Anthony Hall
For several decades, the American Dream has been married to the sit-com, supporting a generally gracious view of luck, pluck and overnight success.
There are millionaires who invested birthday party favors for 7-year olds -- a half-hour of work for a lifetime of luxury -- and a president who is now asking them to cough up some of their earnings for the good of the country, and having to apologize to do so. To paraphrase, "It's not like I'm against being rich," said the president Tuesday. Isn't that what Americans are supposed to do?
Jack Kerouac described being poor as romantic, but not many people do that these days. What we like is success and we'd like it to fit into half-hour time slots, much like Instagram, which was bought for $1 billion by Facebook this week, a company that is about 2-years old and has 13 employees who are looking at dividing up a pot of about $100 million. One of the co-founders of the company made $400 million on the deal -- his hand must have been shaking some when he signed on the dotted line.
The president has to balance his arguments between, "I'm all for Yankee ingenuity" and , "Yes, I am against being rich, if it means ignoring the country that allowed you to prosper." Whatever happened to, "Ask not what the country can do for you … ask what you can do for your country?"
For all the patriotism out there, however, not enough millionaires are going public with their gratitude. Warren Buffett and a few others. And they didn't organize a protest march -- in limousines, perhaps, with hand-painted signs -- to tie up traffic in Washington.
After all, it was only a gesture. For all his grace and style and courage, Mr. Buffett offering to pay higher taxes is a bit like Mr. Howell offering to buy everyone on the island dinner, then handing Gilligan a bowl of chili. It is only an emotional argument to try to re-balance the books on the backs of a few mega-rich billionaires. It takes far more bravery to make it clear that all the Bush-era taxes must go. And the carrot should be a second stimulus package. "Think of all the teachers we can rehire if we all chip in," should be the message in this election year … and that line can be adapted to whatever whistle stop a politician makes on his or her way toward November. "Think of all the steelworkers ..." in Pittsburgh. Defense contractors in Florida. Alternative power factories in California.
Choice No. 2 can be found in Europe, where spending cuts and tax hikes in Greece, Portugal and Spain cannot be made fast enough because the spending cuts and tax hikes are costing jobs, which increases the need for social programs -- which have to be cut further, of course, because there are fewer people paying taxes.
How does that go? Feed a cold, starve a fever? That's a line made famous by the fact that no one can remember which way it works. Feed a recession or starve one. And here's the actual answer: Don't panic. Don't let go of the rudder. Learn from your mistakes.
But, hey, trickle down economics was actually validated this week and the proof is in California. For $1 billion, Facebook bought Instagram and 13 people became rich overnight. That is some serious trickle down. And here's the score: 13 down, 12.6 million to go.
In international markets Wednesday, the Nikkei 225 index in Japan slipped 0.83 percent, while the Shanghai composite index in China rose 0.13 percent. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong fell 1.06 percent, while the Sensex in India lost 0.26 percent.
The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia fell 1.08 percent.
In midday trading in Europe, the FTSE 100 index in Britain added 0.82 percent, while the DAX 30 in Germany gained 1.51 percent. The CAC 40 in France rose 1.5 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.98 percent.
