Rich Get Rich and the Poor Get Children

Letter from Atlanta

It is my first visit to the state of Georgia in US. Am in Atlanta.  In between meetings and meetings I have been soaking in the sights and flavors of the city of Atlanta. I check out the impressive Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) in the heart of downtown Atlanta. Started by the state govt in 1976 the facility features 1.4 million square feet of exhibit space. It gets in a million guests annually. Check out their fun facts page.

Georgia also boasts of the world’s largest aquarium. If you are a Civil War history buff, this is a good place to visit. Of course for me Georgia is always associated with the Margaret Mitchell, the author of the classic Gone With The Wind. Her house at 990 Peachtree Street in Atlanta is a tourist attraction. The locals point out at this also where she was killed in a motor accident in 1949 while on her way to watch a film. The CNN Headquarters have a Hummer as an exhibit. This battered Hummer was used by the reporters during the Gulf War to file the reports.

While on the media, here were the headlines from USA Today newspaper : Wednesday 16, July 2008: Signs of a growing crisis: Blue-chip stocks are down 21.2% in past year. Wholesale prices have risen 9.2% since June 2007; US Dollar is down 13.2% vs the Euro during the past year. Foreclosures are up 53% since this time last year. General Motors suspends its dividends to stockholders. The last time that happened was in 1922. Headlines from US Today on Thursday July 17, 2008 announces the rise in birthrates to 4.32 in 2007 and wonders if it signals the next baby boom? An interesting timeline illustrates the different generational chunks in the population. Starting with the 2.71 million births from the early 1900s to the mid 1920s created what was called the “Greatest Generation” . The birthrate dropped during the mid 20′s to mid ’40s to create the “Lucky Few” Generation. The Baby Boomers happened from 1946-64. Then followed Gen X for those born between 1965 to early 80s. Thereafter the Millenials appeared between early 1980s and beyond. The factors attributed to the boom are more immigrants having more children. As more women enter the workforce, many are delaying their decision to have children and of course more women in age group of 20-30 years. Unemployment is rising and companies are laying off workers. The rich get rich and the poor get laid off.

What you have here is a classic situation described in that song from the twenties called Ain’t We Got Fun

The times are bum and getting bummer

Still we have fun

There is nothing surer

The rich get rich and the poor get children

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