The Millionaire Next Door

The Wall Street Journal

Status Symbols: John Deere versus Tiffany’s

In a recent broadcast of Mad Money, Jim Cramer did an analysis of several retailers who cater to the affluent.  One of these was Tiffany’s.  Jim indicated that the company’s stock price, of course, was highly correlated with its sales and ultimately its profits.  Further, he proposed that the performance of this upscale retailer is highly correlated with profits and …

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Wealth Tax Today, Confiscation Tomorrow?

Proposals for a tax on wealth frighten me.  Take for example a recent editorial “The Conservative Case for a Wealth Tax” by Ronald McKinnon in The Wall Street Journal.  Mr. McKinnon first argues that increasing the income tax rate of high earners would be for various reasons ineffective in raising federal revenue.  He claims that “income inequality . . …

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1% versus 99%: Widening Income Gap? Not!

One has to be amazed at the distorted views presented in the media and in the political arena regarding “the rich.”   But Alan J. Reynolds does provide some objective reality in his editorial, “Tax rates, inequality and the 1%.”  He first cites a statement from the Congressional Budget Office: The share of income received by the top 1% …

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Unhappy 99%ers: Sell Your US Citizenship to Chinese Millionaires

Stories about the so-called “evil rich”, the ever controllinig 1%, are rampant in the news.   But the good deeds of the rich, if reported at all, are many times buried in the back pages.  Take for example the 3″ x 6″ article published in The New York Times, “Two Cheers for the Malaria Vaccine.”   …

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“Any Economically Successful Man Doesn’t Gamble”

As of March, 2011, “there were 1.7 million active poker player accounts in the US from players wagering around $14 billion a year online” (see The Wall Street Journal). A lot of these players must feel that they can gamble themselves into millionaire status.  And who can blame them?  Cable television relentlessly glorifies gambling and constantly associates poker playing, especially, …

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