UP HIGH
17/09/13 15:54
Associated Press reporter Paul Wiseman recently summarized how those at the top are doing according to the latest available national statistics:
“The top 1 percent of U.S. earners collected 19.3 percent of household income in 2012, their largest share since 1928. And the share held by the top 10 percent of earners last year reached a record 48.2 percent. . .
. . . since the recession officially ended in June 2009, the top 1 percent have enjoyed the benefits of rising corporate profits and stock prices: 95 percent of the income gains reported since 2009 have gone to the top 1 percent.
That compares with a 45 percent share for the top 1 percent in the economic expansion of the 1990s and a 65 percent share from the expansion that followed the 2001 recession.
The top 10 percent haven't done badly, either. Last year, they captured 48.2 percent of income, up from the previous record, 46.6 percent, in 2011.
The top 1 percent of American households had income above $394,000 last year. The top 10 percent had income exceeding $114,000.”
For any who may be concerned about such matters one may now determine the position one has in the economic hierarchy of the USA.
If you had income in the last year that was greater than $114,000, you belong at the top.
If not, you are in the remaining 90% of Americans who get to share the 51.8% of national income that those at the top are not currently getting.
Wait a while longer. The trend is that the share for the top is going up while the share for the rest is going down.
Perhaps you have noticed.
“The top 1 percent of U.S. earners collected 19.3 percent of household income in 2012, their largest share since 1928. And the share held by the top 10 percent of earners last year reached a record 48.2 percent. . .
. . . since the recession officially ended in June 2009, the top 1 percent have enjoyed the benefits of rising corporate profits and stock prices: 95 percent of the income gains reported since 2009 have gone to the top 1 percent.
That compares with a 45 percent share for the top 1 percent in the economic expansion of the 1990s and a 65 percent share from the expansion that followed the 2001 recession.
The top 10 percent haven't done badly, either. Last year, they captured 48.2 percent of income, up from the previous record, 46.6 percent, in 2011.
The top 1 percent of American households had income above $394,000 last year. The top 10 percent had income exceeding $114,000.”
For any who may be concerned about such matters one may now determine the position one has in the economic hierarchy of the USA.
If you had income in the last year that was greater than $114,000, you belong at the top.
If not, you are in the remaining 90% of Americans who get to share the 51.8% of national income that those at the top are not currently getting.
Wait a while longer. The trend is that the share for the top is going up while the share for the rest is going down.
Perhaps you have noticed.