I agree in a sense Woolly, but the rich aren't overly to blame on an individual level. There is a large gap developing between the rich and the poor in developed countries (I'm in the UK, but I imagine the US are in a similar situation). Gotbanned, I feel you overestimate the amount of money paid into the economy by the uber-rich. The way I see it, the majority of multi-millionaires and billionaires generally (and unwittingly) share the wealth between themselves. Think of it this way, the majority of purchases for the rich are going to be from other rich people. Designer clothes and accessories, high-end sports cars, dinner in upmarket restuarants, stays in 5 star hotels etc. What we have in essence is two markets, the luxury high-end merchandise and the "cheap and cheerful" variety.The way capitalism works means that for every fortune created, someone has to lose out as we do not have an infinite supply of money, and I think this leads to a larger number of people on the breadline than we've seen before, due to the higher number of rich people in the world today. I believe it's an inherent failing of the system, rather than the greed of people.