Post by josh on Nov 18, 2011 13:56:49 GMT -7
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released data showing that the top 1% of income-earners increased their share of total income from 10% in 1979 to 20% in 2007, while the bottom 99% saw a 10% decrease in their share of income over the same time period ( cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=12485 ). Most of the decline in income for the bottom 99% was found to have been extracted from the middle income brackets, since those of us at the bottom didn't really have much left to take. When government taxes and transfer payments (welfare, EIC, etc) were taken into account, the inequality between the top 1% and everyone else was even bigger. This is official documentation of #OWS's claims.
One interesting thing about this report is that it actually looks at the top 1% (those with yearly incomes in excess of one million dollars) as a group, rather than lumping them in as part of the upper 20%, as is usually done. Economic stats are usually reported in quintiles (bottom fifth, middle fifth, etc.), but for some strange reason the economists who put this report together decided to also break things up on the 99% vs 1% divide. Hmmm...wonder why?
Here's the link to Prof. Richard Wolff talking at the Brecht Institute about these and other recent economic developments: www.rdwolff.com/content/global-capitalism-monthly-update-discussion-nov-2011
One interesting thing about this report is that it actually looks at the top 1% (those with yearly incomes in excess of one million dollars) as a group, rather than lumping them in as part of the upper 20%, as is usually done. Economic stats are usually reported in quintiles (bottom fifth, middle fifth, etc.), but for some strange reason the economists who put this report together decided to also break things up on the 99% vs 1% divide. Hmmm...wonder why?
Here's the link to Prof. Richard Wolff talking at the Brecht Institute about these and other recent economic developments: www.rdwolff.com/content/global-capitalism-monthly-update-discussion-nov-2011