Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Top 1% in America get much richer

LAT: "The rich have gotten richer over the last three decades -- and the very rich have gotten very richer -- far outpacing the middle class, according to a new government study."

The news is all over the US media: income disparity grows exponentially. In America!

"Americans have been watching protests against oppressive regimes that concentrate massive wealth in the hands of an elite few. Yet in our own democracy, 1 percent of the people take nearly a quarter of the nation’s income—an inequality even the wealthy will come to regret."


There is another graph that shows the line escalating sharply. I will update this post later.

and a more amusing photo going around facebook:

12 comments :

Anonymous said...

yeah, ur the 99%, just another slave, who believes everything he hears from the 1% (media)

Anand said...

This phenomenon has been taking place everywhere around the world for over a generation.

Because of technological innovation, income for skilled workers, especially very skilled workers, is skyrocketing. [Entrepreneurs, technologists, corporate executives, entertainers, lawyers, top end doctors, etc.]

The increased income inequality is mostly between different types of workers versus between workers and the owners of capital.

To a large degree this is inevitable in a globally integrated world with technological innovation.

The only possible solution would be to increase the skills of workers, and secondarily to increase competition in some industries.

K said...

Shouldn't we really worry about absolute quality of life? I wonder if that has gone up or down for the 99%. Mojo, do you have any data on that?

If I have two apples and my neighbor has twenty, is that better or worse than if we each have 1?

Anonymous said...

Mojo,

Theres alot of talk about attacking Iran lately. What do you think about your shiite brothers being attacked? What about the "Shiite revival"?

Maury said...

Nobody wants to attack Iran. BUT, if that stupid plot to bomb a restaurant to kill a Saudi Ambassador had been carried out, it certainly would have kicked off a war. Those cleric/absolute rulers are off their rocker.

Anonymous said...

Maury,

Fair enough. Would American funding of sunni terrorist groups to Attack the Iranian regime be enough of a reason to kick off a war? The CIA is certainly doing that

Iraqi Mojo said...

K, I do not have data on the quality of life for the 99%. But I do have data on tax rates for the 1%:

"Warren E. Buffett, take note. It is not just a few wealthy individuals paying unusually low taxes to the federal government. Corporate America is not far behind.

A comprehensive study released on Thursday found that 280 of the biggest publicly traded American companies faced federal income tax bills equal to 18.5 percent of their profits during the last three years — little more than half the official corporate rate of 35 percent and lower than their competitors in many industrialized countries.

Mr. Buffett, the billionaire investor, has said that the tax code is unfair, allowing him to pay just 17 percent in federal taxes last year, about half the percentage his secretary paid."

Iraqi Mojo said...

Anonymous,

I would not complain if the fundamentalist Iranian regime is overthrown. If "Shiite Revival" means theocracy, I am against it.

Anonymous said...

Muhannad, it is true, research American funding of Jundallah. This is something well known

Anonymous said...

its not what i believe or dont believe, its what is happening on the ground.

Anand said...

Please provide evidence of US support for the Ilyas Kashmiri, LeJ, Sipah e Sahabe, Jundullah anti Shiite bigots.

They frequently fight with ANSF, ISAF and Americans in Afghanistan. Why would Americans help people killing American troops.

You do know that Sayyed Khamenei and Sayyed Nasrallah have the habit of lying a lot. Why do you trust them?

Do you also believe that America backed the Iraqi resistance [Sunni Arab militias] against the Government of Iraq, Iraqi Security Forces, Iraqi political parties and Iraqi people? [As Khamenei, Nasrallah, Muqtada, Ahmeninijad publicly use to publicly claim.]

Aton said...

How many people has the Obama administration prosecuted for the financial collapse?