I’ve noticed there’s been a number of stories in the news lately about working and salary. Here’s another, this time from the Wall Street Journal, who asks if wage inequality is worsening.
About 11% of income (and that’s not counting capital gains) went to the best-off 0.5% of Americans in 2002; 25 years earlier, they got 5.25%… Workers at the 90th percentile (those who earn more than 90% of all workers) earned 4.5 times as much as those in the 10th percentile in 2004; 25 years earlier, they were earning 3.5 times as much…
According to these statistics and more presented in the article, the highest paid have pulled away from those paid in the middle of the range, who have in turned pulled away from those at the bottom.
I had written some thoughts on the rise of a “permanent” ruling class, but there is so much discussion to be had on what’s going on in governmental philosophy at the moment that I wouldn’t — and wouldn’t want to — give it justice here, on a mostly non-political website.
Updated July 16, 2010 and originally published January 18, 2006. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the RSS feed or receive daily emails. Follow @flexo on Twitter and visit our Facebook page for more updates.
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Luke Landes founded Consumerism Commentary in 2003 and has been building online communities since 1990. Luke, also known as Flexo, has contributed to PC World Magazine, US News, Forbes, and other publications. 
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Affluent Americans want to ignore or hide this, but I want it to be in the open where everyone can see it on a regular basis.
I see homeless people sleeping in doorways every day, shouldn’t everybody?
Stop the denial and face it, there really are Two Americas.