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I’m
not going to harp on this topic for long, as I have better things to
do – like PROTECTING people from the inevitable HYPERINFLATION.
However, the only way to PROTECT is via education, on a wide variety
of inter-related topics.
In my May
16th RANT – “AGT” – I wrote of
Howard Stern’s ascendance from a martyr of free speech to the “MAINSTREAM.” As a
judge on the nationally-televised, ratings blockbuster family show America’s
got Talent, Stern finally got the recognition he so richly deserves; as a
good man, and one of the nation’s great comedians and
conversationalists. Granted, he occasionally talks dirty; but far less than
portrayed, and always within the context of his subscription-based, comedy
show.
Anyhow,
his first season on AGT just concluded, with the grand prize winner
– Olate Dogs – winning the $1 million
grand prize; plus a Las Vegas performance contract, in which NBC will likely
mismanage them into oblivion…
Olate Dogs, The Finals ~
America’s Got Talent 2012
But
what’s this?
If you
read the fine print during the credits, it turns out America’s
TOP RATED reality show –raking in tens of millions of
advertising dollars each season – is LYING about paying the $1,000,000
prize it speaks of no less than a half-dozen times each episode. In
fact, it’s been LYING about this “minor difference” for at
least five years; as the “million dollars” is actually paid out
as a $25,000 annuity over 40 YEARS, or as a lump sum based on the “net
present value” of said annuity…
NBC’s
America’s Got Talent $1 million is actually worth $25,000 a year, or
maybe just $375,000
To start
with, think how unfair it is that the prize money itself hasn’t
increased over that time; as care of Fed MONEY PRINTING, $1,000,000 has been heavily
diluted…
…which – thanks to John Williams of ShadowStats
– has caused REAL consumer price inflation of roughly 10%
annually…
One
million still makes a difference in nearly anyone’s lifestyle,
even if taxes didn’t chop a third off the top. However, the “net present
value” of a $1 million, 40-year annuity likely nets the winner no more
than $200,000 – $300,000 under the lump sum alternative, depending on
which ARBITRARY “discount rate” the show’s accountants are
ordered to use.
For those
not versed in discount rates, they are used to calculate how much each
payment is worth. Typically, they are based on current interest rates;
adjusted – of course – for numerous, ARBITRARY factors. The
concept behind it – theoretically – is that it should mirror a
rate that one could generate by investing each payment over the 40 years. The
Fed has set the “discount rate” for banks at ZERO PERCENT until
“at least mid-2015”; which, if used for this prize, would result
in a pre-tax net asset value of $829,000. In other words, not far from
the published $1,000,000 prize level.
However, I
ASSURE you AGT will utilize a number far higher than 1%; arguing some
mumbo-jumbo about “risk” of some sort, via equally farcical legalese.
More likely, AGT uses a discount rate that would have been more appropriate a
decade ago – before the Fed lowered interest rates to ZERO
– of 5%-9%, yielding a net asset value of $300,000-$400,000, in PRE-TAX
dollars…
I have
carefully watched contestants speak of the “million dollars” as
if it actually was a MILLION DOLLARS, so either they have been LIED to or
– more likely – misled to believe the prize is worth much
more than it really is. Very sad, as these artists from the “WIDE WORLD OF
MANKIND” represent the best of what’s inside us all, and
deserve to be treated better on the rare occasion they defy the odds to
generate a financial windfall.
However,
this is America, where citizens’ life savings are ALWAYS stolen,
“by hook or crook.” Rich corporations like NBC, deemed “Too
Big Too Fail” by the politicians receiving
their lobbyists’ checks – can run roughshod over America; but as
for the people exploited along the way, “SCREW THE POOR!”
PROTECT
YOURSELF, and do it NOW!
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