“Behind every great fortune lies a great crime” ... French novelist Honoré de Balzac
No one disputes the fact that the global pandemic threw us all under the bus. Some of us got sick. Some of us lost loved ones. Others lost jobs. Others reaped the benefits. At Inequality.org, journalist Chuck Collins recently shared some statistics concerning the ever-increasing disparity between billionaires and average folks. In a nutshell, the rich not only got richer – they got a lot richer.
Pandemic profiteers like Musk and Bezos made out like bandits and the figures are jaw-dropping. At the start of the pandemic, Tesla CEO Elon Musk was worth about $25 billion dollars; two years into the pandemic his wealth had surged to $255 billion. When last checked – March 18, 2024 – Musk is at $188.5 billion. That’s more than a seven-fold increase in four years.
At the same time, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ wealth has soared from $113 billion to 192.8 billion – even after donating tens of billions to charity and paying out tens of billions more in a divorce settlement with his now ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott.
Speaking of Ms. Scott, she’s the only billionaire on the 2020 top 15 wealthiest Americans list to see a decline in her wealth decline from a net worth of $36 billion in 2020 to $35.4 billion due to her generous giving to charity. At least someone has their values in check.
In 2022 the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics summed up one study of COVID’s impact on those of us who were just trying to keep our heads above the water line:
The pandemic disrupted lower-paid, service-sector employment
most, disadvantaging women and lower income groups at least
temporarily, and this may have scarring effects...Higher-paid
workers tend to gain more from continuing opportunities to
telework. Less-advantaged students suffered greater educational
setbacks from school closures. School and daycare closures
disrupted the work of many parents, particularly mothers. We
conclude that the pandemic is likely to widen income inequality
over the long run, because the lasting changes in work patterns,
consumer demand, and production will benefit higher income
groups and erode opportunities for some less advantaged groups.
The U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics got it right. Income inequality grew like cancer cells in the course of the pandemic. Collins’ data tells us that in March 2020 the U. S. harbored 614 billionaires worth $2.947 trillion. In March 2024 the number of billionaires had grown to 737 billionaires worth $5.529 trillion.
If not always illegal, this vast increase in billionaires' wealth has deadly consequences.
In 2022 Oxfam International published Inequality Kills, a report detailing how inequality “is contributing to the death of at least 21,000 people each day, or one person every four seconds. This is a conservative finding based on deaths globally from lack of access to healthcare, gender-based violence, hunger, and climate breakdown.”
Oxfam’s International Executive Director Gabriela Bucher made it quite clear just what led to that perilous state of affairs:
Central banks pumped trillions of dollars into financial markets
to save the economy, yet much of that has ended up lining the
pockets of billionaires riding a stock market boom. Vaccines
were meant to end this pandemic, yet rich governments allowed
pharma billionaires and monopolies to cut off the supply to
billions of people. The result is that every kind of inequality
imaginable risks rising. The predictability of it is sickening.
Fixing – or at least ameliorating – inequality is no easy task. The recommendations of the Peterson Institute for International Economics include: governments need to address inequality directly and specifically; taxes and spending programs must be progressive and benefit others than the wealthy; novel approaches must replace tired, by-the-book policy.
Whatever remedies one favors to deal with the obscene inequality of wealth here and elsewhere, the time to act is now. As Oxfam’s Bucher says: “The consequences of it kill.”
A (not-so-brief) Timeline of Trump Administration Turnover
This White House has the highest turnover of any recent administration. Who's leaving?
Trump's staff has the highest turnover within the first year out of the past five administrations. So far, as of April 16, 2018, a total of 32 of staffers and cabinet members have either resigned or been fired. While turnover is expected in the high stress environment of the White House, the frequency of exits is unprecedented. Who are the administration members who have left and been replaced? Here's a timeline of the most important officials who have left the administration.
Feb. 13, 2017 — National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was the first to be forced out of the administration. This was over concerns that Flynn lied to administration officials about the nature of his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States.
May 9, 2017 — FBI Director James Comey was fired. Trump said he felt frustrated by Comey's testimony about the FBI investigation into Russia's meddling during the 2016 campaign and the possible contacts with Trump advisers. This came out after the administration said Trump fired Comey based on recommendations from Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
June 2, 2017 — White House Communications Director Mike Dubke resigned from his post. He told colleagues that his reasons were personal.
July 21, 2017 — White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer resigned. This followed after he had told Trump he disagreed with his appointment of Anthony Scaramucci to replace Dubke as communications director.
July 28, 2017 — White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus was forced out of his position after a tumultuous six months in the position. He was widely viewed as weak and ineffective.
July 31, 2017 — White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci was fired days after just 10 days. This came after ranting to a reporter about his co-workers. He described them as paranoid and mentally ill while throwing in a few choice curse words. Scaramucci was fired by the new chief of staff John Kelly.
A visual timeline of Trump Administration exits Graphic by Lauren Aguirre
Aug. 18, 2017 — Chief Strategist Stephen Bannon was fired shortly after Kelly took over as chief of staff. Bannon was a highly controversial figure in the administration. He was a former head of Brietbart News — a far right-wing website that puts a heavy spin on its stories.
Aug. 25, 2017 — Adviser Sebastian Gorka was forced out shortly after Bannon left the administration. He was a former Breitbart News writer and was closely aligned with Bannon.
Sept. 20, 2017 — Director of Oval Office Operations Keith Schiller resigned shortly after Kelly came in as chief of staff. Schiller was a longtime aide and bodyguard to Trump since before he started his political career. Schiller was hired by the Republican National Committee.
Sept. 29, 2017 — Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price resigned surrounding controversy that he used taxpayer money to fund thousands of dollars in travel bills and chartered flights.
Dec. 13, 2017 — Communications Director for the Office of Public Liaison Omarosa Manigault Newman was fired by Kelly. Newman was a former contestant on Trump's reality show The Apprentice.
Jan. 18, 2018 — Chief of External Affairs for Corporation for National and Community Service Carl Higbie resigned after CNN reported on disparaging remarks he had made in the past about black people, Muslims, LGBT, and veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Jan. 31, 2018 — Director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Brenda Fitzgerald resigned over her financial investments in tobacco and health care companies that created potential conflicts of interest.
Feb. 7, 2018 — White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter resigned a day after his two ex-wives accused him of physical abuse during their marriages.
Feb. 9, 2018 — White House Speechwriter David Sorensen resigned after reports of accusations from his ex-wife saying he abused her during their marriage.
March 13, 2018 — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was fired by tweet. Trump had posted that he would replace Tillerson with Mike Pompeo, the CIA director.
March 22, 2018 — National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster resigned after it became clear that Trump no longer wanted him. He was replaced by John Bolton, who is a hardline former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
March 28, 2018 — Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin was fired by Trump after weeks of uncertainty. He was replaced by Trump's White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson, a rear admiral in the navy.
March 29, 2018 — White House Communications Director Hope Hicks resigned. She had worked with Trump for years and was an important adviser on the campaign. In late February, she announced that she would resign in the coming weeks.
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