Requiem for the American Dream: The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power

Chomsky observes how corporations shifted their target audience from the domestic consumer to the “plutonomy,” resulting in an even more pronounced lack of incentive for corporations to provide for the domestic market. Plutonomy is a term coined by Citigroup in the 1980s to designate people all over the world who have significant wealth. The buying power of these elites drives the economy, and Citigroup’s investment portfolio targeted this specific group beginning in the mid-1980s. In contrast, the increasingly impoverished working class is dubbed the “precariat,” or the precarious proletariat, whose concerns the elite ignores.

Since the 1980s, production has centered on meeting the needs of the plutonomy rather than the domestic market. Corporations, interested in profit, don’t cater to the interests of the lower classes but to those of wealthy people worldwide. The 1953 General Motors proclamation, “What’s good for GM is good for the country,” is no longer true. Corporations have no incentive to increase minimum wage or improve the living conditions of workers because catering to their demands is unprofitable, and their buying power can’t compare to the plutonomy’s.

In addition, tax cuts and government bailouts significantly contribute to the concentration of wealth and power to the elite.