Grand Collusion: January 2016

Grand Collusion

How the two parties collude to divide the spoils of governing, corrupting democracy and American capitalism.

By James E. Staudt

Because of the poor image quality on some ebook readers this provides figures from the book available from Amazon as a Kindle ebook

This book is published directly by the author and is distributed only as an ebook

without the express, written permission of the author.

Figure 1. Total House and Senate Election Spending, current dollars

(data source: Campaign Finance Institute)

Figure 2. Congressional districts in the Houston area.

Figure 3. Congressional Districts in Texas

Figure 4. Federal Receipts and Outlays, and the party of the President

Data from US Treasury

Figure 5. Marginal Tax Rates, Capital Gains and Wages (data from US Treasury)

Figure 6. Receipts and Outlays, and Cumulative Federal Debt Outstanding – nominal values (data: US Treasury)

Figure 7. Federal Outlays (million current dollars - data from US Treasury)

Figure 8. Human Services Outlays (million current dollars - data from US Treasury)

Figure 9. The Largest Outlays (million current dollars, data from US Treasury)

Figure 10. Inflation and Fed Funds rate by year

(periods of war or military buildup in red, depressions or recessions in blue, oil embargo in yellow)

Figure 11a

. Household, Federal, and Domestic Financial New Credit Market Annual Borrowing and Fed Funds Rate

(developed from US Federal Reserve) recession periods in yellow shade

Figure 11b

Domestic Financial New Credit Market Annual Borrowing

(developed from US Federal Reserve) recession periods in yellow shade

Figure 12a. US Credit Market Debt Owed and by Whom, percent of GDP

(developed from US Federal Reserve)

Figure 12b. Who Holds US Credit Market Assets – percent of GDP

(developed from US Federal Reserve)

Figure 13. Growth rate of CPI adjusted wages (calculated from US Census data)

Figure 14a. 10-year US Treasury rate, change in rate

Figure 14b. Federal Deficit

Figure 15a. Change in GDP versus Capital Gains Tax Rate (1947-2012)

Figure 15b. Change in GDP versus Capital Gains Tax Rate (1945-2012)

Figure 16a. Change in GDP versus Highest Income Tax Rate (1947-2012)

Figure 16b. Change in GDP versus Highest Income Tax Rate (1945-2012)

Figure 17. The Dow Jones Industrial Average January 1900 to March 2015

Table 1. GINI Index (World Bank)
Country name	Most recent of 2005-2013
Ukraine	24.8
Slovenia	24.9
*Sweden*	*26.1*
Iceland	26.3
Czech Republic	26.4
Belarus	26.5
Slovak Republic	26.6
*Norway*	26.8
*Denmark*	*26.9*
Romania	27.3
Finland	27.8
Kazakhstan	28.6
Hungary	28.9
*Netherlands*	*28.9*
Albania	29
Iraq	29.5
Pakistan	29.6
Serbia	29.7
Armenia	30.3
Timor-Leste	30.4
*Germany*	*30.6*
Moldova	30.6
Montenegro	30.6
Egypt, Arab Rep.	30.8
Tajikistan	30.8
Niger	31.2
*France*	*31.7*
Cambodia	31.8
Bangladesh	32.1
Ireland	32.1
*Japan*	*32.1*
Lithuania	32.6
Estonia	32.7
Nepal	32.8
Poland	32.8
Azerbaijan	33
Bosnia and Herzegovina	33
Mali	33
Burundi	33.3
Kyrgyz Republic	33.4
Croatia	33.6
Ethiopia	33.6
*Canada*	*33.7*
Guinea	33.7
Jordan	33.7
India	33.9
Sao Tome and Principe	33.9
Bulgaria	34.3
West Bank and Gaza	34.5
Greece	34.7
Sudan	35.3
Sierra Leone	35.4
Italy	35.5
Indonesia	35.6
Vietnam	35.6
Spain	35.8
Tunisia	35.8
Mauritius	35.9
Yemen, Rep.	35.9
Latvia	36
Lao PDR	36.2
Sri Lanka	36.4
Mongolia	36.5
Tanzania	37.8
*United Kingdom*	38
Liberia	38.2
Iran, Islamic Rep.	38.3
Bhutan	38.7
Thailand	39.4
Russian Federation	39.7
Burkina Faso	39.8
Turkey	40
Congo, Rep.	40.2
Senegal	40.3
Mauritania	40.5
Madagascar	40.6
Cameroon	40.7
Morocco	40.9
*United States*	*41.1*
Uruguay	41.3
Georgia	41.4
El Salvador	41.8
*China*	*42.1*
Gabon	42.2
Angola	42.7
Fiji	42.8
Ghana	42.8
Israel	42.8
*Nigeria*	43
Philippines	43
Cote d'Ivoire	43.2
Chad	43.3
Benin	43.5
*Argentina*	*43.6*
Cabo Verde	43.8
Macedonia, FYR	44.2
Congo, Dem. Rep.	44.4
Uganda	44.6
*Venezuela, RB*	*44.8*
Peru	45.3
Dominican Republic	45.7
Mozambique	45.7
Nicaragua	45.7
Togo	46
Malawi	46.2
Malaysia	46.2
Bolivia	46.6
Ecuador	46.6
Kenya	47.7
Paraguay	48
Mexico	48.1
Costa Rica	48.6
Chile	50.8
Rwanda	50.8
Swaziland	51.5
Panama	51.9
Guatemala	52.4
Brazil	52.7
Colombia	53.5
Lesotho	54.2
Central African Republic	56.3
Honduras	57.4
Zambia	57.5
Botswana	60.5
Namibia	61.3
South Africa	65
Seychelles	65.8

GINI index - Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of income or consumption expenditure among individuals or households within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Lorenz curve plots the cumulative percentages of total income received against the cumulative number of recipients, starting with the poorest individual or household. The Gini index measures the area between the Lorenz curve and a hypothetical line of absolute equality, expressed as a percentage of the maximum area under the line. Thus a Gini index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality. – World Bank

Figure 18. Estimated Eligible Voter Turnout by State[55]

[55] Data from the United States Election Project

About the Author

Jim Staudt makes a living from examining data and working with policymakers and industry primarily on energy and environmental policy. In Grand Collusion he shares his analysis and insights on some of the disturbing trends in our political system, explains how we got to where we are, and makes suggestions about where we need to go from here.

For decades Jim worked in the energy and environmental industries and now consults to industry, to states and the federal government. He is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and served in the Navy Nuclear program aboard the nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise CVN-65. He later received his MS and his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

He lives with his wife and two children in the Boston area.

Grand Collusion

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Figures from the book, Grand Collusion

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