Friday, October 12, 2007

we are living in a golden age (cont'd)

Income-Inequality Gap Widens
WSU, October 12, 2007; Page A2

The richest Americans' share of national income has hit a postwar record, surpassing the highs reached in the 1990s bull market, and underlining the divergence of economic fortunes blamed for fueling anxiety among American workers.

The wealthiest 1% of Americans earned 21.2% of all income in 2005, according to new data from the Internal Revenue Service. That is up sharply from 19% in 2004, and surpasses the previous high of 20.8% set in 2000, at the peak of the previous bull market in stocks.

The bottom 50% (suckers!) earned 12.8% of all income, down from 13.4% in 2004 and a bit less than their 13% share in 2000.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well statistics can be used to prove anything now can't they.

What you don't mention is that the wealthiest 1% of Americans generate 21.2% of America's earnings wealth and that the bottom 50% can only generate 12.8% of our earnings wealth.

So its obvious that the poor people aren't pulling their weight. If I had an employee like that I would fire them.

Nor do you mention that the wealthiest 1% of Americans do 21.2% of the labor in the country. They work the longest hours at grocery stores, in the mini marts, at the strip malls. Each one of them puts in thousands of hours of work for every poor person who works the pitiful 40 hour work week. By the collective sweat of their brows, they toil over treatises, studying their trade, and work their fingers to the bone or work their minds to the point of exhaustion in each of their chosen professions, working up to 100 hours per day, 20 days per week, on their 13th or 14th jobs.

The bottom 50% largely work part time. And they are poor.

Smiff said...

Like most Smiffs: totally full@$#i+.