It was a Rand Corporation study showing that, between 1975 and 2018, the equivalent of $2.5 trillion (no, not “billion”!) was transferred annually from the bottom 90% of Americans to the top 1%. (In those years, even the 2% to 9%-ers essentially twiddled their financial thumbs.) Such a transfer of wealth, close to $50 trillion, should stagger the imagination.

And yet, unbelievably enough, in this Covid-19 year of ours, America’s billionaires have simply continued to add to their treasure trove in an overwhelming fashion as significant parts of that 90% went down hard.

According to the Institute for Policy Studies, between March and September, in the midst of a devastating pandemic, the net worth of America’s 643 richest people rose from $2.95 trillion to $3.8 trillion. It’s since topped $4 trillion and a new study suggests that those billionaires could make out $3,000 stimulus checks to everyone in this country and not have a cent less than they had when the pandemic began. And yet, at this moment, with millions of Americans out of work, Congress can barely imagine offering them, at best, the most minimal kind of helping hand, though its generosity when it comes to the Pentagon budget is beyond compare. (Tomgram, 13 Dec 2020)

No comment needed from me!