Income of Wealthiest Increases

**This a portion of an article originally published at www.bloomberg.com

Richest Americans’ Income Doubled, Tax Rate Slashed Under Bush
By Ryan J. Donmoyer
Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) – “The average tax rate paid by the richest 400 Americans fell by a third to 17.2 percent through the first six years of the Bush administration and their average income doubled to $263.3 million, new IRS data show.
The 17.2 percent tax rate in 2006 was the lowest since the IRS began tracking the 400 largest taxpayers in 1992. The drop from 2001’s tax rate of 22.9 percent was due largely to ex- President George W. Bush’s push to cut tax rates on most capital gains to 15 percent in 2003.
Capital gains made up 63 percent of the richest 400 Americans’ adjusted gross income in 2006, or a combined $66.1 billion, according to the data. In all, the 400 wealthiest Americans reported a combined $105.3 billion of adjusted gross income in 2006, the most recent year for which the IRS has data.”

Do a “4thought” on this article:
• Pre reading associations: What do I think that I know about the tax rate of the wealthiest Americans?
• Divide your paper (could use back of one of your sheets) into 4 SQUARES OR PARTS
o What surprised you that you didn’t already know? Any thing that you found “weird”?
o Are there any comparisons, similarities, contrasts that jump out at you?
ß (or use compare/contrast, prove, or cause/effect
o Is the United States as “fair” or “equal” as you presumed?
o What would be the reasons? Any changes you’d propose?
Any questions that this information leaves you with?

You may read the entire article at:http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=ar5uxG_wV87A&refer=us

Richest Americans

• Locate & list the 40 richest Americans under the age of 30 or 40
o List by categories, athletes, entertainers, etc
ß Are there any patterns that you discern?
ß You may do another list of just the 40 richest Americans.


*One place to get this information might be at www.forbes.com
--You need to be certain that the information is relatively recent, it should be either 2008 or 2009.

Graph GDP

• You will create a graph of recent GDP Growth in the United States:
o 2005
ß 3.0%
ß 2.6%
ß 3.8%
ß 1.2%
o 2006
ß 4.8%
ß 2.75%
ß 0.8%
ß 1.5%
o 2007
ß 0.2%
ß 4.8%
ß 4.8%
ß -0.2%
o 2008
ß 0.9%
ß 2.8%
ß -0.5%
ß -3.8%
• What is the definition of a recession:
• What is the definition of real GDP:
• What appears to’ve been the best year:
• What were the best 1/4… worst?

*source: www.washingtonpost.com & bureau of labor statistics, 30 Jan 2009

Use of Credit

• What are some purchases that we typically make with credit?
• Which of those would be positive or perhaps necessary uses of credit:
o What would be some uses of credit that would not be the best choices of when to use credit?
o What would be some of the circumstances in which credit becomes a problem, or a potential problem for consumers?
ß How can you avoid the pitfalls of credit use (abuse)?
ß Identify at least 5 fees associated with debit cards or checking accounts:
o What are some of the new problems that credit, credit card numbers, and computers pose in this age of digital communication and the internet?
o How can you prevent credit card fraud? (list at least six ways)
o Identify at least two strategies that you can implement to maintain a good credit history: