THE FAT CATS GET FATTER

While the poor are getting poorer the rich are getting a whole lot richer.

Forbes magazine recently published its 'World's Richest People' List.

It reveals that there are now 1,011 billionaires in 56 countries, 218 more than last year. The actual net worth of the world’s billionaires has risen by around 50 per cent, clear evidence that the world’s rich are getting richer at the expense of everyone else.

Forbes Editor in Chief Steve Forbes has laughably claimed that both the number of new billionaires and the increase in their net worth is 'proof' that the world economy is 'recovering'.

But what it really confirms is that there has been a continued distribution of wealth from the poor to the rich. It's the 'trickle down ' theory in reverse.

In Mr Forbes own country poverty is at a 15 year high, with one in seven Americans falling below the poverty line.

In 2010 nearly 44 million Americans were living in poverty.

A recent local example of the 'trickle up' theory in action is Minister of Finance Bill English giving the wealthy even more money in the way of substantial tax cuts - tax cuts that Bill thinks he and his mates should keep, although he is telling everyone else that they have to 'pay up' for the rebuilding of Christchurch.