Rich list

Two items in this morning's news: the wealth of the 400 richest Americans has grown in the past year by 13% to $1.7 trillion, equivalent to one eighth of the nation's whole economy, according to Forbes magazine. Beside that the fines of $11 billion imposed for malpractice on 26 pharmaceutical companies in the past three years look like peanuts. Admittedly, some of the ultra-rich use their money and influence wisely, but plenty of them do not. Meanwhile Republicans call Obama a socialist or communist because he wants a modest amount of redistribution. Our lopsided world gets more unbalanced every year. How much longer can this go on?