Riqueza, mostrada a escala

Mientras avanzamos no pierdas de vista que esta fortuna es controlada por un grupo de gente tan minúsculo que entran en un solo avion 747 — dejando 260 asientos libres.

As of this writing, testing in the United States falls far short of what is needed to re-open the economy. By some estimates, sufficiently ramping up testing to around 30 million tests per week would cost around $100 billion total, or about 3% of the wealth currently controlled by the 400 richest Americans.

La Malaria es una de las peores enfermedades infecciosas, posiblemente matando mas gente que ninguna otra en la historia. Solo en el siglo 20 la malaria mató mas personas que la Peste Negra.

El Coronavirus nos ha mostrado el horror de convivir con enfermedades mortales. Tristemente, para la mayor parte del mundo esto es el pan de cada día incluso antes del coronavirus.

Todas estas muertes son prevenibles. Tratar y prevenir la malaria es una ciencia bien entendida, practicada univeersalemente en el mundo desarrollado.

Se estima que la malaria puede ser erradicada del mundo en 2030 con un costo de $1.84 por persona en riesgo por año. o alredor de $100 billones en total. Esto es un 3% de la riqueza que tienen los 400 Americanos mas ricos.

Alrededor de 800 niños morirán por malaria hoy mismo. Un pequeño grupo de superricos er rpodría detenerlo por una suma de dinero que lo mas probable ni siquiera noten. Pero eligen no hacerlo.

La medida de estímulo pasada por el congreso es la mas grande de la historia. Se financia con déficit, o sea, ser pagada por los impuestos de generaciones futuras. La carga de pagar esta deuda rs for generations. La carga de pagar esta deuda podría borrarse solo con un impuesto tan pequeño que los superricos ni lo notarían.

Every single person in America could be lifted above the poverty line with a one-time cash subsidy of around $10,000 per impoverished family (and about $7,000 for impoverished individuals). The total cost would be $170 billion, a little over 5% of the wealth currently controlled by 400 individuals.

It may seem counter intuitive that a one-time subsidy could have any lasting impact on chronic poverty. But one of the surprising truths about poverty is that it's fluid. Americans move in and out of poverty many times throughout their lives, and one good year can have a massive and long lasting effect.

A wealth of data now supports the idea that one-time cash transfers can permanently transform a local economy. Given a sudden windfall, people invest in their future. They go back to school, obtain transportation, pay for childcare, pay down debilitating debts, and do any number of things to improve their career prospects and financial future.

In the US, for all of the people that escape poverty in any given year, about half stay out of poverty for at least five years afterwards. About a third are still out of poverty ten years later.

This would not be a permanent fix for all Americans. Surely, some would quickly return to poverty, and others face debts so large that the subsidy would make little difference. But for tens of millions of Americans, this would be a life changing event. It would be a generation defining social program that reshapes our economy for decades to come.

In 2018, the combined federal tax revenue among all US households earning under $80,000 per year was around $200 billion. This money—taken entirely from poor and middle class Americans—could be returned for a tiny fraction of the wealth controlled by the .0001%.

Around 844 million people have no access to clean water of any kind. About the same number have no access to a toilet or latrine of any kind, and therefore defecate in the open.

Contaminated water is a major source of disease, including cholera, dysentery, and typhoid. It is estimated that contaminated water kills about 829,000 people every year, making it one of the world's biggest killers. The cost to provide clean water and waste disposal for everyone on earth would be about $240 billion, or 8% of the wealth controlled by the 400 richest Americans.

As Americans debate how and when to open the economy after coronavirus, we are frequently presented with a seemingly impossible choice between risking millions of lives and sliding into a great depression through a continued lock down. This is a repugnant lie.

The money to weather this storm while maintaining quarantine exists, it's just a matter of finding the political will to take it.