The Economist has a devastating article on the rising wealth inequality in the US. The fortunes of the richest 0.01% of the population are fast outstripping the wealth of the rest of the population:
On the other side of the spectrum, the fortunes of the wealthy have grown, especially at the very top. The 16,000 families making up the richest 0.01%, with an average net worth of $371m, now control 11.2% of total wealth—back to the 1916 share, which is the highest on record. Those down the distribution have not done quite so well: the top 0.1% (consisting of 160,000 families worth $73m on average) hold 22% of America’s wealth, just shy of the 1929 peak—and exactly the same share as the bottom 90% of the population. Meanwhile the share of wealth held by families from the 90th to the 99th percentile has actually fallen over the last decade, though not by as much as the net worth of the bottom 90%.
The graphic says it all:
Russian President Vladimir Putin stole the show at the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) in Beijing, by placing a shawl around the shoulders of Chinese First Lady, Peng Liyuan. Apparently it was cold at the conference. Needless to say, many pundits felt obliged to comment on the act. But what is most interesting is that Chinese censors blocked the images of Putin’s gesture. I’m not sure what the state issue was, but the Chinese government took the matter quite seriously.
World Politics News 
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