In the past 30 years, 96% of income growth has gone to the richest 10% of the US

http://www.businessinsider.com/income-inequality-charts-2011-10?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2Falleyinsider%2Fsilicon_alley_insider+%28Silicon+Alley+Insider%29

by kunle • 15 years ago

12 1 15 years ago

businessinsider.com

ecounysis• 15 years ago

"From 1981-2008, average incomes grew by a healthy $12,000. But a shocking 96% of that growth went to the richest 10% of the country. Only 4% of it went to the other 90%."

We are trained to stretch everything - laws, resources, work hours, employee benefits, you name it - to be profitable and make money. We can think of all kinds of schemes and business models to legally extract wealth - whether it is adjustable rate mortgages with balloon payments, absurdly exorbitant executive compensation packages, interest rate swaps, bailouts to subsidize the worthless yet powerful, or government contracts. We think that because something is legal it is right. Being legal is a very low standard when you are the one making the laws. Just because we can doesn't mean we should. This, in my opinion is a major problem with the American economy right now. The most powerful people and businesses appear to be more interested in extracting wealth than in creating wealth.

In the past 30 years, 96% of income growth has gone to the richest 10% of the US

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