Crisis, what crisis? for US hedge fund managers

This video from the USA is called Paul Krugman – Income Inequality and the Middle Class.

By Barry Grey:

In midst of recession, multi-billion-dollar paydays for US hedge fund managers

17 April 2008

A survey of the 2007 income of American hedge fund managers published Wednesday sheds light on the ugly reality of American capitalism.

The annual ranking of top hedge fund earners compiled by Alpha, a magazine that caters to wealthy and institutional investors, reports that the top money-maker, John Paulson, took home $3.7 billion last year, probably the richest singe-year haul in Wall Street history.

Paulson, the founder of Paulson & Company, was not the only multi-billion-dollar hedge fund winner. He was followed by George Soros, who took in $2.9 billion, and James H. Simons, who netted $2.8 billion.

The top 50 hedge fund managers took in a combined sum of $29 billion.

To place these astronomical figures in some perspective, the combined take of these 50 individuals is about the same as the annual gross domestic product of Kenya, a country of 32.5 million people, and a billion dollars less than the GDP of Sri Lanka, the home of 20 million people.