The rich have been getting richer and the poor and middle have been getting poorer in the US recently. Here are seven examples that show how the US is going through Robin Hood in Reverse.
Between 1948 and 1979, the richest 10 percent of families in the US claimed 33 percent of average income growth. Between 2000 and 2007, the richest 10 percent claimed a full 100 percent of average income growth in the US, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Lekhetho la khoebo le ile la khaoloa ho tloha ho 46 ho ea ho 34 lekholong lilemong tse 25 tse fetileng, ho latela Pro Publica. Empa kajeno lik'hamphani tse 115 ho tse 500 tse khōlō tse thathamisitsoeng ho Standard and Poor's Stock Index li lefile makhetho a federal le a mang a ka tlaase ho karolo ea 20 lekholong lilemong tse 5 tse fetileng ho latela David Leonhardt oa New York Times.
Sekhahla sa lekhetho sa General Electric selemong se fetileng e ne e le liperesente tse 7 ho latela Pro Publica.
The top 5 percent US households claim 63 percent of the entire country’s wealth. The bottom 80 percent hold just 13% of the growth, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Last year, John Paulson, a hedge fund manager “earned” $4.9 billion, according to the New York Times. Ten years ago it took 25 such managers to collectively earn that much. Last year the top 25 hedge fund managers pocketed (a much better word) a total of $22 billion. It would take over 440,000 people each earning $50,000 a year to match that amount.
A federal development program intended to help poor communities, the New Market Tax Credit, instead funnels up to ten billion taxpayer dollars to big corporations like JPMorgan Chase & Co, Goldman Sachs and Prudential to build luxury hotels, office buildings and a car museum. Bloomberg Markets Magazine pointed to the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago which was renovated for $116 million. Prudential got $15.6 million in tax credit from the US Treasury for helping fund the project because the hotel was in a census zone that included two colleges which housed a lot of lower income students.
According to the Financial Times, there are now more people living in poverty in the US than at any time in the last 50 years. Foreclosure filings were nearly 4 million in 2010, up 23 percent since 2008 according to RealtyTrac.
By Bill Quigley. Bill is Legal Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights and a professor of law at Loyola University New Orleans. He can be reached at [imeile e sirelelitsoe]