The Entitlement of the Very Rich

[unhappycamper]

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/dean-baker/57577/the-entitlement-of-the-very-rich

The Entitlement of the Very Rich
Economic Equity
by Dean Baker | August 12, 2014 - 9:22am

The very rich don't think very highly of the rest of us. This fact is driven home to us through fluke events, like the taping of Mitt Romney's famous 47 percent comment, in which he trashed the people who rely on Social Security, Medicare, and other forms of government benefits.

Last week we got another opportunity to see the thinking of the very rich when Jeffrey Immelt, the CEO of General Electric, complained at a summit with African heads of state and business leaders that there is even an argument over the reauthorization of Export-Import Bank. According to the Washington Post, Immelt said in reference to the Ex-Im Bank reauthorization, "the fact that we have to sit here and argue for it I think is just wrong."

To get some orientation, the Ex-IM Bank makes around $35 billion a year in loans or loan guarantees each year. The overwhelming majority of these loans go to huge multi-nationals like Boeing or Mr. Immelt's company, General Electric. The loans and guarantees are a subsidy that facilitates exports by allowing these companies and/or their customers to borrow at below market interest rates.

As a practical matter, whether the bank is reauthorized or not will have no noticeable impact on the economy. If the government took away the subsidy on this $35 billion in exports, it would probably lead to a decline of between 10 and 30 percent in these exports ($3.5 billion to $10.5 billion), while costing Boeing, GE, and the rest some of their profit margin on the portion they continued to export.

[cantbeserious]

1. The Oligarchs, Corporations And Banks Own And Control The Politicians That Own And Control Us

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