We are the 1 Percent | We Stand with the 99 Percent

This tumblog which was created only 4 days ago is quite evocative and gaining a large following quickly. It displays pics sent in from the 1%ers who show support for the Occupy Wall Street movement.

The About Us section of the blog states:

We have more than we need, while the 99 percent struggles to survive. This has to change. We believe in an equitable distribution of wealth.

Support from the 1% cohort is critical to the movement for a variety of reasons. First, they are in a position to provide money. Second, it may potentially alter the perception of critics and politicians as they observe their own legitimizing grievances. Third, it has huge symbolic meaning similar to US military deserters during Vietnam.

Notables who are closely tied to the US financial system are also chiming in. Yesterday, Ezra Klein published an interview in The Washington Post with PIMCO co-CEO Mohammed el-Erian in which el-Erian expressed sympathy for the movement and their cause. el-Erian states:

A lot of what they talk about is a reflection of the five big structural impediments to growth and employment in the U.S. today. We have a housing market that’s not functioning. And housing is really important. It’s the largest component of people’s wealth. We have a labor market that is showing structural unemployment, which is really scary. And remember, the unemployment  number is not just 10 percent. If you add in underemployment, it’s more than 16 percent. And add in people who have left the labor force, and it’s 20 percent. So that’s your real unemployment. The third element is credit. We have this ridiculous situation where those who don’t need credit, like big multinationals, can get credit in the capital markets, and small and medium firms, which need credit, can’t get any. Those are the big three.

Add on top of that, we have crumbling infrastructure and we can’t seem to resolve the debate between short-term stimulus and long-term budget reform and you have a whole set of impediments undermining the return of growth. That doesn’t deny the importance of the demand side. Demand is important, but not sufficient. 

We are the 1 percent | We stand with the 99 percent

Financiers for Occupying Wall Street (WaPo)