Wonk Room » Income Disparity And Wealth Consolidation Show Eerie Resemblances To 1928

Income Disparity And Wealth Consolidation Show Eerie Resemblances To 1928

Filed Under: Incomes

By Guest on Mar 17th, 2008 at 2:25 pm

Income Disparity And Wealth Consolidation Show Eerie Resemblances To 1928»

Our guest blogger is Robert Gordon, a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

When you’re not checking the stock market today, check out Emmanuel Saez’s recently updated tables on income inequality. Here’s an interesting table:

Look at incomes for the top 1% of earners — the solid black triangles. You’ll see that in 2006, their share of the nation’s income (22.9%) reached its modern peak. The only year higher? 1928.

Another table shows that the top 10% in 2006 took a bigger share (49.7%) than at any point since 1917. The year 1928 was the runner-up.

Let’s hope that 2006 and 1928 don’t end up looking similar in other ways. If they do, it will be a good reminder that growth needs to be shared not just because it’s right, but also because it’ll last longer.

– Robert Gordon

Comments

9 Responses to “Income Disparity And Wealth Consolidation Show Eerie Resemblances To 1928”

hussein toasterhead Says:

Wow. So what’s our Gini coefficient looking like these days? Must be pretty high, with 90% of the population sharing only 50.3% of the wealth.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
hussein toasterhead Says:

Just answered my own question - we have a Gini coefficient of 45 as of 2007. A score that puts us on par with countries like Cameroon, Jamaica, Uganda, the Philippines, and Cote d’Ivoire.

Nice!
March 17th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Bb Says:

So why doesn’t Move-On.org take this graft and print in the big papers; let the people know what is happening and how this administration does not have compassion for the average joe.
Get the Ave. Joe mad enough and he/she will start raising hell, and it will be about time.
March 17th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
paleolib Says:

It will be difficult not to replicate the aftermath of the 1920s at this rate. The U.S. economy is dependent upon domestic consumption of durable and nondurable consumer goods. That model cannot continue with a growing income disparity and declining median incomes. The real estate bubble glossed over the trend for a time as consumers pulled cash out of the inflated equity in their homes. Without a new source of buying power however the bottom falls out not only for the consumer but eventually for the greedy ba$tard$ who have benefitted in the short term from this economy.
March 17th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
kdawg1012 Says:

Hopefully, we have some controls in place to avoid another Great Depression. But deep down in side I have my doubts. Let’s hope we never see it.

If it happens it will be George W. Bush and his Republican Congress’ “Great Depression”. Nice legacy,George.
March 17th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Onuaillain Says:

Interesting how the income levels spiked during the Clinton adiminstration.
March 17th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
hussein toasterhead Says:

Onuaillain Says:
March 17th, 2008 at 6:31 pm

Interesting how the income levels spiked during the Clinton adiminstration.

Ah yes, the heady days of the technology boom. It simply proved the old adage that a rising tide lifts all yachts.

Funny how the same thing happened to the top 1% in the bust years of the Bush Administration.
March 17th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Marie Says:

We,in my household, have been worried about the similarities between the circmstances in this administration with the circumstances both before the market crash and, lately, with the crash itself.
Events are not entirely the same, of course, but there is enough similarity to make a substantive comparison and that should frighten everyone. Not that we can do anything about it.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
mediator Says:

Bb asks above why doesn’t Move-On post this chart in the “big papers” so Average Joe can see it, get mad and rebel.

Bb, apparently you didn’t get the Memo: The “big papers” are now all owned by only six giant Republicon or Republicon-sympathetic corporations and they would never publish this graph. Google “media ownership” and see why both sides of any issue can only be found in the blogosphere.
March 24th, 2008 at 2:11 pm