Friday, March 09, 2012

The Rich Get Richer:
Is the ever growing income gap the issue of the decade?


The graph above was derived from data in a Globe and Mail article entitled "The Numbers Get Starker For the 99%." And the graph shows that indeed they do. The income gap is growing, and growing faster: as fast as it ever has.

Since 1993, in the U.S., the income of the 99% has risen by only 6.5%. The income of the 1% by 155%. (That's a relate growth ratio of 24:1.) Since 2009 the income of the 99% has risen by only 0.4%. The income of the 1% by 24.5%. (That's a relate growth ratio of 61:1 !)

The graph above shows only relative change to income. It shows the 99% and the 1% at par in 1993. In absolute terms however, the 1% were already making about 15 times the income of the average American in 1993, and the top 1% of the 1% (the top 0.01%) about 400 times the average. To graph that data linearly would require an image 1200 times as tall as the one above, or about 50 meters (150 ft) tall !!

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