Hard to believe the left isn't all over this.
snippet:
The income of the richest 1 percent in the U.S. soared 275 percent from 1979 to 2007, but the bottom 20 percent grew by just 18 percent, new government data shows.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a study this week that compared real after-tax household income between 1979 and 2007, which were both after recessions and had similar overall economic activity.
While the income of the richest 1 percent nearly tripled, increases were smaller down the economic ladder. After the 1 percent, income for the next highest 20 percent grew by 65 percent, much faster than it did for the remaining 80 percent of the population but still lagging well behind the top percentile.
another snippet:
The "equalizing effect" of transfer payments and federal taxes on household income was smaller in 2007 than it had been in 1979, according to the CBO, sparking controversy in the debate over whether to increase taxes on the rich.
In 1979, households in the bottom quintile received more than 50 percent of transfer payments. In 2007, similar households received about 35 percent of transfers. Meanwhile over that period, the overall average federal tax rate fell slightly, the composition of federal revenues shifted away from progressive income taxes to less-progressive payroll taxes, and income taxes became slightly more concentrated at the higher end of the income scale.
"The effect of the first two factors outweighed the effect of the third, reducing the extent to which taxes lessened the dispersion of household income," Douglas Elmendorf, CBO director, wrote on the CBO website.
Income More Than Doubles for Top 1 Percent From 1979 - ABC News
The question is what to do about it. Raising taxes on the rich is not going to be the answer, although the democrats would have you believe otherwise.
PS: Please see my thread about well-being of the middle and lower income classes in this forum.
snippet:
The income of the richest 1 percent in the U.S. soared 275 percent from 1979 to 2007, but the bottom 20 percent grew by just 18 percent, new government data shows.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a study this week that compared real after-tax household income between 1979 and 2007, which were both after recessions and had similar overall economic activity.
While the income of the richest 1 percent nearly tripled, increases were smaller down the economic ladder. After the 1 percent, income for the next highest 20 percent grew by 65 percent, much faster than it did for the remaining 80 percent of the population but still lagging well behind the top percentile.
another snippet:
The "equalizing effect" of transfer payments and federal taxes on household income was smaller in 2007 than it had been in 1979, according to the CBO, sparking controversy in the debate over whether to increase taxes on the rich.
In 1979, households in the bottom quintile received more than 50 percent of transfer payments. In 2007, similar households received about 35 percent of transfers. Meanwhile over that period, the overall average federal tax rate fell slightly, the composition of federal revenues shifted away from progressive income taxes to less-progressive payroll taxes, and income taxes became slightly more concentrated at the higher end of the income scale.
"The effect of the first two factors outweighed the effect of the third, reducing the extent to which taxes lessened the dispersion of household income," Douglas Elmendorf, CBO director, wrote on the CBO website.
Income More Than Doubles for Top 1 Percent From 1979 - ABC News
The question is what to do about it. Raising taxes on the rich is not going to be the answer, although the democrats would have you believe otherwise.
PS: Please see my thread about well-being of the middle and lower income classes in this forum.
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