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No, billionaires don’t drive economic growth – and crony billionaires strangle it.
My research found that the myth of billionaires boosting the economy is untrue – particularly when they amassed their wealth from political connections…. (by Jan Svejnar).
‘Politically connected billionaires are disproportionately represented in post-communist countries, including Russia where many emerged as political cronies of Boris Yeltsin.’
(Denistouret.fr).
After I escaped communist Czechoslovakia in 1970, I enrolled at Cornell University. In my introductory sociology course there, I was taught that becoming a billionaire was impossible – realising the “American dream”, at least at the very top of the income scale, was effectively no longer an option. The last few decades have certainly proved this thesis wrong.
This shift has had significant consequences for income and wealth inequality not just in the US, but also in many countries around the globe. In fact, the top 1% globally will soon hold over half the world’s wealth. And their share is growing. This stunning fact makes it all the more important to ask what this means for the rest of us. Given the amazing level of accumulation of wealth at the top, improving our understanding of the economic role of billionaires has certainly become a public policy issue of the highest order.
In order to make headway on understanding the implications, we must obviously do more than just look from one year to the next at the increasing concentration of wealth. The key questions to answer are: is a greater presence of billionaires in a country a positive, as some might argue? Or is there evidence that it is a negative? Leaving aside moral questions, do billionaires accelerate or slow down a country’s economic growth?
We discovered that billionaire wealth arising from being politically connected has a strongly negative effect on growth
Depending on the answer to these questions, even those generally inclined in the media and politics to boost the fortunes of billionaires might have to rethink their stance. After all, if it turns out that having more billionaires doesn’t favour GDP growth, the policy suggestion to reduce income concentration at the top moves from a moral argument to one about economic growth and prosperity.
This is the set of questions that I, along with my colleague Sutirtha Bagchi of Villanova University, have examined. Using data on billionaires published by Forbes magazine, we applied econometric techniques and arrived at a finding that will perplex some and delight others: a greater presence of billionaires in a country actually slows down its economic growth.
Controlling for other relevant factors, such as the country’s level of income and education, we demonstrate that countries could grow their economies faster if there were less money controlled by the uber-rich. This implies that economies could be more efficient if more money were allocated to people other than those at the top of the income and wealth pyramid.
Other key factors to be considered are the sources and nature of inequality. Indonesia and the United Kingdom, for instance, have a similar value of the most widely used indicator of income inequality (the so-called Gini coefficient). However, the two countries differ markedly in the role that political connections play in achieving economic success and, as a consequence, the distribution of income and wealth.
Broadly speaking, billionaires come in two types – those who would not have made it without political connections (ie political cronies), and those who became billionaires because of their ingenuity, ability to innovate and willingness to take risks (ie the politically unconnected).
Britain has world's most billionaires per capita.
Sunday Times Rich List reveals 104 billionaires sharing fortune of £301bn, but few pay tax as they are not domiciled in UK
These two types of billionaires may have very different effects on the economic performance of countries. While politically connected billionaires are found in many countries, they are disproportionately represented also in the post-communist countries, including Russia where many emerged as political cronies of Boris Yeltsin, as well as in China.
Dividing the world’s billionaires into these two categories, one must obviously take particular care to assign the “politically connected” category of billionaires only to the most clear-cut cases, such as the Yeltsin-related oligarchs or Suharto-related nouveaux riches.
Those such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffet surely also have extra political influence because of their wealth, but political connections aren’t the source of their wealth.
We discovered that billionaire wealth that arises from being politically connected has a strongly negative effect on growth. In contrast, the effect of politically unconnected billionaire wealth on the overall economy is indistinguishable from zero. That means that billionaire cronies constrain economic growth, while billionaires who aren’t cronies on average don’t do so. Why are these findings important for the rest of us? They indicate that public policy toward income and wealth distribution needs to take into account the nature of wealth accumulation.
They also relate directly to the findings of economists like Joseph Stiglitz and Thomas Piketty. They predicted that we live in a world where the rich will get richer faster, which has proved true, and that we ought to develop tax policies that prevent the poor from becoming ever poorer. The implications for countries such as the United States and others where political cronyism only plays a minor role in wealth attainment are no less dramatic.
Americans, in particular, have been taught to think that billionaires have a positive effect on the economy. Why? Because they are “exceptional” people who have proved that they can accomplish great things. The key finding that, on average, they have an insignificant effect on growth prospects, even in the case of the politically unconnected, represents a huge negative surprise for supporters of the billionaire class.
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ISIS Document Reveals Goal of Building Army To Take Over, and 'End The World'. (Posted by: Barry)
(Free Beacon, By Morgan Chalfant).
An Islamic State recruitment document deemed likely authentic by multiple U.S. intelligence officials suggests that IS (also known as ISIL or ISIS) has designs to build a terrorist army in Afghanistan and Pakistan and cause a war in India to incite an “end of the world.”
Sarah A. Carter, an award-winning investigative reporter for the American Media Institute, reported for USA Today:
The undated document, titled “A Brief History of the Islamic State Caliphate (ISC), The Caliphate According to the Prophet,” seeks to unite dozens of factions of the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban into a single army of terror. It includes a never-before-seen history of the Islamic State, details chilling future battle plans, urges al-Qaeda to join the group and says the Islamic State’s leader should be recognized as the sole ruler of the world’s 1 billion Muslims under a religious empire called a “caliphate.”
“Accept the fact that this caliphate will survive and prosper until it takes over the entire world and beheads every last person that rebels against Allah,” it proclaims. “This is the bitter truth, swallow it.”
Spanning 32 pages and written in the language Urdu, the document explains that IS wants to attack U.S. soldiers withdrawing from Afghanistan as well as organize attacks against American diplomats and Pakistani officials.
The literature, which was discovered in Pakistan, also hints of “preparations” for an attack on India that would result in a “final battle” between the Muslim global community and the United States with “all its allies.”
Moreover, it describes the IS strategy as focusing on harnessing powers in the Arab world. “Instead of wasting energy in a direct confrontation with the U.S., we should focus on an armed uprising in the Arab world for the establishment of the caliphate,” the document reads.
Three U.S. intelligence officials–unable to publicly discuss the matter–examined the document and deemed it likely authentic.
After reviewing the document, Retired Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn called it a “red flag” worthy of attention, explaining, “[It] represents the Islamic State’s campaign plan and is something, as an intelligence officer, I would not only want to capture, but fully exploit. It lays out their intent, their goals and objectives.”
The White House indicated its awareness of IS presence in Afghanistan but suggested it has not yet had a “meaningful impact” on the region.
“We are aware of the presence of ISIL-affiliated militants in Afghanistan, and we are monitoring closely to see whether their emergence will have a meaningful impact on the threat environment in the region,” deputy spokesman for the White House’s National Security Council Alistair Baskey elaborated.
As it gains territory in Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State is exhibiting signs of transforming itself into an actual functional state, issuing identification cards and dispersing fishing guidelines in the areas it controls.
Still, President Obama insisted earlier this month that there are “no current plans” to send more troops overseas to fight the terrorist organization.
http://conservativerefocus.com/blogs/blog5.php/2015/07/29/isis-document-reveals-goal-of
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Unless you're observing the Seventh Day, whom are you really worshiping?
Exodus 31:16 The people of Isra'el are to keep the Shabbat, to observe Shabbat through all their generations as a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between me and the people of Isra'el forever; for in six days ADONAI made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day he stopped working and rested.'"
Ezekiel 20: 11 I gave them my laws and showed them my rulings; if a person obeys them, he will have life through them. 12 I gave them my shabbats as a sign between me and them, so that they would know that I, ADONAI, am the one who makes them holy.
Exodus 20:8 "Remember the day, Shabbat, to set it apart for God. 9 You have six days to labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Shabbat for ADONAI your God. On it, you are not to do any kind of work -not you, your son or your daughter, not your male or female slave, not your livestock, and not the foreigner staying with you inside the gates to your property. 11 For in six days, ADONAI made heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. This is why ADONAI blessed the day, Shabbat, and separated it for himself.
Isaiah 56: 2 Happy is the person who does this, anyone who grasps it firmly, who keeps Shabbat and does not profane it, and keeps himself from doing any evil. 3 A foreigner joining ADONAI should not say, "ADONAI will separate me from his people"; likewise the eunuch should not say, "I am only a dried-up tree." 4 For here is what ADONAI says: "As for the eunuchs who keep my Shabbats, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant: 5 in my house, within my walls, I will give them power and a name greater than sons and daughters; I will give him an everlasting name that will not be cut off.
6 "And the foreigners who join themselves to ADONAI to serve him, to love the name of ADONAI, and to be his workers, all who keep Shabbat and do not profane it, and hold fast to my covenant, 7 I will bring them to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples."
Isaiah 58: 13 If you hold back your foot on Shabbat from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call Shabbat a delight, ADONAI'S holy day, worth honoring; then honor it by not doing your usual things or pursuing your interests or speaking about them. 14 If you do, you will find delight in ADONAI - I will make you ride on the heights of the land and feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Ya'akov, for the mouth of ADONAI has spoken."
Isaiah 66: 23 And it shall be that from one New Moon to another New Moon and from one Sabbath to another Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before Me, says the Lord.
Jeremiah 17: 21 Here is what ADONAI says: "If you value your lives, don't carry anything on Shabbat or bring it in through the gates of Yerushalayim (Jerusalem); 22 don't carry anything out of your houses on Shabbat; and don't do any work. Instead, make Shabbat a holy day. I ordered your ancestors to do this, 23 but they neither listened nor paid attention; rather, they stiffened their necks, so that they wouldn't have to hear or receive instruction. 24 However, if you will pay careful heed to me," says ADONAI "and carry nothing through the gates of this city on Shabbat, but instead make Shabbat a day which is holy and not for doing work.
Quick question:
Where in the Scriptures does Yahweh tell us to ignore the original, seventh day Sabbath - the day He Himself blessed and made holy (Gen 2:1-2)?
Answer: You won't find anything in the Scriptures that references the changing of the Sabbath to Sunday. Some argue that it's because "Jesus rose on a Sunday" - but you need to ask yourself: Why would that, in itself, change the seventh-day Sabbath that God ordained "in the beginning"? (First of all, please see our article which proves that Jesus did NOT rise on a Sunday!) Some argue that Constantine was responsible for changing the Sabbath because he hated the Jews.
No matter who instituted Sunday worship, in Yeshua's time, both Jews and Gentiles alike, regularly attended the synagogue for worship on the seventh day - which, on our Gregorian calendars falls on Saturday), and the fact that interested Gentiles in Antioch requested further instruction of Paul "on the next Sabbath" is irrefutable evidence that no separate Sunday (1st day) meetings were being held there by those early Christians: The Gentiles were willing to wait an entire week, till the next Saturday, for a meeting because they knew that Paul and his companions did not normally meet for worship on a Sunday. Acts 13:42-44 tells us that, on the next Sabbath (Saturday) almost the whole city arrived for the meeting.
Some insist that Acts 20:7 reveals Sunday worship, but this is not true. Fact is, Jewish believers in Yeshua continued meeting at synagogue (or the Temple) for Sabbath. Common practice would be meeting in homes after sundown on Saturday to continue discussions and praise from the Sabbath, which explains Paul "preaching until midnight" in Acts 20:7. The first day of the week for Jews (like Paul) began at sundown at the end of the Sabbath - Saturday evening - not "Sunday."
Furthermore, the fact is, neither the Father nor the Son has ever claimed the first day as His own in any higher sense than He has each or any of the other laboring days. Neither of them has ever placed any blessing upon it, or attached any sanctity to it. The Bible tells us God expressly reserved the seventh day to Himself, placing His blessing upon it, and claimed it as His holy day. (Genesis 2:1-3.) Moses told Israel in the wilderness of Sin of the sixth day of the week, "Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord." Exodus 16:23.
BOTTOM LINE: You can worship any day you want; but YHWH's Sabbath - His commanded day of rest - always was and will continue to be the Seventh Day! That is, after all, what sets us apart from the rest of the world! No "religion" including Christianity, can claim they have the right to change YHWH's Sabbaths/Feasts - His Appointed Times. After all, it's the "anti-christ" who does these things:
Daniel 7: 25 He will speak words against the Most High and try to exhaust the holy ones of the Most High. (The "holy ones" are those who obey His Torah!) He will attempt to alter the seasons and the law; and [the holy ones] will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time.
Please think very hard about that, and then continue reading the rest of this article....
The seventh day of the week, the day known as Saturday on our Gregorian calendars, is the Sabbath day of YAHWEH the Almighty God of Israel. It was ordained of God as a day of physical rest for all mankind, and the obligation to observe it arises from:
- Yahweh's own example
- His act of blessing the seventh day
- His explicit command to keep it holy.
The word Sabbath implies rest, peace, tranquillity and refreshment. And who will doubt but that in this turbulent and confused world every soul on Earth is in need of spiritual rest and refreshment. Consequently, those who faithfully remember the Sabbath of the Most High and draw apart from the world each weekend to worship Him on His holy day, will receive the spiritual blessings promised in His Holy Word; blessings that will find full scope in the ages to come.
- The seventh day Sabbath according to the Bible, was blessed, sanctified and set apart for sacred use by the God of Israel at the creation of the world, and on that memorable occasion it was first observed by the Lord Himself. (Genesis 2:2-3)
- Man is required by divine law to keep holy the seventh day of the week. The Sabbath command is one of the Ten Commandments, a law which is not only scheduled to outlast this universe but which every soul on Earth is obliged to observe. Therefore as long as heaven and earth shall last, the seventh day of the week is the Sabbath day. Disobedience of Yahweh's law, of which the Sabbath commandment is merely a part, is sin. These unequivocal facts cannot be rejected without serious consequences. (Exodus 20:8-11, Matthew 5:17-19, 1 John 3:4)
- Sabbath desecration is strongly condemned by the true prophets of God and their inspired messages have been recorded in the Scriptures for the benefit of succeeding generations of readers from every nation under heaven. Dare we ignore their warnings? (Ezekiel 20:19-24, Ezekiel 22:8,26,31, Jeremiah 17:27)
- In recognition of the Sabbath commandment, Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) and all His apostles and disciples kept holy the seventh day of the week and the Scriptures testify to the fact that it was his custom to do so. (Luke 4:16, Acts 17:2, Acts 18:4))
- In addition to the above, new converts, both Jews and Gentiles alike, regularly attended the synagogue for worship on the Saturday Sabbath, and the fact that interested Gentiles in Antioch requested further instruction of Paul "on the next Sabbath" is irrefutable evidence that no separate Sunday meetings were being held there by those early Christians. In other words, the Gentiles were willing to wait a full week, till the next Saturday, for a meeting. Why? Because they knew that Paul and his companions did not normally meet for divine worship on a Sunday, but would instead be available for discussion again on the next Sabbath. On the next Sabbath (Saturday) almost the whole city arrived for the meeting. (Acts 13:42-44)
- In his prophecy concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, the Master advised his followers to pray that their flight from the city "be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day." This passage is also strong proof that Yeshua had absolutely no intention whatsoever of doing away with the Sabbath commandment at the cross. On the contrary it shows his high regard for the Sabbath day in that he advised his followers - who were mostly Jews - to even go to the extent of praying to God about it, that He would make it possible for them to keep the Sabbath day some 40 years after the crucifixion! (Matthew 24:20, also Exodus 20:12&20, Isaiah 66:22-23)
- The Sabbath rest is a token or sample of the divine Rest of God which the Most High is eagerly looking forward to. Many believers are going to be excluded from that divine rest because of their deliberate and persistent disobedience of the Sabbath commandment. (Psalm 95:10-11, Hebrews 4:9-11)
Ezekiel 20:11 I gave them my laws and showed them my rulings; if a person obeys them, he will have life through them. 12 I gave them my shabbats as a sign between me and them, so that they would know that I, ADONAI, am the one who makes them holy.
- In addition to the weekly Sabbath day, Yahweh has commanded believers to keep His seven annual Sabbaths.
The people of Israel swore an oath that included NO COMMERCE on Shabbat:
Nehemiah 10: 28 The rest of the people, the cohanim, the L'vi'im, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants and all who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Torah of God, along with their wives, sons and daughters, everyone capable of knowing and understanding, 29 joined their kinsmen and their leaders in swearing an oath, accompanied by a curse [in case of noncompliance], as follows: "We will live by God's Torah, given by Moshe the servant of God, and will perform and obey all the mitzvot, rulings and laws of ADONAI our Lord. 30 "We will not give our daughters as wives to the peoples of the land or take their daughters as wives for our sons.
31 "If the peoples of the lands bring merchandise or food to sell on Shabbat, we will not buy from them on Shabbat or on a holy day. "We will forego [planting and harvesting our fields] during the seventh year and collecting debts then. 32 "We will impose on ourselves a yearly tax of one-third of a shekel [one-seventh of an ounce of silver] for the service of the house of our 33 for the showbread, for the regular grain offering, for the regular burnt offering, for [the offerings] on Shabbat, on Rosh-Hodesh, at the designated times and at other holy times, for the sin offerings to make atonement for Isra'el, and for all the work connected with the house of our God.
34 "We, the cohanim, the L'vi'im and the people, will cast lots in connection with the wood offering, so that it will be brought to the house of our God according to our fathers' clans, at specified times, year by year, and then be burned on the altar of ADONAI our God, as prescribed in the Torah. 35 "Every year we will bring the first fruits of our land and the first fruits of all fruit from every kind of tree to the house of ADONAI. 36 "We will also bring the firstborn of our sons and of our livestock, as prescribed in the Torah, and the firstborn of our herds and flocks, to the house of our God, to the cohanim ministering in the house of our God.
37 "We will bring the first of our dough, our contributions, the fruit of every kind of tree, wine and olive oil to the cohanim in the storerooms of the house of our God, along with the tenths from our land for the L'vi'im; since they, the L'vi'im, take the tenths in all the cities where we farm. 38 The cohen the descendant of Aharon is to be with the L'vi'im when the L'vi'im take tenths. The L'vi'im will bring the tenth of the tenth to the house of our God, to the storerooms for supplies. 39 For the people of Isra'el and the descendants of Levi are to bring the contribution of grain, wine and olive oil to the rooms where the equipment for the sanctuary, the ministering cohanim, the gatekeepers and the singers are. We will not abandon the house of our God."
(PS: ADONAI, Yahweh and YHWH, are some of the real names of God).
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