Book: “The Wealth Hoarders” Takes Reader Inside The ‘Wealth Defense Industry’

When you think of the super-wealthy, the folks like Buffet, Gates, and Musk - you sort of assume they have an army of people who manage their money. You are right.

However, there are thousands of others, individuals and old-money families, who employ literally hundreds of thousands of people to safeguard their funds too.  It has developed into what's now known as the “wealth defense industry.”

Chuck Collins, is a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC, where he directs the Program on Inequality and coedits Inequality.org.  

 However, Collins, at the age of 25 inherited a fortune himself.  He then gave away most of it.  He has written a book that uncovers the methods and the inner workings of the system that keeps the richest 1% of the 1% on top.

The Sound of Ideas host, Rick Jackson, spoke with Collins earlier this month about his book, “The Wealth Hoarders: How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions​ .”
 Chuck Collins is a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC, where he directs the Program on Inequality and coedits Inequality.org.  

But first, lawmakers in the Ohio House and Senate voted in favor of a $74billion, two-year spending budget.  The measure now goes on to Governor Mike DeWine for approval and his signature

The spending plan works out a number of compromises between competing ideas in the Ohio House and Senate versions of the bill.

Those compromises included a new school funding plan. The budget settles on the Fair School Funding Plan proposed in the House version of the budget which based the plan on the Cupp-Patterson school funding overhaul.  The new budget settles on a compromise for an across the board tax cut while also simplifying Ohio’s tax brackets.

The budget bill re-inserted millions for broadband expansion in the state that the Senate had cut out and also removes a provision that would have stopped cities from having their own broadband programs.

 It also removes a measure from the Senate version of the budget that would have required an “asset test” for those receiving food assistance.

Statehouse News Bureau Chief Karen Kasler discusses what’s in and what’s out of the new budget.

According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data, Cleveland is the most impoverished large city in the country, with more than 114-thousand people living in poverty in 2019, with persistent child poverty, 'and' with poverty among seniors on the rise.

The pandemic has only made it harder for our city's most vulnerable residents, as widespread unemployment amplified the need for community resources.

The last year has also seen constant changes in aid by local, state and federal governments that can be hard to navigate. For instance, Ohio opted to end the extra federal unemployment insurance that gave the unemployed an extra 300 dollars a week. That ran out this past weekend. But... in just a few weeks, millions of families will start to see monthly payments from the federal government in the form of the new, expanded child tax credit -- which experts suggest could help lift many families out of poverty.

Tonight at 6, join Ideastream Public Media on Facebook Live for an interactive town hall discussion that we're calling  "Fighting Poverty in a Pandemic."

It will feature discussions with community leaders about the local poverty landscape, and describes how nonprofits, corporations and government entities are working to address persistent poverty and support those in need.

Fighting Poverty In A Pandemic registration link

Karen Kasler, Statehouse News Bureau Chief, Ohio Public Radio/TV 
Chuck Collins, Author, "The Wealth Hoarders: How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions"  
Marlene Harris-Taylor, Managing Producer for Health, Ideastream Public Media