Income and Wealth Inequality has always existed

Wiseacre

Retired USAF Chief
Apr 8, 2011
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San Antonio, TX
Liberals and the MSM would have you believe that in recent years the inequality of wealth and income has risen far beyond what it used to be. Not True. When the market goes up, the rich guys benefit the most, but when it crashes they also get hurt the most. And the truth is that with the advent of globalisation and WalMart, the standard of living has not been all that detrimental for the bottom half of our society.

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Historical context
Numerous studies show that the wealth distribution has been extremely concentrated throughout American history, with the top 1% already owning 40-50% in large port cities like Boston, New York, and Charleston in the 19th century. It was very stable over the course of the 20th century, although there were small declines in the aftermath of the New Deal and World II, when most people were working and could save a little money. There were progressive income tax rates, too, which took some money from the rich to help with government services.

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Income inequality tells one nothing about the economic state of the poor-, middle-, or upper-class. In fact, incomes are not a good indicator of overall wealth, which is a much broader and more thorough measure of prosperity.
The Federal Reserve defines wealth as “all financial and nonfinancial assets, including bank accounts, investments, houses, cars and debt.” And, as G. William Domhoff’s (a noted liberal professor at The University of California, who’s very much concerned with income inequality) study shows, the overall wealth distribution has not changed since 1922:


Bottom 99 percent Top 1 percent
1922 63.3% 36.7%
1929 55.8% 44.2%
1933 66.7% 33.3%
1939 63.6% 36.4%
1945 70.2% 29.8%
1949 72.9% 27.1%
1953 68.8% 31.2%
1962 68.2% 31.8%
1965 65.6% 34.4%
1969 68.9% 31.1%
1972 70.9% 29.1%
1976 80.1% 19.9%
1979 79.5% 20.5%
1981 75.2% 24.8%
1983 69.1% 30.9%
1986 68.1% 31.9%
1989 64.3% 35.7%
1992 62.8% 37.2%
1995 61.5% 38.5%
1998 61.9% 38.1%
2001 66.6% 33.4%
2004 65.7% 34.3%
2007 65.4% 34.6%

Sources: 1922-1989 data from Wolff (1996). 1992-2007 data from Wolff (2010).


Who Rules America: Wealth, Income, and Power
 
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