It’s been the same headÂline for months now:
* April of 2020: AmerÂiÂcan bilÂlionÂaires have gotÂten $280 bilÂlion richÂer since the start of the COVID-19 panÂdemÂic
* May of 2020: AmerÂiÂcan bilÂlionÂaires got $434 richÂer durÂing the panÂdemÂic
* August of 2020: AmerÂiÂcan bilÂlionÂaires got $637 richÂer durÂing the panÂdemÂic
* SepÂtemÂber of 2020: U.S. bilÂlionÂaires got $845 bilÂlion richÂer since the start of the panÂdemÂic/Wealth of US bilÂlionÂaires risÂes by nearÂly a third durÂing panÂdemÂic
* OctoÂber of 2020: US bilÂlionÂaires saw their net worth rise by almost $1 trilÂlion between March and OctoÂber — Jeff Bezos remains the richÂest, a study says.
From nearÂly the start of the COVID-19 panÂdemÂic it’s been clear that the pubÂlic health disÂasÂter wasÂn’t a disÂasÂter for everyÂone, with the wealthÂiÂest indiÂvidÂuÂals being not only largeÂly insuÂlatÂed from the ecoÂnomÂic lockÂdown but in many casÂes well posiÂtioned to profÂit from it. The panÂdemÂic was turnÂing into a giant upward transÂfer of wealth. And as we’re going to see, giant upward transÂfers of wealth are essenÂtialÂly what the priÂvate equiÂty indusÂtry is all about. The rise of ‘supÂply-side’ ecoÂnomÂics in the 1980s coinÂcidÂed with the rise of priÂvate equiÂty and that’s no coinÂciÂdence. The phiÂlosÂoÂphy behind the priÂvate equiÂty moveÂment is the phiÂlosÂoÂphy of supÂply-side ecoÂnomÂics. An anti-New Deal phiÂlosÂoÂphy, where ruthÂlessÂness is a virtue, that fueled a 40 year giant fasÂcist leverÂaged buyÂout of sociÂety.
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