How the Top One Percent Ripped Off the Bottom 99 Percent
Tuesday, 10/11/2011 - 12:18 pm by Jon Rynn
As the financial sector sucks up more and more money, the rest of us are left making less and less.
Occupy Wall Street has put a spotlight on the vast and growing
economic inequality in the United States. It now takes its place as a
top progressive priority — perhaps the highest priority it has
experienced since the Great Depression.
Underlying this greater and greater inequality is a shift of wealth
from manufacturing to the top 1 percent and the financial sector. Over
the past 40 years, the sectors of the economy that grew in output share
grew very little in employment share — making more money but paying it
to a small group of people. The sectors of the economy that grew in
employment share did not grow in output share, meaning that a growing
number of workers had to share in a smaller pot of profits. From 1969 to
2007, the richest 1 percent has grabbed
15 percent more of the income of the United States, to a total of about
24 percent. Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector has lost a similar 15
percent of gross domestic product (GDP). This has led to a downward
shift in income for the bottom 99 percent.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
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