Income Disparities are on the Rise
January 25th 2008 06:23
Since President George W. Bush took office in January 2001 the income disparities between the richest and the poorest have increased. For the first time everyone on the 2006 Forbes 400 list was a billionaire. The 2005 Forbes 400 list contained 374 billionaires, with a combined net worth of $1.13 trillion. No new editions were added to the 2005 list. Steve Forbes, Forbes magazine publisher, did not make the list because his net worth is only $400 million.
A 2004 study by UC Berkeley professor Emmanuel Saez reported that the income of the median household in 2004 only increased by 1.6 percent. During the 1998 to 2001 period it increased by 9.5 percent. The tax cuts Bush and the Republican National Committee make much noise about do not benefit the working poor. The median income taxpayer receives a tax cut of $600, while a $10 million dollar wage earner receives a $500,000 tax cut.
The New York Times conducted a study on the 2003 tax cuts. They found that someone earning $26 million paid the same amount of taxes as a $200,000 to $500,000 wage earner. In a time of record federal deficits, when the U.S. military occupies two countries (Afghanistan and Iraq) Bush’s tax cuts make little sense.
The Rich get Richer
The collective net worth of the Forbes 400 billionaires is $1.25 trillion. Bill Gates, Microsoft’s top man, is number one on the list, and has been for thirteen years. In fact $1.13 trillion is more than “the combined gross domestic product of Switzerland, Poland, Norway, and Greece,” as New York Times columnist Nina Munk observed.
The minimum net worth needed to make the list went from $500 million to $625 million in 1998. In 1999 the Forbes 400 list had as much wealth as bottom half of U.S. population, over a trillion dollars. The average Forbes 400 member increased their wealth by 177 percent in the last decade, and more than 55 percent in the last two years.
According to a Federal Reserve Study, the top ten percent of wage earners in America own seventy percent of the wealth, and the top five percent own more than the bottom ninety-five percent. CEO to worker pay was 431 to 1 in 2004, up from 301 to 1 in 2003. The average CEO’s pay is $11.8 million a year, while the average worker $27,460.
In a January 24, 2007 article for the Christian Science Monitor, writers Dmitri Iglitzin and Steven Hill referred to CEOs as “grossly overcompensated kingpins of the US economy.” They also said, “Income disparity hurts democracy.” Federal tax breaks given to corporations pay for the high salaries of CEOs.
The Working Poor get Poorer
Economist John Kenneth Galbraith published his book, The Affluent Society almost 50 years. In the book he predicted that America’s increasing wealth would produce a society with “private wealth and public squalor.” Today Galbraith’s predictions are reality.
The industrialized nation with the most unequal distribution of income is the United States, according to a 2003 article in the journal Vital Signs. Only 1.8 percent of the wealth in the U.S. goes to the poorest 10 percent. After adjusting for inflation, the tenth percentile of family income is almost the same today as it was in 1979: about $13,500. Thirty million Americans live on less.
The average middle-class family earns $43,700. In 1979 the average middle-class family earned $38,000. The statistic means that since 1979 the average middle-class family income rose by only $200 a year. Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) make 400 times more than average workers do. In 1965 CEOs made only 20 times more.
According to the National Poverty Center poverty has increased over the last four years. Data from the Internal Revenue Service on 2005 income revealed that the bottom 99 percent of wage earners gained less than one percent, and the top one percent gained 14 percent.
The U.S. Census Bureau revealed that between 2000 and 2005 the percentage of Americans living at half of the poverty level income increased by 26 percent. The poverty-level income for a family of three (two adults and one child) is $6,922. For a family of four it is $10,222, and for an individual, $5,250.
A 2004 study by UC Berkeley professor Emmanuel Saez reported that the income of the median household in 2004 only increased by 1.6 percent. During the 1998 to 2001 period it increased by 9.5 percent. The tax cuts Bush and the Republican National Committee make much noise about do not benefit the working poor. The median income taxpayer receives a tax cut of $600, while a $10 million dollar wage earner receives a $500,000 tax cut.
The New York Times conducted a study on the 2003 tax cuts. They found that someone earning $26 million paid the same amount of taxes as a $200,000 to $500,000 wage earner. In a time of record federal deficits, when the U.S. military occupies two countries (Afghanistan and Iraq) Bush’s tax cuts make little sense.
The Rich get Richer
The collective net worth of the Forbes 400 billionaires is $1.25 trillion. Bill Gates, Microsoft’s top man, is number one on the list, and has been for thirteen years. In fact $1.13 trillion is more than “the combined gross domestic product of Switzerland, Poland, Norway, and Greece,” as New York Times columnist Nina Munk observed.
The minimum net worth needed to make the list went from $500 million to $625 million in 1998. In 1999 the Forbes 400 list had as much wealth as bottom half of U.S. population, over a trillion dollars. The average Forbes 400 member increased their wealth by 177 percent in the last decade, and more than 55 percent in the last two years.
According to a Federal Reserve Study, the top ten percent of wage earners in America own seventy percent of the wealth, and the top five percent own more than the bottom ninety-five percent. CEO to worker pay was 431 to 1 in 2004, up from 301 to 1 in 2003. The average CEO’s pay is $11.8 million a year, while the average worker $27,460.
In a January 24, 2007 article for the Christian Science Monitor, writers Dmitri Iglitzin and Steven Hill referred to CEOs as “grossly overcompensated kingpins of the US economy.” They also said, “Income disparity hurts democracy.” Federal tax breaks given to corporations pay for the high salaries of CEOs.
The Working Poor get Poorer
Economist John Kenneth Galbraith published his book, The Affluent Society almost 50 years. In the book he predicted that America’s increasing wealth would produce a society with “private wealth and public squalor.” Today Galbraith’s predictions are reality.
The industrialized nation with the most unequal distribution of income is the United States, according to a 2003 article in the journal Vital Signs. Only 1.8 percent of the wealth in the U.S. goes to the poorest 10 percent. After adjusting for inflation, the tenth percentile of family income is almost the same today as it was in 1979: about $13,500. Thirty million Americans live on less.
The average middle-class family earns $43,700. In 1979 the average middle-class family earned $38,000. The statistic means that since 1979 the average middle-class family income rose by only $200 a year. Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) make 400 times more than average workers do. In 1965 CEOs made only 20 times more.
According to the National Poverty Center poverty has increased over the last four years. Data from the Internal Revenue Service on 2005 income revealed that the bottom 99 percent of wage earners gained less than one percent, and the top one percent gained 14 percent.
The U.S. Census Bureau revealed that between 2000 and 2005 the percentage of Americans living at half of the poverty level income increased by 26 percent. The poverty-level income for a family of three (two adults and one child) is $6,922. For a family of four it is $10,222, and for an individual, $5,250.
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Comment by Simon Ellis-Jones
The income disparities between the rich and the poor have been increasing for many years. The richer are getting richer, but the poorer are not, in many cases, getting poorer. They just get themselves into bigger debt.
Comment by Gina-Marie Cheeseman
The Truthteller
Comment by Simon Ellis-Jones
Comment by Gina-Marie Cheeseman
The Truthteller