This is hardly a shock horror moment. All sorts of data shows the disparity in wealth, no matter how measured, between the minority ruling class and the majority working class. How many though are asking themselves how did they acquire all this?

A huge 93 percent of stock market wealth in the US is held by the richest 10 percent of the population – a new record. While Americans on the whole have been investing in the stock market at a higher rate, the amount of wealth held is still skewed toward the richest households.

According to Federal Reserve data, 92.5 percent of equities are held by the richest 10 percent of Americans – meaning it is largely the already-wealthy who are benefiting from last year’s stock market boom.

Following a disastrous 2022, Wall Street rallied in 2023. The benchmark S&P 500 index gained 24 percent last year alone, driven mainly by the so-called ‘Magnificent Seven’ tech stocks including Apple and Microsoft.

Lawmakers were among those who made the most out of trading stocks last year, it has emerged, with some members of Congress making returns as high as 238 percent.

Two decades ago, in 2004, 81.6 percent of stock market wealth was held by the richest 10 percent of the population, Fed figures show.

In 2014, it had risen to 86.8 percent, and has increased steadily since to the most recent figures from 2022.

While much has been said about Americans turning to investing during the pandemic – when they had more time and disposable cash on their hands – it appears that stock ownership has not shifted too much from the richest households.

A record 58 percent of households owned stocks in 2023, according to the Fed’s Survey of Consumer Finances, but in the aggregate the amount of stock most people own is small.

The bottom 50 percent of Americans by wealth owned just 1 percent of all stocks and mutual fund shares in the third quarter of last year, central bank data shows.

In the third quarter, the bottom 50 percent of households held $4.8 trillion of real estate assets, but just $0.3 trillion worth in stocks, according to Fed data cited by Business Insider.

The top 1 percent, by comparison, held over $16 trillion in stocks, and just over $6 trillion in real estate assets.

Stock market booms have traditionally reaped the most rewards for those who are already wealthy, researchers said in a 2020 study.

That is because the richest tend to have their assets tied up in equities, while the middle-classes tend to have their money in housing, the study said.

Over the past decade, the S&P 500 index has gained 155 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq has risen by a huge 250 percent.

MailOnline 12 January 2024

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/yourmoney/banking/article-12952963/ultra-rich-record-share-stocks.html

This is hardly a shock horror moment. All sorts of data shows the disparity in wealth, no matter how measured, between the minority ruling class and the majority working class. How many though are asking themselves how did they acquire all this?

A huge 93 percent of stock market wealth in the US is held by the richest 10 percent of the population – a new record. While Americans on the whole have been investing in the stock market at a higher rate, the amount of wealth held is still skewed toward the richest households.

According to Federal Reserve data, 92.5 percent of equities are held by the richest 10 percent of Americans – meaning it is largely the already-wealthy who are benefiting from last year’s stock market boom.

Following a disastrous 2022, Wall Street rallied in 2023. The benchmark S&P 500 index gained 24 percent last year alone, driven mainly by the so-called ‘Magnificent Seven’ tech stocks including Apple and Microsoft.

Lawmakers were among those who made the most out of trading stocks last year, it has emerged, with some members of Congress making returns as high as 238 percent.

Two decades ago, in 2004, 81.6 percent of stock market wealth was held by the richest 10 percent of the population, Fed figures show.

In 2014, it had risen to 86.8 percent, and has increased steadily since to the most recent figures from 2022.

While much has been said about Americans turning to investing during the pandemic – when they had more time and disposable cash on their hands – it appears that stock ownership has not shifted too much from the richest households.

A record 58 percent of households owned stocks in 2023, according to the Fed’s Survey of Consumer Finances, but in the aggregate the amount of stock most people own is small.

The bottom 50 percent of Americans by wealth owned just 1 percent of all stocks and mutual fund shares in the third quarter of last year, central bank data shows.

In the third quarter, the bottom 50 percent of households held $4.8 trillion of real estate assets, but just $0.3 trillion worth in stocks, according to Fed data cited by Business Insider.

The top 1 percent, by comparison, held over $16 trillion in stocks, and just over $6 trillion in real estate assets.

Stock market booms have traditionally reaped the most rewards for those who are already wealthy, researchers said in a 2020 study.

That is because the richest tend to have their assets tied up in equities, while the middle-classes tend to have their money in housing, the study said.

Over the past decade, the S&P 500 index has gained 155 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq has risen by a huge 250 percent.

MailOnline 12 January 2024

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/yourmoney/banking/article-12952963/ultra-rich-record-share-stocks.html

With the ‘Royals’ currently in the news more than usual we repost this piece from the Socialist Standard, October 2006.

In a rerun of 1997, though no one has died, social media and the MSM is full of members of the working class behaving as if their closest relative was experiencing traumatic medical procedures. Others on SM are busy putting on their tinfoil hats.

We agree with John Donne that no man, or woman, is an island and we wish no harm to anyone. Meanwhile, across the world men,women and children of all persuasions are being slaughtered whilst lame excuses are offered in justification.

‘Dear Editors,

On the road to Socialism there are powerful institutions in the way. Monarchy, with all its associated inequalities and public loyalty, is a powerful support for capitalism. It embodies wealth and privilege alongside emotional adoration by the poor. Cromwell managed to remove a king, but soon after his death the monarchy was re-established.

Why has it been as successful as an institution? It no doubt has its own methods for self-survival (modern PR experts, and years of experience of being a monarch, plus perhaps a genuine love for the British people). Yet the institution can only survive with public consent. None of the political parties that have attained power has bothered to question in any serious way the existence of the monarchy; partly I assume because they dread the loyalty of the British people.

We are been socialised into a culture that respects the royal family, at least in principle (people may frown at certain incidents with the royals, but basically accept their existence). Submission to the monarchy is encouraged from the cradle to the grave, and even if cynical, a person may find it difficult to resist a feeling of pride when a member of the royal family visits their factory or local area. Celebrities have occasionally returned MBEs, but they are few and far between.

Vast arguments are put forward to justify the royal family (e.g. encourages tourism and hence the pockets of the people) We all ‘immersed’ in royalist propaganda and culture. Yet how can it be right for one family to be so well provided for (houses, land, wealth, public adoration etc) when other families struggle from day to day?

They also assist and legitimise other people who have unfair amounts of wealth (in the past kings and queens have helped each other in difficult circumstances – when the peasants are getting above themselves for instance).

The institution also puts unfair pressure on the members of the royal family. The horses the Queen must have sat on horses on rainy days to fulfil her royal duties; and the boredom of watching parade after parade! The lack of privacy – even minor scandals blown out of all proportion, and the difficulty of moving in privacy from A to B.

We are so ‘brainwashed’ into the advantages of monarchy, that we grossly underestimate the disadvantages. Yet it take courage for a politician to suggest to suggest we abolish it – the inaction of millions of indoctrinated people can be a formidable thing to experience. Other politicians would condemn his very words (in the hope of gaining votes for their own parties!).

Are we all involved in a ‘mother-figure’ complex (or for ex-public school types –‘matron’)? Do we feel more comfortable knowing she is then looking after us? Or are we being childish? Shouldn’t we liberate her and her family, as well as the public, from an institution that goes hand-in-hand with unequal society? Draw a line under history and move on?

Redacted

Reply:

Obviously if the monarchy is still around at the time socialism is established it would be abolished immediately. Such institutionalised privilege can have no place in a society of equals. This said, we don’t see any point in wasting time campaigning to get it abolished under capitalism. Whether or not a capitalist state is a monarchy or a republic makes no difference to the economic structure of society, which is the root cause of the problems wage and salary workers face today. Just look at the USA, which has been a republic since the 18th century –

Editors.’

https://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2023/10/letters-ted-grant-2006.html

There’s an episode of The Simpsons where the innocents from Hollywood, shooting a film in Springfield, are bilked by the sophisticated hicks living there and return to Hollywood penniless.,

Apparently, the denizens in and around Davos are taking full advantage of free market forces and are implementing eye watering costs for accommodation and other services. Free market forces, is that never give a sucker an even break.

Supporters of such forces might say that it’s really no different from House owners in Wimbledon renting out their drives and car parking spaces during Wimbledon Tennis Championship fortnight.

‘Rental prices in Davos, Switzerland during the World Economic Forum (WEF) have become a spectacle of the absurd. However, for local landlords this is not something outrageous but merely business as usual — a prime opportunity to capitalize on the presence of the global elite to generate substantial income.’

The Swiss government finds itself on the petard: ‘The Swiss government can’t afford to send its own officials to the World Economic Forum’s elite yearly get-together in Davos, and is asking “higher level” dignitaries to share hotel rooms, the Neue Zuercher Zeitung reported.

The Alpine resort town of Davos will play host to politicians, business leaders and celebrities when the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting kicks off on Monday. The gathering is an opportunity for like-minded, mostly liberal, elites to network and discuss eliminating fossil fuels, boosting “diversity and equity,” and planning for calamitous diseases, among other much-maligned proposals.

The influx of elites naturally drives the cost of accommodation in Davos through the roof, and even the Swiss government is feeling the pinch, according to an official audit cited by the Neue Zuercher Zeitung.

The WEF made 25 hotel rooms available to representatives of the Swiss federal government last year. 20 of these were inside the heavily-policed “security zone,” and priced at 1,269.90 francs ($1,472) per night, while five outside this zone cost the Swiss taxpayer 599.90 francs ($705) each.

According to the audit, the prices were set after “complicated negotiations” between the WEF and local hotels, and were considered “favourable” rates.

However, federal expense regulations only allow Swiss government officials to spend a maximum of 180 francs ($211) per night, or 250 francs ($293) in what the newspaper called “justified exceptional cases.”

With prices running nearly ten times this rate, the government is making some cutbacks this year, Economy Minister Guy Parmelin told the paper. The size of this year’s delegation is being kept “as small as possible,” Parmelin said,and that some members will stay in the town of Chur, 50 kilometres from the Davos site.

While the government has managed to secure hotel rooms in Chur for the comparative bargain of 190 francs per night, delegates will still have to share rooms in some cases. Even those at the “higher levels of the hierarchy” will have to bunk up, Parmelin stated.

Some 5,000 Swiss soldiers will be deployed throughout the country during the WEF gathering, the Swiss Defense Ministry said last week. A sizable contingent of these will be housed outside the town, but will not be subjected to the same spending limits as the government delegation, the newspaper reported. Soldiers on duty at last year’s summit had an even better arrangement, staying in the resort itself.

Back in 2016, five soldiers tested positive for cocaine consumption after their week in Davos and were sent home, while another seven were disciplined for smoking cannabis while protecting the rich and powerful.

Rental prices in Davos, Switzerland during the World Economic Forum (WEF) have become a spectacle of the absurd. However, for local landlords this is not something outrageous but merely business as usual — a prime opportunity to capitalize on the presence of the global elite to generate substantial income.

Speaking of suckers, we, the majority, are suckers for letting Capitalism, a system which exploits far far many more on a daily basis, year in and year out, continue to take advantage of us.

Self Defence

‘Self-defence’ is the mantra that’s cited,

These days, for acts of aggression that’re launched,

So unwonted threats to free trade may be staunched

And economies saved from being blighted.

Or as a response to atrocity,

Fully justifying, or so it’s claimed

Greater atrocities, counting the maimed

And the dead as an acceptable fee.

Then left right march in solidarity

With whichever cause, with judgment’s suspense

Is deemed to be acting in self-defence,

By those whose partial view lacks clarity.

Best self-defence, for a good life and health?

Transcend borders, choose a world commonwealth.

D. A.

Self Defence

‘Self-defence’ is the mantra that’s cited,

These days, for acts of aggression that’re launched,

So unwonted threats to free trade may be staunched

And economies saved from being blighted.

Or as a response to atrocity,

Fully justifying, or so it’s claimed

Greater atrocities, counting the maimed

And the dead as an acceptable fee.

Then left right march in solidarity

With whichever cause, with judgment’s suspense

Is deemed to be acting in self-defence,

By those whose partial view lacks clarity.

Best self-defence, for a good life and health?

Transcend borders, choose a world commonwealth.

D. A.

Self Defence

‘Self-defence’ is the mantra that’s cited,

These days, for acts of aggression that’re launched,

So unwonted threats to free trade may be staunched

And economies saved from being blighted.

Or as a response to atrocity,

Fully justifying, or so it’s claimed

Greater atrocities, counting the maimed

And the dead as an acceptable fee.

Then left right march in solidarity

With whichever cause, with judgment’s suspense

Is deemed to be acting in self-defence,

By those whose partial view lacks clarity.

Best self-defence, for a good life and health?

Transcend borders, choose a world commonwealth.

D. A.

The Guardian reports, 16 January, ‘Labour intends to restore Britain’s reputation as a place to do business after 14 years of Conservative economic failure, the shadow chancellor will tell members of the global elite in Davos on Wednesday. [17 January].

Stepping up Labour’s pre-election boardroom charm offensive Reeves will tell a breakfast meeting hosted by the US investment bank JP Morgan that boosting private sector investment is key to the party’s growth strategy.

“ Fourteen years of stagnant economic growth and political uncertainty has left Britain weaker: the chaotic departure from the European Union…This instability has turned businesses away, damaged our reputation and made us a less attractive place to do business.”

Labour went into the last election with an expansion of public ownership at the heart of its economic strategy but Reeves and Keir Starmer have spent the past four years pursuing a more business-friendly approach. The shadow chancellor is being accompanied in Davos by Labour’s business spokesperson, Jonathan Reynolds.

“The lifeblood of economic growth is private sector investment,” she is expected to say. “That is why we have put business investment at the heart of our plan for growth.

“With Labour, Britain will be open to business. We will restore stability and security into our economy. We will restore Britain’s reputation as a place to do business. And we will be a trusted partner with business in delivering the change our country and our economy needs.”’

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/jan/16/labour-will-restore-uks-reputation-for-business-rachel-reeves-to-tell-davos

Will this appear in Labour’s Election Manifesto or on the leaflets they’ll be shoving through doors? Labour – the capitalists friend. You have been warned.

The recently installed President of Argentina, Javier Milei, is in Davos.

‘Argentina’s traditional asado barbecue is no longer affordable for many households due to soaring meat and vegetable prices, according to a Reuters report.

The word ‘asado’, which is derived from the Spanish word for ‘roasted’, refers both to the unique grilling method for Argentinian barbecue and also to the vibrant social gathering among friends that traditionally accompanies the meal.

However, with inflation in the country having topped 200% last year, more Argentinians have been further tightening their belts.

Latin America’s third-biggest economy is bearing the brunt of a severe economic crisis after decades of debt and financial mismanagement. An estimated 40% of Argentinians are living in poverty.

According to official statistics, inflation rate hit 25.5% month-on-month in December. It is expected to climb faster in the months ahead after President Javier Milei’s government devalued the peso by over 50% last month as part of his so-called ‘shock therapy’ reforms to stabilize the ailing economy.

Milei, who has been in office for a month, has warned it will take time for the results of his program to be seen and that things could get worse before they get better.

President Javier Milei has announced sweeping economic reforms in a bid to combat the worst economic crisis in the country in decades.

They include the privatization of state-owned companies, as well as steps to end limits on exports and loosen price controls.

The newly elected president, who describes himself as an anarcho-capitalist, signed a decree on Wednesday setting out over 300 measures as part of his “economic shock therapy.”

“I’m signing an urgent decree that will kick-start the process of economic deregulation that Argentina needs so much, The objective is to return freedom and autonomy to individuals and start dismantling the enormous amount of regulations that have impeded, hindered, and stopped economic growth,” Milei said.

He has set out a list of initial policy changes, which include a “modernization of labour law to facilitate the process of creating real jobs” and a series of other deregulatory measures affecting tourism, satellite internet services, pharmaceuticals, wine production, and foreign trade.;’

[These measures are designed to make life easier for Argentinian and international capitalists and to increase the exploitation of the working class.]

‘His plan comes one week after Argentina’s new government announced a 54% devaluation of the peso, cuts to energy and transportation subsidies, and a freeze in spending on some major state programs.

There are also plans to hike taxes for Argentina’s grains exports – a key source of global supply for processed soybeans, corn, and wheat.

The initiative was met with harsh criticism from agriculture groups who warned that the measure would harm the industry. Grain exports are a major source of foreign currency reserves for the country’s central bank and are needed to finance imports and repay debts.

The changes have already proved divisive as thousands took to the streets of Buenos Aires to voice their discontent over the government’s austerity plans and to demand more support for the poor.

Latin America’s third-biggest economy is challenged by a severe economic crisis after decades of debt and financial mismanagement, with annual inflation surpassing 160% and 40% of Argentinians living in poverty.

Annual inflation in Argentina exceeded 211% in 2023, marking the highest rate in more than three decades, according to the latest data released by the government’s statistics agency INDEC.

Argentina’s year-on-year rise in prices has also propelled it above Venezuela for the first time in decades, sending the South American country to the highest rankings among nations struggling with soaring inflation.

The data underscores the strong impact of a series of shock measures there, including a 50% devaluation of the nation’s currency and a hike in the key interest rate to 133% in an effort to eventually tame the country’s roaring inflation. The government has also allowed price-fixing agreements to lapse.

The annual inflation more than doubled from 2022’s rate of nearly 95%. Meanwhile, monthly inflation stood at 25.5% in December, up from 12.8% in November but slightly below the 30% projected by the country’s government.

Earlier this week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to unlock $4.7 billion for Argentina as part of a debt-restructuring plan and despite the fact that the nation has missed targets related to its $43-billion loan program.

The drastic steps taken by the new government have had a significant negative impact on prices in the country and on food prices in particular.

Argentines’ purchasing power dropped some 10% on average in December as wages rose slower than prices, according to Fernando Marull, director of financial consultancy FMyA, as cited by the FT.

In addition, a regular poll carried out by Argentina’s Federation of Medium-Sized Businesses among retailers showed a 13.7% drop in sales in December compared with the same month in 2022.’

A google search for ‘sex workers in Davos’ reveals fourteen and a half million results. SOYMB will leave readers to do their own research on this topic.

Capitalist economic law, when the demand is high the supply follows the need.

Has the Davos capitalist trades union conference issued a communique yet stating the determination of the ruling class to ensure their resolve to guarantee the free passage on the high, low and Red seas of commodity loaded vessels to pass without let or hindrance? Last minute addition: And by jingo if anyone messes with our profits we’ll get our various lapdogs to bomb the hell out of them.

What odds could you get at the bookies that long and serious discussion is taking place there as to when the majority working class are going to become aware that, ‘we are many, they are few?’

‘A prolonged conflict in the Red Sea and escalating tensions across the Middle East risk having devastating effects on the global economy, reigniting inflation and disrupting energy supplies, some of the world’s leading economists warn this weekend.

… economists at the World Bank say the crisis now threatens to feed through into higher interest rates, lower growth, persistent inflation and greater geopolitical uncertainty.’

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/13/red-sea-crisis-could-shatter-hopes-of-economic-recovery

It is reported that, ‘World trade plunged by 1.3% from November to December 2023 as a result of Houthi attacks on merchant vessels in the Red Sea, according to a new report by the IfW Kiel.

The German economic institute said that the volume of containers transported via the Red Sea had plummeted by more than half as of December and is currently almost 70% below the volume that would usually be expected.

The research shows that currently around 200,000 containers are being transported via the Red Sea daily, down from some 500,000 per day in November.

“The detour of ships due to the attacks in the Red Sea around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa means that the time it takes to transport goods between Asian production centres and European consumers is significantly extended by up to 20 days,” said IfW Kiel’s trade policy research centre.

“This is also reflected in the declining trade figures for Germany and the EU, as transported goods are now still at sea and have not already been unloaded in the harbours as planned.”

The IfW Kiel’s trade indicator for December shows exports from and imports to the EU dropped by 2% and 3.1%, respectively. The US saw a 1.5% decline in exports and a 1% fall in imports, even though the route through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal plays a lesser role for the US than for Europe, according to the report.

‘Container freight rates are surging as attacks by Yemen-based Houthi rebels on cargo ships in the Red Sea have forced shipping giants to send vessels around southern Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, Reuters reported.

According to data tracked by the international shipping marketplace Freightos, Asia-to-North Europe rates have more than doubled to over $4,000 per 40-foot container, while prices for Asia-to-Mediterranean shipping have climbed to $5,175.

Some carriers have announced rates above $6,000 per 40-foot container for Mediterranean shipments starting mid-month, and surcharges of $500 to as much as $2,700 per container could make all-in prices even higher, according to Freightos.

The price leap is attributed to attacks carried out by Yemen-based Houthi militants across a key artery leading to the Suez Canal, and have so far forced global shipping majors to send cargo ships on the long journey around Africa. The prolonged voyages last up to 20 days more, and are leading to a shortage of container ships.

Freight rates for shipping to North American ports have been less affected, but have also risen.

Rates for shipments from Asia to North America’s East Coast have surged 55% to $3,900 per 40-foot container, while West Coast prices have soared 63% to over $2,700 ahead of expected cargo diversions to avoid Red Sea-related issues.’