If Bernie Madoff taught us anything it's that every successful ponzi scheme requires precisely one critical component to keep it afloat: a steady stream of fresh capital to fund redemptions. Absent that key component, even the most carefully crafted ponzi, with the best, most creative accounting fabrications in the world, will inevitably fail from a lack of real, cold, hard cash to keep the illusion going.
Americans across the income spectrum have generally grown wealthier over the past 50 years but those at the top (A.K.A. the "millionaire, billionaire, private jet owners" to use the parlance of our times) have made out much better than the rest of us. As the Urban Institute pointed out today, in 1963, families in the top 90th percentile of household wealth had roughly six times the wealth of families in the middle. By 2016, that had doubled to 12 times.
According to forecasts from the 'Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft Köln', Germany's population is going to increase to 83.1 million by 2035.
As Statista's Martin Armstrong notes, the main reason for this is the record number of immigrants and asylum seekers which arrived in the country in 2015.
You will find more statistics at Statista
Over the past year, amid Donald Trump's crackdown on refugees and illegal immigrants, Canada has emerged as a willing safe harbor for those whose welcomes (and visas) in the US had expired. This past January, in response to Trump's executive order on immigration, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith,” adding that “Diversity is our strength."
We harp on the massive, unsustainable, yet largely unnoticed, debt burdens of American cities, counties and states fairly regularly because, well, it's a frightening issue if you spend just a little time to understand the math and ultimate consequences. Here is some of our recent posts on the topic: