[queequeger]

I understand that, I have (as you advised others) taken econ 101. The point is, if the entire top crust gives up their excess wealth and uses it to pay the middle to lower crust, there is no freshly printed money or anything, they're actually giving the lower class more wealth at the expense of themselves.

And the idea that it's a less efficient system is something that is hotly debated. Would you rather have the majority of the purchasing power in the upper, middle or lower class? It used to be largely in the middle class, but it's crept higher and higher until now <distribution of wealth blah blah blah, we've all heard it>.

My personal opinion, and that of a fair share of economists, is that having such a overbalance of wealth in the hands of the enormously wealthy makes the economy unstable, in that it produces more service goods and fewer ACTUAL goods, which we outsource to other countries. While many debate whether a service or a physical product behave the same, I'm of an opinion they don't. SO, more wealth in the middle class equates to a more durable economy... IMHO.