Well, maybe not. I got to thinking this morning about how a wonderful book, The Millionaire Next Door, establishes something very profound. Specifically, those who are truly wealthy (a million dollars or more in assets beyond their home) don't get there because they inherited it, or because they engaged in flashy businesses a la Donald Trump. Nor are they those who inhabit the corner offices of large companies. For the most part, the subjects of his study were those who had learned a trade or profession, plied it well, and lived well below their means.
Their car? Not a Bimmer or Lexus, but rather a Crown Vic or F150. Their house? Closer to yours than you'd guess. Taste for caviar? Nope, they splurge on a steak once in a while. Stanley and Danko found, interestingly, that their non-millionaire research associates (often just grad students) ended up enjoying the champagne and caviar that they'd set out for the millionaires, who were just as happy with hamburgers and Budweiser. "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" it was not.
In other words, a truly rich person in this country is generally one who learns how to make one dollar do the work of two, to use an old adage. Now what does this have to do with Obama's plan to tax the rich to fund (in part) a trillion dollar "stimulus" package?
Well, it's these people--driving older sedans and living in the nice, but not opulent house down your street--who are going to be taxed to pay for this, and the recipients are going to be the guys in the opulent house who are now losing it to foreclosure. In other words, you take from those who make a dollar do the work of two, and you give it to those who make a dollar do the work of fifty cents.
Stimulus? Not exactly. Prescription for a new Depression, or at least a long lasting recession? Now you're getting warmer.
Know Your Lifts: The Romanian Deadlift (RDL)
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In the Know Your Lifts series, we’ve covered the high-bar back squat, the
low-bar squat, the power jerk and split jerk, and the overhead press. It’s
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11 hours ago
3 comments:
had a freind in HS whose dad immigrated from mexico when he was 18. the US had a policy of allowing any mexican to immigrate IF they entered the army upon entrance. he took the deal. (it was early 1945).
at 50, he was retired, and owned/rented out 6-7 houses on his own block and the 4-plex he built in his oversized back yard.
he bought a new ford ranger every few yrs, but did most driving with an old beat ford truck he used for utility.
he was as mexican-immigrant looking as it gets,too. you'd never know he was wealthy.
Good post, BB. That is one of the better books I've read. And you are spot-on regarding the consequences of what seems to be on the horizon.
It's depressing, man.
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