Thursday, October 31, 2013

That's Rich, And so is That

The assertion that the rich are getting richer is a patently false one and here is the evidence. According to the 2007 Treasury Department report, "Income Mobility in the U.S. From 1996 to 2005", the actual flesh and blood human beings in the top 1% of wage-earners in 1996 actually saw their income go DOWN by 26% by 2005 and more than half of these people fell out of the category altogether..................................................................................And what about the 1% of the 1%, you ask? You just might be surprised to learn here that three fourths of those folks ended up being displaced as well....Look, I'm not saying that we need to start having have tag-sales and fund-raisers for these people, or even feel sorry for them, but we really do need to be a lot more careful in our analysis and check the demagoguery at the door once in a while.

2 comments:

BB-Idaho said...

Perhaps we should say the 1% are getting richer since your data suggests that population continually shifts? IMO, if we look at the generational trend,
wages stayed stagnant while the
'shifty' percent saw dramatic accumulation.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

The category is getting richer but the actual human beings in that category saw a 20-something percent decrease in their income. And the demographic with the highest per capita income is 45-54. This, to me, means that income, like wealth, tends to gradually build up over time.