Protestors participate in an Occupy Oakland rally Monday, Oct. 10, 2011, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo)
October 25, 2011 9:57 PM
(CBS News) The Occupy Wall Street movement has, for the most part, been formed around the idea that wealth distribution in America is unfair, and that the economic system is skewed to reward the already wealthy with the highest gains. A new report from the Congressional Budget Office appears to have confirmed that.
Specifically, it has confirmed that the rich really are getting richer.
Between 1979 and 2007, the top 1 percent of Americans with the highest incomes have seen their incomes grow by an average of 275 percent, according to the CBO study (PDF).
In comparison, the 60 percent of Americans in the middle of the income scale saw their incomes increase by just 40 percent during the same time period, according to the study, which was based on a combination of IRS and Census data....
The span of time is interesting as well. It is the same period of time that saw an aggressive assault against unions when Reagan attacked the unions. The Worship of Wall Street began along with the abandonment of the Middle Class. The CEOs found outsourcing and bonuses. When anthropologicial dynamics are applied to these statistics a very interesting picture emerges.
This Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis finds that, over the past three decades, the distribution of
income in the United States has become increasingly dispersed—in particular, the share of income accruing to higher-income households has increased, whereas the share accruing to other households has declined. Despite definitional and methodological differences, other analyses using data from tax returns or surveys have reached similar conclusions.....
The study only goes until 2007 which is the beginning of the Great Recession. If the statistics were carried out throught today the disparity would be far greater. The CBO did well to limit the study to 2007 as otherwise it would appear to be political rather than analytical.
Introduction (click here)
The study only goes until 2007 which is the beginning of the Great Recession. If the statistics were carried out throught today the disparity would be far greater. The CBO did well to limit the study to 2007 as otherwise it would appear to be political rather than analytical.
Introduction (click here)
...The dispersion of household income rose almost continually throughout the nearly 30-year period spanning 1979 through 2007 except during the 1990–1991 and 2001 recessions. The recent turmoil in financial markets, the prolonged recession that began in December 2007, and the ongoing slow recovery may have caused a pause in that upward trend, but the present analysis does not extend beyond 2007....
Included in the measure of wealth by the CBO was health insurance. The degree the measure of wealth was effected by health insurance was higher in the lower scale of income. The employer sponsored health insurannce increased the wealth of the lower income which allowed for other discretionary spending. The upper income had less impact by health insurance in increasing their wealth. So the equity in actual income is greater when that dynamic is removed.
Included in the measure of wealth by the CBO was health insurance. The degree the measure of wealth was effected by health insurance was higher in the lower scale of income. The employer sponsored health insurannce increased the wealth of the lower income which allowed for other discretionary spending. The upper income had less impact by health insurance in increasing their wealth. So the equity in actual income is greater when that dynamic is removed.
...Using the CPS-based measures of health insurance, the authors found that the inclusion of that insurance raised average income by about 8 percent in the first half of that period and by more than 10 percent in the latter half of the period. The relative increases in income were larger in the lower part of the income distribution than in the higher part, so the inclusion of health insurance reduced measured income inequality....
The 'trend' as noted by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) can be noted in a global picture as well. It is noticably a dynamic dictated by Wall Street CEOs. There is absolutely no conceivable way these countries plotted against their own Middle and Lower Income. Their economies are dominated by capitalism and Wall Street. Hello? This is a Wall Street trend, not that of a healthy economy based in 'the people' and economic development at the grassroots.
The 'trend' as noted by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) can be noted in a global picture as well. It is noticably a dynamic dictated by Wall Street CEOs. There is absolutely no conceivable way these countries plotted against their own Middle and Lower Income. Their economies are dominated by capitalism and Wall Street. Hello? This is a Wall Street trend, not that of a healthy economy based in 'the people' and economic development at the grassroots.
...A recent report covering the 30 developed countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) concluded, “Overall, over the entire period from the mid-1980s to the mid-2000s, the dominant pattern is one of a fairly widespread increase in inequality (in two-thirds of all countries)...
