a sign that things are looking up...for some

[Don Quixote]

yeah, that top 1% really needs a tax break...

[FONT=&quot]Luxury sales rebound to pre-crisis levels[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]10/17/2010 5:14:00 PM[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Associated Press/AP Online[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]By COLLEEN BARRY [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]MILAN - The luxury sector is rebounding better-than-expected this year thanks in large part to wealthy Americans replenishing their wardrobes after a year of self-denial and nouveau riche Chinese indulging in a worldwide spending spree, according to a new study released Monday. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sales of designer clothes, fine leather goods, jewelry, watches and other indulgences around the globe is forecast to surge 10 percent to euro168 billion ($236.7 billion) in 2010, recovering from a disastrous 2009 when sales declined 8 percent to euro153 billion, Bain & Co. said in its annual review of the sector commissioned by Italy's Fondazione Altagamma association of high-end producers. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]"It is really impressive how customers have rebounded in their approach to these purchases, in particular in the United States and in Europe," said Bain partner and luxury goods expert Claudia D'Arpizio. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sales in the U.S. market were up by 12 percent, compared with 6 percent growth in Europe and 22 percent growth in Asia, Bain said. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Leather goods, the only category to hold steady during last year's dramatic declines, is expected to grow by 16 percent to euro43 billion, while apparel, the leading sector, grew by 8 percent to euro45 billion. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The holiday season will solidify the results, and Bain is allowing for a final tally of 9 percent growth for modest increases and 11 percent if shoppers come out strong. Growth will cool in 2011 to 3 percent to 5 percent due to the likely continued lowering of the dollar against the euro and the strength of this year's sales. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Asian luxury sales were powered by China where sales grew by a whopping 30 percent and poising China to become the third largest luxury market in five years. Japan recorded a 1 percent contraction. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]But the real story in Asia are the Chinese tourists, who have extended their spending-fueled travels beyond Asia. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]"The big surprise of the last few years are the Chinese. ... Now they are very visible in Europe and also the United States. They are traveling all over the world," D'Arpizio said. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Bain figures show luxury goods sales in airports and airlines are expected to total euro16 billion in 2010, a sign that high-end travel is on the uptick. D'Arpizio said that reflected a strong impact from "new" Chinese tourists. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Larger brands are doing better than smaller ones, having had the scale to weather the crisis and invest in new products to draw customers back in. The weakness of smaller brands is expected to lead to a period of consolidation in the sector, with bigger brands buying up smaller ones and forming new groups, D'Arpizio said. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]And menswear sales are growing faster than womenswear. Men are the driving luxury sales in emerging markets, with women following, while in mature markets men's shopping habits are starting to mimic that of women, D'Arpizio said. And no longer are men's purchases relegated to special occasion tuxedos or watches. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]"We call it the feminization of society. Men are less conservative around fashion, they browse more on the Net to find their favorite brands and production, they are more educated and more knowledgeable," D'Arpizio said.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A service of YellowBrix, Inc.[/FONT]

 

[Dixie - In Memoriam]

Not sure I understand the point of this... should we increase taxes on rich Chinese?

Don, when you murmur nonsense like this, you show a profound ignorance that I am not sure anyone can adequately address or penetrate...

"yeah, that top 1% really needs a tax break..."

Your ignorance seems to be, you think this is somehow about "need" for rich people to have a tax break, and that has never been the case. You see, Don, something you might not know or understand about rich people is, they don't really have "needs." It's part of the really neat thing about being rich, you can afford to tend to any needs you might have. About the only thing a rich person really "needs" is to remain rich. Fortunately, most rich people are smart enough to remain rich, if they were smart enough to get rich in the first place, so that need is also met.

You can become 'jealous' of the rich, and attempt to take their money and say they don't deserve it, or they have more than they "need" but generally speaking, they are thinking a step ahead of you, and don't let that happen, because you see... their only real need is to remain rich. So, their money goes into offshore accounts, foreign investments, tangible assets that you can't take away from them. They laugh at your silly ass raising their "income taxes" because they certainly don't "need" to earn an income, being they are already rich. If you could have maybe caught them on the way to becoming rich, you could have raised their taxes and made some money off their efforts then, but that's been done already, and you are too late. Now that they own the wealth, and given they have Constitutional rights prohibiting you from taking their property, you're kind of shit outta luck.

So let's get back to these "1%" you are so adamant about raising taxes on. Who are they? Well, for the most part, they aren't rich people, they are upper middle-class people trying to become rich. They mostly own businesses, they have payrolls, and business expenses, and they do make some profits in their ventures to become rich. Now, since they really do want to one day be rich, they would like to be able to maintain the profits they are currently making, so when you increase their taxes, they have to find some place other than profits, for that extra tax money to come from. And what they will generally do is, cut staff, downsize, outsource, and put off expansion of their business until the opportunity is better. Does any of this make a lick of sense to you? I know it's difficult for a man of your means to grasp, but it's important to understand it. This is not about their "need" for a tax break. This is about OUR need for jobs, expansion of business, and economic growth. The more you tax them, the more you hurt us all.

 

[Bfgrn]

So let's get back to these "1%" you are so adamant about raising taxes on. Who are they? Well, for the most part, they aren't rich people, they are upper middle-class people trying to become rich.

Now there is a 'keeper'

 

[FUCK THE POLICE]

If you define the top 1% as "upper middle class" your definition of middle class has pretty much lost all validity. The top 1% has always been the upper class. The fact that we're not counting the top 5% or top 10% as upper class is absurd in and of itself.

 

[evince]

Now there is a 'keeper'

This is how the republicans hook idiots like Dixie into voting for shit that hurts them.

They are like addled brained starlets hoping for that big break while sleeping with the prop boy because he said he had an uncle whos a director.

 

[Dixie - In Memoriam]

Now there is a 'keeper'

This is how the republicans hook idiots like Dixie into voting for shit that hurts them.

They are like addled brained starlets hoping for that big break while sleeping with the prop boy because he said he had an uncle whos a director.

Actually, you two are the idiots here. What I said was correct, and if you think about it for more than 20 seconds, you will realize it. People who are in the upper 1% taxable income bracket, are earning an income from something. Rich people have already earned their income, that's why they are rich. Once you have become rich, you don't have a "need" to earn an income anymore, it's nice if you can, and you want to do it, but it's just not a "need" anymore, because you already have wealth.

The people you idiots think you can burden with your debt, are not "the rich" but the people who are trying to become rich. Most people in that upper 1% are those who own some kind of business. Being that they are immensely smarter than you two, they can figure out ways to avoid this burden your jealousy continues to try and place on them, and that has mostly been, by eliminating new jobs and expansion. They have to pay another $300k in taxes next year, and they know this, so that just means 10 less $30k jobs on their payroll next year. And yeah, it hurts them, they would rather hire 10 more people and increase their profits, but you've made that impossible.

Now, I won't say that you are idiots because you believed this way, it's easy to understand jealousy and envy among class, and it's been used for centuries by the elite, to keep us fighting each other. What makes you idiots, is realizing the results of your ideas have failed, but continuing to believe something that is essentially a myth. I've explained this to you in about the most simple terms imaginable, yet you respond with cute little digs at me, and some sort of idiot 'confidence' that you know better. Why can't you explain it to us all, like I explained it to you? Tell me why I am wrong and you are right? Well, the reason is, because I am not wrong and you know I'm right. It's the knowing, yet still remaining mired in your ignorance, which makes you idiots.