March/April 2011 Issue
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It's the Inequality, Stupid
Illustrations by Jason Schneider
Eleven charts that explain everything that's wrong with America.
—By Dave Gilson and Carolyn Perot
March/April 2011 Issue
HOW RICH ARE THE SUPERRICH?
A huge share of the nation's economic growth over the past 30 years has gone to the top one-hundredth of one percent, who now make an average of $27 million per household. The average income for the bottom 90 percent of us? $31,244.
Note: The 2007 data (the most current) doesn't reflect the impact of the housing market crash. In 2007, the bottom 60% of Americans had 65% of their net worth tied up in their homes. The top 1%, in contrast, had just 10%. The housing crisis has no doubt further swelled the share of total net worth held by the superrich.
WINNERS TAKE ALL
The superrich have grabbed the bulk of the past three decades' gains.
OUT OF BALANCE
A Harvard business prof and a behavioral economist recently asked more than 5,000 Americans how they thought wealth is distributed in the United States. Most thought that it’s more balanced than it actually is. Asked to choose their ideal distribution of wealth, 92% picked one that was even more equitable.
CAPITOL GAIN
Why Washington is closer to Wall Street than Main Street.
WHO'S WINNING?
For a healthy few, it's getting better all the time.
YOUR LOSS, THEIR GAIN
How much income have you given up for the top 1 percent?
Sources
Your chances of being a millionaire: Calculation based on data from
Wolff (PDF); US Census (
household and
population data)
Home equity, 2007-2009: Federal Reserve, Flow of Funds data,
1995-2004 and
2005-2009 (PDFs)
Read also: Kevin Drum on the decline of Big Labor, the rise of Big Business, and why the Obama era fizzled so soon.>
More Mother Jones charty goodness: How the rich get richer; how the poor get poorer; who owns Congress?
Dave Gilson is a senior editor at Mother Jones. Read more of his stories, follow him on Twitter, or contact him at dgilson (at) motherjones (dot) com. Get Dave Gilson's RSS feed.
