15 Facts About U.S. Income Inequality That Everyone Should Know

[L. Coyote]

15 Facts About U.S. Income Inequality That Everyone Should Know (CHARTS)
The Huffington Post | Maxwell Strachan First Posted: 04- 5-11
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/05/us-inequality-infographic_n_845042.html#s261410&title=CEO_Pay



It might have taken a near-historic recession for many Americans to notice our country's rapidly rising levels of income inequality, but the gap between rich and poor has finally gone mainstream, with bloggers, economists and policymakers of all stripes spouting theories on why we should or shouldn't care.

And while the debate continues over cause and consequence, that central claim has proven unshakable: the gulf between the wealth of America's richest and poorest is widening, and few signs show any indication of it slowing.

"Economists are not sure how to fully explain the growing inequality in America," Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz writes in a new piece for Vanity Fair this week. "But one big part of the reason we have so much inequality is that the top 1 percent want it that way."

While it's unclear whether Stiglitz is correct about the intentions of the super-wealthy, what's certain is ...............

[dkf]

1. Maybe it's because all the companies merged.

Maybe there is one CEO where there used to be 10. If we disallowed mergers creating behemoths and broke them up there would be more competition and less concentration.

[iris27]

2. Wow. There are actually people quoted in the original Vanity Fair piece

who argue that it's a good thing that the top 1% owns a quarter of the wealth. Staggering.

The real question is, will Americans be outraged enough to press for reform? And will our representatives listen? These are, after all, the folks who extended the Bush tax cuts even for the wealthiest among us. Their predecessors removed regulations preventing speculation on oil and other commodities. Senate Dems are trying to restore at least some of those regs, but they're being blocked by Republicans who'd rather tear up our national parks than limit how much a hedge fund is allowed to dick around with the prices of crucial needed products.