Wealth

Expectations in Miami and Washington had been that once Fidel Castro disappeared from the scene, the Revolution would crumble. But that, of course, has not been the case. Six months after Fidel passed the baton to Raul, there has been no sign whatever of unrest. The Cuban people have accepted the transition with calm maturity - indicating a higher level of support for the Revolution than the exiles in Miami or the Bush administration had thought possible. Indeed, a recent Gallup poll conducted in Cuba indicated that 49 percent of the Cuban people supported Fidel Castro.

Homeownership in the U.S. dropped for a fourth consecutive quarter, the longest decline in more than 25 years, suggesting more Americans will miss their best chance of building wealth. The proportion of households that own their residences fell to 68.1 percent in the third quarter, which ended Sept. 30. That was down from 68.3 percent in the second quarter, according to a report yesterday from the U.S. Census Bureau, whose comparable records go back to 1981. The homeownership rate has been declining from a peak in 2004, which capped a decade of gains fueled by easier lending standards and rising home purchases by immigrants and younger households.

thejoykitchen .com This Web site, created by the authors and editors of The Joy of Cooking, allows members to browse and contribute to recipes, cooking tips, techniques and online discussion forums. There is also a wealth of historical information about the history of the famous cookbook, from its initial publication in 1931 to its 75th-anniversary edition.

The signs of change are everywhere: In Westminster, shoppers jam the huge, warehouse-style stores that are springing up on once-quiet streets. North of Bel Air, polo matches are drawing more and more participants. On the Eastern Shore, aging grocery stores are stocking their shelves with pricey organic vegetables and gourmet foods.Families moving to the outer suburbs are fueling a tremendous shift of wealth in the Baltimore region. That shift is fattening tax rolls and creating vast new shopping areas in once-rural counties while leaving older communities gasping for air.The rush of dollars to the outlying suburbs -- where new residents earn, on average, more than those who are moving out -- is staggering.

The founder of a Hagerstown-based company that sold "Inside Secrets" of wealth and falsely promised money for real estate joint ventures was sentenced yesterday to 51 months in federal prison, nine months less than the maximum 60 months allowed in sentencing guidelines.U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz also fined John Thomas Polk a maximum $250,000 and ordered him to pay $2 million in restitution in the mail-fraud case against Peak Performance and its successor company, Success Achievement Systems.

SKEPTICISM greeted the pledge of democracy that Nigeria's Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar made after succeeding the military dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha, who died of a heart attack last June.Between last Saturday's smooth election of a new parliament and today's election of a president, General Abubakar has been good to his word. He kept the faith with international creditors, let people out of prison, allowed active politics and ran a fair election.That said, the true task of restoring democracy and the economy in Africa's most populous and potentially greatest country has just begun.

THE TOWN was so desperately poor that the little girls had no dolls to play with. Instead, they made do with corn cobs wrapped in rags. On many nights, supper was flour and water mixed with bacon drippings, and even at that, there wasn't enough to go around.That's the portrait drawn by Robert Caro in his biography of former President Lyndon B. Johnson. This visual image is gripping because of its insistence that childhood is the crucible of destiny: "[Johnson] came out of the Hill Country formed, shaped -- into a shape so hard it would never change," Mr. Caro wrote of the 36th president.

HOME SALES account for about one-sixth of the so-called wealth-effect spending, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan said last week in Orlando, Fla., at a conference on mortgage lending sponsored by America's Community Bankers. The capital gain on the sale of the average existing home "generally far exceeds" the down payment on the seller's next home, he said. Fed economists estimate that the average profit from the sale of an existing home over the past five years was more than $25,000 after expenses.

Elijah L. Cummings: a fine representative, a strong role modelThe Sun tends to publish only negative information about African-American public figures. The article about Rep. Elijah L. Cummings' financial situation is a case in point ("As Cummings rose, financial problems grew," Oct. 17).Did The Sun really believe that the general public had a right to know about Mr. Cummings' financial situation? If so, why?Mr. Cummings financial problems do not appear to have affected his ability to represent his constituents.

IT IS fitting that the most productive nation on earth should have a holiday to honor its work. The high standard of living that Americans enjoy is hard-earned and well-deserved.But the term "Labor Day" is a misnomer. What we should celebrate is not sweat and toil, but the power of man's mind to reason, invent and create.Several centuries ago, providing the basic necessities for one's survival was a matter of daily drudgery for most people. But Americans today enjoy conveniences undreamed of by medieval kings.

Time for new age of modest means In "Don't confuse high earners with wealthy" (Commentary, March 4), Ron Smith seeks to draw sympathy for the people who make $250,000 to $500,000 per year, whom he describes as merely "high earners" who, because of President Barack Obama's tax proposals, may never get to become "truly rich." Well, excuse me, but that appeal leaves me cold. There is a point at which wealth satisfies all reasonable needs and wants and seeking more becomes mere greed. How much can you spend on food before it becomes waste and gluttony?

One benefit of living in a rich country is that we can pay psychologists and professors to explain why wealth doesn't make us very happy. It's true. Researchers have found that, once people can meet basic needs, psychological dividends from additional money steadily decrease. Making $100,000 does not make you twice as happy as $50,000. So why does losing money, and the prospect of losing money, make us so miserable? The short answer is that it doesn't have to. If you think about money in the context of what economics says about true fulfillment, having less of it shouldn't be quite so painful.

Geithner's tax troubles set the wrong example I am deeply involved in various education-related organizations, including the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education and Junior Achievement. As I sit in meetings, visit schools and speak before high school classes, ethics, dedication, conduct and honesty are topics of major discussions. So I am truly disappointed in our two senators, Benjamin L. Cardin and Barbara A. Mikulski, for voting to confirm Timothy Geithner as our nation's treasury secretary ("Obama reaches for Republican support," Jan. 27)

Maintaining a tradition that has been around since at least the Reagan Revolution, John McCain the other night ridiculed the idea of "spreading the wealth" and accused Barack Obama of playing "class warfare." This is the tired Republican knee-jerk that occurs whenever someone in the room - Democrat or independent, academic researcher or nonpartisan think-tank thinker - raises the unsettling issue of income disparity in the United States. Republicans throw the "class warfare" flag whenever somebody gets too close to the story of America in the nearly 30 years since Ronald Reagan brought us trickle-down economics.

Advertising * gkv announced the appointments of Meredith Gilbert and Haley Ulloa as assistant account executives for the Baltimore-based marketing firm and named Johnny Vo as associate manager for GKV REACH, the agency's social marketing division. Finance * Wealth Advocacy Partners appointed Stephanie I. Dignan as a financial representative in the Sparks-based insurance and estate planning services firm. She had been with Metropolitan Life and is active with National Association of Female Executives and is a certified financial planner.

Former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm got in trouble when he said Americans are mired not in an economic contraction but in a "mental recession." He soon had to step down as co-chairman of Sen. John McCain's campaign for committing the ultimate political sin: telling the truth about a misperception that happens to be very popular. Americans feel as though the economy is in a recession and want the government to do something about it. In reality, it is expanding. In the second quarter, it grew at a respectable inflation-adjusted rate of 1.9 percent, double the pace of the first quarter.

Few would want slots near home Marylanders can expect a deluge of out-of -state money from gaming corporations that support the slots amendment to the Maryland Constitution ("Wealth driving 'No' vote on slots," July 20). Citizens need to ask themselves if these private corporations give a lick about public order, good government and the state's future, then vote accordingly in November. I think Frederick W. Puddester's attempt to hold the state budget hostage to passage of the slots referendum is disingenuous and unscrupulous.

Here's some news guaranteed to make your blood boil if you are among the millions of hard-working Americans who feel like they are in an economic free fall: There is a new class of super rich in America that has grown by leaps and bounds in the past 20 years. And, by the way, its members are getting richer than ever today, even as your standard of living sinks. Untold Wealth: The Rise of the Super Rich, a CNBC documentary premiering at 10 tonight, reports this trend, with correspondent David Faber interviewing economists, historians, a psychiatrist and several of the super rich who try to explain the hows and whys of this societal shift.

I blew five bucks in a liquor store on Mega Millions. The jackpot was $120 million Tuesday night. By morning, I realized that I did not have the winning numbers, and did not even come close, and that I might have a gambling problem - the problem being that I never win. OK, I exaggerate. I've come out ahead at Pimlico twice since 1978 and, in 1980, I won a case of King Syrup in a Sons of Italy linguini-and-crab dinner raffle. I didn't know what to do with King Syrup, so I put it in the basement next to a supply of Quaker State 10W-40.

LADY LAKE, Fla. -- The presidential showdown in Florida was supposed to be a four-way scuffle, with Rudolph W. Giuliani challenging rival Republicans to come on down to the Sunshine State and try to knock him off. Instead, the contest appears to have become a two-way fight: Mitt Romney's money and can-do businessman image versus Sen. John McCain's momentum and support from top state politicians. Giuliani is fading, with polls showing him in a third-place struggle with Mike Huckabee that could end Giuliani's candidacy.