4-To review: Income gains made during the Great Divergence by the top 20 percent relative to the middle and bottom 20 percent pale in comparison to income gains made during that period by the top 1 percent relative to the bottom 99 percent—especially after 1994. Since 1979, the top 1 …
4-To review: Income gains made during the Great Divergence by the top 20 percent relative to the middle and bottom 20 percent pale in comparison to income gains made during that period by the top 1 percent relative to the bottom 99 percent—especially after 1994. Since 1979, the top 1 percent’s income share has more than doubled.
Now let’s look at the top 0.1 percent. If the top 1 percent are the Rich, the top 0.1 percent (who today earn about $1 million or more) are the Stinking Rich. Since 1979, their income share hasn’t doubled; it’s quadrupled. In 1973 the top 0.1 percent’s share of the national income stood at 2 percent. By 2008 it was 8 percent. The bottom 99.9 percent’s share fell from 98 percent to 92 percent.