"The rich getting richer. Pardon me for being brusk, Robert, but tell us something we don't know?"

I wrote a post a few days ago in which I pointed out how the rich are getting insanely richer by the day and how the rest of us are facing more and more economic insecurity. I also pointed out how we are constantly bombarded with the message that most Americans are doing fine and how it's rare to even see anyone, let alone anyone with any political influence, actually even admit that the vastly expanding gap between the rich and poor even exists. Well, even when someone does admit it, they will tell you that it's a good thing. So, don't worry as you struggle to pay your medical bills, buy gas to get you back and forth to work while still having enough money left over to feed your family, ponder what you are going to do when your job finally gets outsourced, etc. Just remember this: hang in there, eventually, one day really soon, that weatlth that's being amassed by the richest, smallest percent of Americans is going to start to trickle down to you!


TEXT OF INTERVIEW
Scott Jagow: Today, we found out exactly how many people on this planet are millionaires. 9.5 million people. About a third of them live in the United States.


Last year, the U.S. saw a 9 percent increase in the number of millionaires over the year before. And those people control a lot more money. This came out in a report from Merrill Lynch and CapGemini today.


Joining us to talk about it is Robert Frank. He writes the Wealth Report column for the Wall Street Journal. Thanks for being here, Robert.


Robert Frank: Thank you.


Jagow: The rich getting richer. Pardon me for being brusk, Robert, but tell us something we don't know?


Frank: The rich are getting richer, and what's happened that we really don't know, or that we underestimated, was the speed with which the rich are getting more numerous. The number of millionaires has been the real story over the past 10 years, and we saw that continue in 2006. In the U.S., as you mentioned, 9 percent growth. Worldwide, 8 percent growth. These growth rates are two and three times the growth rates of those economies.


Jagow: So, what is good about having this many millionaires?


Frank: Well . . . I have to think about this for a minute, what's good about it . . . I mean, one of the impacts of having all this wealth is more and more trickle-down. Now clearly, this hasn't been enough trickle-down to address inequality issues in America . . .


Jagow: That's a dangerous term there, Robert.


Frank: Inequality?


Jagow: No, trickle-down.


Frank: Oh, trickle-down, that's right. But what we are seeing is a growing economy built around the wealthy. There is in America today a shortage of yachts, a waiting-list for Ferraris, for gulf-stream jets. The starting salary for a butler today is $80,000. There's so much demand at the high end for services and products that serve the wealthy that it is creating jobs and economies for the rest of America.


Jagow: OK, Robert Frank. He writes the Wealth Report column for the Wall Street Journal. His book is called, "Richistan." Thanks for joining us.
Frank: Thank you.


Ok, now before people start getting all upset and pissed off at the idea that this guy is just shoveling a huge pile of bullshit in our direction and hoping that the distracted, stressed out and stupid masses will smile and just be glad that someone is at least trying to reassure them, perhaps we should consider this calmly. I realize that we've been waiting for this trickle down thing to swing into gear and start showering us with economic security and possibly prosperity since Regan was in office. And decades later the wealth is still being sucked upwards. However, maybe it's possible that the weatlhy were just waiting until they had accumulated enough wealth to make sure there was enough to trickle down to everyone. I mean, if the rich are about anything it's about what's fair, best for the common good and what helps the most number of people, right? Oh, never mind, it's like I said before, we're all fucked.