Sometimes you see statistics on income and wealth inequality and the mind boggles. Bernie Sanders asked the CBO to produce a report on family wealth. It found: www.commondreams.org/...
As of 2013, the top 10 percent of families owned a full 76 percent of total family wealth in the U.S., while those in the bottom half of the distribution held just one percent. The average wealth of the top 10 percent was $4 million, while families in the bottom 25 percent were $13,000 in debt on average
Consider the changes since 1989:
The wealth of families at the 90th percentile of the distribution was 54 percent greater than the wealth at the 90th percentile in 1989, after adjusting for changes in prices. The wealth of those at the median was 4 percent greater than the wealth of their counterparts in 1989. The wealth of families at the 25th percentile was 6 percent less than that of their counterparts in 1989Since 1989 the top 10% is 54% richer, and the bottom 25% is 6% power. Yes, the rich are getting richer and the power are getting power.
One reason for changes since 1989 in the distribution of wealth was the financial crisis, which, according the CBO:
Average wealth of families in the bottom 25 percent changed little between 1989 and 2007 but declined after 2007. Declines in home equity and increases in nonmortgage debt were among the factors contributing to the decline in average wealth for those families.
No surprise, with stagnant incomes, working people have been forced to take on more debt to make ends meet.
Winning the election is important: Trump’s tax plan would benefit the rich more than the poor.
But make no mistake, the forces behind these trends are enormous, and reversing them will take enormous effort