarchy, his critics say.
"The crown jewels of the country's wealth have ended up in the hands of Putin's inner circle," Vladimir Rzyhkov - a former independent MP .

Putin has not commented on Belkovsky's claims . Putin's chief spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, was not available for comment . Gunvor, which has its head office in Geneva, failed to comment

A High-Class Ho ?

A woman who has amassed £18 million after three divorces is pursuing her fourth husband for a slice of his declared £45 million fortune.Susan Crossley, once married to racing magnate Robert Sangster, is claiming that a pre-nuptial agreement she signed with property developer Stuart Crossley is invalid because he failed to tell her about "tens of millions" more he had in offshore accounts.

Marital History

Husband 1: Was aged 18 when she married first husband, Kevin Nicholson, whose family founded the Kwik Save supermarket chain. The marriage lasted 18 months.

Husband 2: When aged 22 she married second husband Peter Lilley, an Isle of Man tax exile and heir to the Lilley and Skinner shoe fortune.

Husband 3: At 28, she was pursued by legendary Manx tax exile, Robert Sangster. She married him in 1985. The marriage ended in divorce and a £15 million settlement

Husband 4: She met multimillionaire Stuart Crossley on a blind date in June 2005. The couple were engaged within weeks and wed seven months later. The marriage lasted 18 months.

Millions or Billions - Why Care

Lakshmi Mittal has been ranked as India's wealthiest person for a fourth year by Forbes Asia magazine. It put Mr Mittal's fortune at $51 billion (£25 billion), double last year's level.

Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries is snapping at Mr Mittal's heels in second place. His net worth grew at a faster pace than Mr Mittal's last year to a total of $49 billion. Mukesh Ambani is building a 27-storey house in Mumbai for his family and this month gave his wife an Airbus 319 as a birthday gift .
"It matters little to me whether my personal fortunes are measured in billions or millions.'' he has said

Ambani's brother, Anil, ranks third, with his net worth rising by $30.2billion to $45billion.

Kushal Pal Singh is fourth on list with a net worth of $35 billion, making him the world's richest real-estate developer. Mr Singh's wealth has more than tripled from the $10billion he had last year after his company, DLF, listed on the stock market in June this year and its stock surged 60% in value.

Fifth position is Azim Premji, the head of technology giant Wipro who is currently valued at $14.8 billion


The net worth of India's 40 richest people now totals $351 billion, with the top three alone worth more than China's top 40, who have a net worth of $120 billion.
India now has 54 billionaires, 18 more than last year . The stock market has roared 53% higher in the past year, and a rupee has appreciated 12% during the same period

We have previous reported the flip side here and here .

But , in case there is a need of reminding half of the nation's 1.1 billion people live on less than $2 a day. The country has among the world's highest prevalence of underweight children at 47 percent, according to the United Nations Children's Fund. About 22 percent of the country's 193.6 million households don't have safe drinking water.
India’s ranking on the basis of the global hunger index (GHI), compiled by the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), is No. 96 among 119 developing countries . The rich get richer but the IFPRI survey shows no progress on hunger alleviation between 1997 and 2003 at the same time .Yet , the fact was that the country was net surplus in food, and also a net exporter of food during that period . The economic access of the poor to food has not improved. Even schemes like Antyodaya , aimed at supplying highly subsidised foodgrain to the poorest of the poor, do not seem to have produced the desired results.

Princely Sums

Paying the price of high-risk investment strategies which have left some of Wall Street's biggest names with billions of virtually worthless that resulted in the sub-prime mortgage fiasco are the heads of the US banks . Although , it is a price that any member of the working class would gladly pay .

The former head of Citigroup, who stepped down on Sunday after the bank revealed huge sub-prime related losses, could walk away with up to $95 million (£45 million). Citigroup confirmed Charles Prince would receive $29.5 million in share awards, share options and pension entitlements.
He is entitled to an incentive bonus based on share performance, currently worth about $12 million, and he also owns $53 million worth of Citigroup shares himself. Prince - who was paid $25 million last year - would continue to receive a salary until the end of the year. In addition, he will be entitled to the use of an office and a driver for the next five years or until he finds alternative employment.

Stan O'Neal parted company with Merrill Lynch last month after it disclosed huge financial liabilities stemming from deteriorating US mortgage-backed investments. Mr O'Neal is expected to receive up to $161.5 million in share and retirement benefits.

Who rules Israel

From Gabriel Sheffer , professor at the Hebrew University's political science department and a senior research fellow at the Van Leer Institute .

The defense network is made up of senior military officers, both past and present, heads of the secret services and police, and business owners in the security sphere. The members of this network have determined the political and military moves en route to all our wars, and between them. They are both leftist and rightist (as of late, there are more rightist and religious ones) and also took part in important political moves and in the peace process.
In addition, they are also intimately involved in economic, political, and cultural developments that pertain to the defense establishment. It is no secret that most Israeli prime ministers, even if not all of them, were members of this network. There was not always agreement between them and between those serving in the defense establishment during their tenure, but ultimately they acted together – and this can be clearly seen when we examine the evacuation of southern Lebanon, the disengagement from Gaza, the security fence, etc.

The capitalist network is made up of the 12 or 18 wealthiest families in Israel, as well as the large business owners. Its members are interested in the continuation of privatization processes, low taxation levels, low salary levels, etc. The members of this network are connected to senior politicians who enjoy their assistance and are willing to maintain neo-liberal policies, which led to great destruction of the Israeli welfare state and huge gaps between the highest and lowest echelons.

The strictly Orthodox rabbinical network is relatively small, and its members share common interests in all matters pertaining to the relationship between religion and state. They influence, and in fact determine, matters of personal status, yeshiva students' exemption from military service, conversion policy, attitude to foreign workers, and to a growing extent our policy in the territories.

The network of senior bureaucratic officials is particularly important. Its most prominent members include senior Treasury, Bank of Israel, Defense Ministry and Education Ministry officials. On the one hand, they are the ones who determine and formulate most of the important decisions and laws passed by the Knesset, and on the other hand they have the power to torpedo decisions and laws, particularly through inaction.

All Israeli prime ministers and senior ministers in recent decades were connected to or members of these networks. The three candidates for the next premiership are also connected to these networks: Benjamin Netanyahu is affiliated with the capitalist and Orthodox networks. Ehud Olmert is also affiliated with the capitalist and Orthodox networks. Meanwhile, Ehud Barak is associated with the defense and capitalist networks.

A Business Report

Salaries of UK executives rose by 37 percent this year to an average approaching £3 million - 20 times the inflation rate and 11 times the 4 percent rise in average earnings last year in Britain , according to this article .

The ratio between what executives of the 100 biggest firms earn and what their staff are paid has risen to 98:1 from 93:1 a year ago. Executives are valued nearly 100 times more highly than their employees. Banker JP Morgan said a century ago that no company should have an executive:employee differential of more than 20:1; indeed, the differential in the US in the 1960s was 24:1.

UK Pub group chief executive Giles Thorley last year took a salary package of £11 276 000, which was 1 278 times the average salary of the group's employees; they got £8 821, a salary on which a family could not survive without supplement .

This is not a one-off occurrence; it is a long-term global trend towards deepening inequality. The Russians have joined in: last month tax-evading oil executive Mikhail Gutseriyev arrived in London with $3 billion .

The fact is that national economic growth does not translate into wages, but goes straight to the top.

In the five years to 2005, the US economy grew by 14 percent in real terms, and labour productivity by 16.6 percent. But in that time the median family income fell by nearly 3 percent. Where did the productivity go? Into profit, whose share rose from 17.7 percent to nearly 21 percent. And chief executive pay rose by 186 per¬cent in the three years to 2005.

Executive salaries and bonuses are calculated by how much value they have delivered - to shareholders. They are judged by how much shareholders have taken away in dividends, and the value of their shares. Nothing to do with how anyone else benefited, or the company's long-term interests.

Stewart Wallis, the director of the London-based New Economics Foundation, defines the current version of capitalism as a system that operates "for the prime benefit of the providers of private capital".

No change

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has been ranked as the wealthiest person in America for the 14th year in a row. Reported here .

Forbes magazine put Gates' fortune at $59bn, with investment guru Warren Buffet in second place with a net worth of $52bn.

Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and software tycoon Larry Ellison remained at third and fourth place on Forbes' list of the 400 richest Americans.

Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, come in joint fifth place, with fortunes of $18.5bn apiece.

Investor Kirk Kerkorian his fortune rising by more than $9bn in the past year to $18bn, putting him in seventh place.

The collective net worth of the 400 billionaires totalled $1.54 trillion - more than Canada's GDP.

Secret Executive Pay

In North America , Chrysler Motors gained a new boss . Chryslers new private equity owners , Cerberus , who took over Chrysler from the German parent DaimlerChrysler last Friday immediately demoted the existing chief executive, Tom LaSorda to Number Two and hired Bob Nardelli to be its new chief executive.

Mr Nardelli became a symbol of executive greed when it emerged he had been paid more than a quarter of a billion dollars over six years that Home Depot's share price had stagnated. His firing in January netted him a severance package worth $210 million .

Private equity ownership of Chrysler means that the pay of its executives will not be disclosed.

How convenient .

The Return of the Sloane Rangers

From the Daily Telegraph :-

The Sloane Ranger is still going strong according to the authors of a sequel to the best-selling The Official Sloane Ranger Handbook which, when it was published in 1982, was the definitive guide to the upper-middle classes living in west London. The modern Sloane differs from the original in more than fashion sense. Today's Hooray Henrys and Carolines are perfectly coiffed, jet-setting and hungry to make money of their own .

"They are rich, but they are serving the rich," said co-author, Olivia Stewart-Liberty. "...They are also much more business-orientated."

This entrepreneurial spirit is personified by such as the Duchess of Cornwall's nephew Ben Elliot who runs a private members' club and Piers Adams, of the Piccadilly night-club Mahiki, a favourite of Kate Middleton and Prince William.

Chav Sloane: Court the paparazzi and manage to get kicked off down-market reality television shows, but still relish a freebie
Thumping Sloane: A pretty decent bunch: 21st century equivalents of Hooray Henry and Nice Caroline
Turbo Sloane: Have added to their fortunes through successful business ventures, in particular, exclusive nightclubs frequented by the other tribes
Euro Sloane: Usually the off-spring of minor European royalty, they spend most of their time in London
Sleek Sloane: Older but glamorous reincarnations of the original Sloane Ranger, who have updated their image
Eco Sloane: Altruistic and philanthropic, this tribe has impeccable green credentials
Party Sloane: Enjoy knocking back Crack Baby (mojito) cocktails in the capital's exclusive nightclubs
Bongo Sloane: Slightly dotty (but still posh) forty-somethings who extol the virtues of alternative treatments

Toby Mundy, the managing editor of Atlantic Books which will publish the sequel in October, said: "The Sloanes are back and richer than ever. It is okay again to be proud to be posh..."

I'm afraid they are just selfish scum of the earth to me .