USA inequality latest
From the Center on Budget and Policy priorities:
"The gaps in after-tax income between the richest 1 percent of Americans and the middle and poorest fifths of the country more than tripled between 1979 and 2007 (the period for which these data are available), according to data the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued last week. Taken together with prior research, the new data suggest greater income concentration at the top of the income scale than at any time since 1928."
Read on, for more details, including why the latest recession may amount to only a speed bump in an ever-continuing trend. We blogged this not so long ago, including this quote:
"Based on the US historical record, falls in income concentration due to recessions are temporary unless drastic policy changes, such as financial regulation or significantly more progressive taxation, are implemented and prevent income concentration from bouncing back. Such policy changes took place after the Great Depression during the New Deal and permanently reduced income concentration till the 1970s. In contrast, recent downturns, such as the 2001 recession, lead to only very temporary drops in income concentration."
And for more on why inequality matters, click here.
"The gaps in after-tax income between the richest 1 percent of Americans and the middle and poorest fifths of the country more than tripled between 1979 and 2007 (the period for which these data are available), according to data the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued last week. Taken together with prior research, the new data suggest greater income concentration at the top of the income scale than at any time since 1928."
Read on, for more details, including why the latest recession may amount to only a speed bump in an ever-continuing trend. We blogged this not so long ago, including this quote:
"Based on the US historical record, falls in income concentration due to recessions are temporary unless drastic policy changes, such as financial regulation or significantly more progressive taxation, are implemented and prevent income concentration from bouncing back. Such policy changes took place after the Great Depression during the New Deal and permanently reduced income concentration till the 1970s. In contrast, recent downturns, such as the 2001 recession, lead to only very temporary drops in income concentration."
And for more on why inequality matters, click here.
posted by TJN at 10:54 pm
2 Comments:
"The gaps in after-tax income between the richest 1 percent of Americans and the middle and poorest fifths of the country more than tripled"
Err, no. the figures are based upon household incomes, not of "Americans" or individuals.
Someone really needs to point out the impact of assortative mating (you know, the rise of the two professional family?).
In terms of relative inequality you'd have to demonstrate that richer people have been doing this double-income thing more than poor people, and that the trend has been increasing. That may or may not be the case, but it's not evident from what you say here. Evidence, please.
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