Wealth, Income, and Inequality

Three posts on the growing income and wealth inequality in the US.

[A Taxing Matter: Inequality and its corrosive effects on democracy] and [Surprise! Census Data Contains Good News... For The Rich] and from [Money.CNN]

Middle-class wealth falls: For middle-class families, income fell in 2010. The median household income was $49,445, down slightly from $49,777 the year before.
Median income has changed very little over the last 30 years. Adjusted for inflation, the middle-income family only earned 11% more in 2010 than they did in 1980, while the richest 5% in America saw their incomes surge 42%.
"Over that period of time, it's not that the American economy has necessarily performed badly," Osterman said. "As a country we're richer over that period, but there's been this real shift in where the income has gone, and it's to the top."
Amplifying that trend, the bottom 60% of households saw their income fall last year, while households making $100,000 or more enjoyed a rise in income. [Money.CNN]