A new record has been set. The 400 richest Americans are worth a collective $2.02 trillion. To put that figure in perspective, $2 trillion is roughly the size of the Russian economy. That concentration of wealth is unprecedented in US history. At the same time, the Census Bureau just released data that “In 1989, the median American household made $51,681 in current dollars (the 2012 number, again, was $51,017). That means that 24 years ago, a middle class American family was making more than the a middle class family was making one year ago.”
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has cancelled her state visit to the US to protest the allegations that the US National Security Agency spied on her and other Brazilian citizens. The cancellation is an embarrassment to the Obama Administration since Rousseff’s planned visit was one of only a few state visits anticipated by the diplomatic corps, but it is hard to imagine a productive visit under the circumstances. It is highly likely that the protest will enhance Rousseff’s chances for re-election in Brazil.
For the last four years, Nigeria has faced violent attacks from a radical group that calls itself Boko Haram (“Western education is a sin”). The aims of the group are to establish an Islamic state in the northern part of Nigeria (which has a primarily Muslim population, unlike the south, which is primarily Christian). It would be a mistake, however, to interpret the movement as primarily religious–it is fundamentally a protest movement against the political dominance of the southern parts of the country over the north. The group began an active armed struggle in 2009, but it has been agitating for change for over a decade.
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