You Can Never Be Too Slim Or Too Rich
Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim is the richest man in the world. Forbes Magazine’s new list of billionaires puts Slim at $53.5 Billion .. just ahead of Bill Gates at $53 Billion and Warren Buffett with $47 Billion. My computer doesn’t have that many zeroes!
But get this: the number of billionaires in the world grew from 793 last year to 1,011 this year! The total net worth of Forbes’ 164 B-boys (and girls) .. rose by 50% to $3.6 Trillion!!
I begrudge no one the right to be rich or to enjoy that wealth without complaint. But I do think some perspective is needed, especially since we’re still trying to come out of the Great Recession.
According to the Census Bureau, median U.S. household income fell 3.6% from 2007 to 2008, dropping to $50, 303. Nearly 40 million Americans now live in poverty. And 46.3 million Americans have no health insurance.
Tool Time
What does give me a little pause, is a story like this. Nolan Archibald, the CEO of Black & Decker, could win a pay package of $89 Million if investors approve the sale of BD to rival Stanley Works. What a tool! And what will the workers get? Oh, yeah .. screwed.
Oops .. Another (Brake) Shoe Is Falling
And I don’t know what Akio Toyoda gets paid but these days it’s probably not enough. This morning, Toyota (the company) agreed to hand over to U.S. investigators, documents from 2006 in which Toyota workers themselves complained to management, that safety was being sacrificed in the name of profits.
That can’t be good news.
And you hate to see that kind of information dribble out like this. Really, Mr. Toyoda .. get it all out there now, take your lumps and move on. You will be doing yourself and your investors a really big favor.
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