Incomes and tax revenues have grown from 2009 to 2011 as the economy recovered, but an astonishing 149 percent of the increased income went to the top 10 percent of earners.
If you wonder how that can happen, the answer is simple: Incomes fell for the bottom 90 percent.
The top 1 percent enjoyed 81 percent of all the increased income since 2009. Just over half of the gains went to the top one-tenth of 1 percent, and 39 percent of the gains went to the top 1 percent of the top 1 percent.
Ponder that last fact for a moment -- the top 1 percent of the top 1 percent, those making at least $7.97 million in 2011, enjoyed 39 percent of all the income gains in America. In a nation of 158.4 million households, just 15,837 of them received 39 cents out of every dollar of increased income.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
THE BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE MARKETS
David Cay Johnston has crunched some numbers provided by Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty and come up with these astounding facts:
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3 comments:
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/03/oligarchy-exists-inside-our-democracy.html
"On matters of direct interest to the oligarchy, they win. You can have your silly laws about marriage or abortion as long as they get their way on money."
Good link, Ken, thanx!
There's also an argument that gays were more interesting, even commendable when politically alienated against the government rather than asking for favors from it.
But I suppose you have to believe the government is irreformable to agree.
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