The graph above displays the proportion of total national income received by the top 0.01% of the population. The x-axis is a time scale from 1913 to 2007, the date for which the most recent data are available. In 2007 six percent of income was received by the top one hundredth of one percent of the population.
This country has always harbored (and created) extremely wealthy people, but what is striking now is not just the level of disparity, but the abrupt rise in the past few decades; prior to that there had been little change for the previous two or three generations.
As of 2007, the top decile of American earners, Saez writes, pulled in 49.7 percent of total wages, a level that's "higher than any other year since 1917 and even surpasses 1928, the peak of stock market bubble in the 'roaring" 1920s.'"Via HuffPo.
Graph credit: Emmanuel Saez, U.C. Berkeley
Looks like Reagan's 2nd term, the Clinton years, and Bush 43's second term were the worst.
ReplyDeleteOf course I can't interpret these graph's.
Also, the disparity peaks seem to happen right at major economic downturns. Correlation?
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, Paris Hilton is having a $350,000 dog house built. To the barricades!
ReplyDelete