To prove my point, I see everyday on the East Side of Manhattan two very distinct classes of New Yorkers cross paths every day: the working poor (undocumented immigrants and citizens alike), who cook, deliver take-aways, secure and protect -- for little money and no benefits -- and the titans of finance, hedge-fund executives in Giorgio Armani or St. John's complete with leather Berkin who stare at numbers on tall giant screens while moving other people's money in and out of stocks and commodities or buying and selling companies, and whose wealth is expanding so quickly they have difficulty figuring out what to do with it.
It is true! While workers in the first group (like most of us) struggle to survive on small wages/salaries, the financial elite continue to break income records. The just-released 2007 earning figures find the top five hedge-fund managers all clearing $1.5 billion. The top 25 on the list earned an average $892 million, up from $532 million in 2006 -- in a year when the economy began to stall, the group needing no help ended up nearly doubling its income. The top ten earners alone made a combined $16.1 billion, more than the GDP of Nicaragua.
It is true! While workers in the first group (like most of us) struggle to survive on small wages/salaries, the financial elite continue to break income records. The just-released 2007 earning figures find the top five hedge-fund managers all clearing $1.5 billion. The top 25 on the list earned an average $892 million, up from $532 million in 2006 -- in a year when the economy began to stall, the group needing no help ended up nearly doubling its income. The top ten earners alone made a combined $16.1 billion, more than the GDP of Nicaragua.