The chart above, posted by Ezra Klein in the Washington Post's Wonkblog, shows changes in income from 2009 to 2010, sorted by baseline levels of income. It's clear that those near the top of the income distribution have experienced the economic recovery more fully than the bottom 99% of income earners.
It's kind of a cumbersome table, but understandable and frankly not particularly surprising. I went to the source of the data and found two graphs there that put the recent changes in an historic perspective. First, the income of the top 10% of Americans -
- stretching back to 1913. I'll defer commentary - I just wanted to post this for future reference.
Without getting too deep into the socio-economic tumbleweeds, the top will generally experience market changes first. When new money is printed, they are the first to benefit (hidden inflation tax on the poor).
ReplyDeleteWhen the market for goods and services in any sector is drying up, a key indication is profits. Profits indicate what the price compared to cost the markets will bear. Profits are what we call paychecks to the top %.
Naturally, when the market is starting an upturn, it is the same top % that benefit first. The demand starts to expand, creating profits, allowing for re-investment, resulting in expansion of the jobs market, resulting in middle class expansion, & c...
For better or worse, they are first.