Income disparity increased dramatically over the period from 1983 to 2009, according to a report from the Economic Policy Institute. Hillary Reinsberg at Mogulite parses the data:
1. Of the country’s total wealth gain, 40 percent was money made by the wealthiest 1 percent of people. Yes, 1 percent of people made 40 percent of the money.
2. The top 5 percent gained 80 percent.
3. So, the top 1 percent, on their own, made as much as the 4 percent just below them.
4. But still, the remaining 95 percent of the country made just 20 percent of the wealth gains.
5. The old saying, “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer” did unfortunately hold true. The wealth held by the bottom 60 percent dropped 7.5 percent.
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