The 85 richest people in the world have as much wealth as the 3.5 billion poorest. In the last 30 years the richest 1% of Australians have increased their share of income by 100%, in the USA it has increased by 150%. Governments world wide have spent trillions in tax dollars bailing out banks and other large corporations since the GFC. While spending on health, education welfare and foreign aid has been cut to record lows, tax cuts for high income earners have continued to increase exponentially.
Last year President Obama extended George W Bush's tax cuts which increased the after-tax incomes of people earning over $1 million a year by 7.3%, increased the earnings of the next richest 20% by 2.8% and decreased what everyone else earns. Last week the government claimed Australia's welfare system was "unsustainable" and announced a massive welfare review. At the same time they declared an amnesty for wealthy tax evaders.
So you'd think the über-rich would be pretty happy with their lot today. Think again.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/25/taxes-rich-holocaust_n_4665676....