Quantcast
Channel: Freedom Fathers
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 8

The Richest 1% Keeps Getting Richer

0
0

This animated GIF shows how much the top 1% of America has been growing their share of income over the past 30 years.

1% Top 1 Percent
via The Washington Post

A dramatic change can be seen in Wyoming, where the top 1 percent has increased their share of income from 9% in 1979, to 31% of all income by 2007. From 1979 to 2007, the top 1%’s slice of the pie grew in every state by anywhere from 3.9 to 22.3 percentage points, according to a new study from the Economic Policy Institute.

The overall rise from 1979 to 2007 is a sharp reversal of the trend going back to the Great Depression. Between 1928 and 1979 the top 1%’s share of income declined in all states but one.

A new report, by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, showed that in the United States the “share of the richest 1% in all pre-tax income has more than doubled since 1980, reaching almost 20% in 2012.” In addition, the study found that “the share of the top 0.1% grew from 2% to over 8% of total pre-tax incomes from 1980 to 2010.”

The OECD recommends tax reforms that would “increase the average tax rate paid by top income recipients without necessarily raising their marginal rates.” This strategy would include reducing a wide range of tax deductions that benefit top earners. It would try to harmonize labor and capital income and tax all compensation as ordinary income. The group also suggests reviewing inheritance taxes and other forms of wealth.

The debate over whether to increase taxes on the rich has been brought to center stage with the recent best-selling book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, by economist Thomas Piketty. In the 600-plus page book, Piketty explains how returns to capital are rising faster than economies are growing. Because of this, the rich get richer and inequality widens to a point where the economy eventually become unsustainable. Piketty’s solution involves a graduated wealth tax and 80% income tax for those on the highest salaries.

Piketty’s novel has also drawn a lot of criticism. Allister Heath wrote in The Telegraph that its “conclusions are horrendously flawed.” And that much of the book’s hype is driven by envy, “disguised as a concern about ‘inequality.’”

The post The Richest 1% Keeps Getting Richer appeared first on Freedom Fathers.


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 8

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images