Following up on yesterday's post about the Global Top Incomes Database, I thought I'd give an example. Here's what I created: So what are we looking at? The blue line shows almost a century of the average income of the bottom 90% of American earners (in constant, real 2008 dollars - scale on right side). … Continue reading The Top 0.1% Vs. Rest of Us Throughout the 20th Century
OccupyWallStreet
Quickie – Some Graphs
I'll be talking tomorrow to a bunch of students about income distribution, student loans, and other things of interest to the #OWS crowd. These are some graphs I've collected from other sources that I'll use. No time to write much analysis today. It's mostly just the graphs. From Paul Krugman: The true age of spectacular … Continue reading Quickie – Some Graphs
The Economy Has Caused Riots Before – In the Great Depression
Washington's Blog reminds us that things got ugly during the last prolonged depression in the United States. This interesting historical footage from the Great Depression shows what happens when large numbers of people are unemployed for years at a time, get desperate, and perceive that the game is rigged to the benefit of Wall Street. … Continue reading The Economy Has Caused Riots Before – In the Great Depression
Student Loans and the Building Crisis
Student loans are gradually becoming a crisis. At the macro level, student loans are the only sector of consumer finance that is growing since the recession began 3 years ago. Federal student loans outstanding now total more than $1 trillion. That's more than total credit card debt. From Mybudget360.com: Student loan debt only segment of … Continue reading Student Loans and the Building Crisis
Some Other Interesting Perspectives on OccupyWallStreet
I've already mentioned my initial thoughts on the Occupy Wall Street movement (#OWS). Here's some snippets from a couple of others with some interesting insights. First, historian William Hogeland writes at his blog Hysteriography. He notes how the #OWS movement is a deeply American movement. It has roots in the American revolutionary period as much … Continue reading Some Other Interesting Perspectives on OccupyWallStreet
The Fraudulent Flat Tax Pitch – A Rich and Powerful Tactic
Power and riches go together. But nowadays, they need political spin. Throughout history the very rich have usually also been the very powerful. And usually the very rich use that power to both protect themselves from the less well-off and to figure out ways to further enrich themselves. Often the enrichment comes at the expense … Continue reading The Fraudulent Flat Tax Pitch – A Rich and Powerful Tactic
Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 Plan and the 99%
In the constantly churning pool of Republican Presidential candidates, a seemingly political newcomer has risen to the top (for now): Herman Cain. Mr. Cain, the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza where he engineered a leveraged buy-out from Pillsbury, isn't really a political newcomer or outsider, though. He only appears to be because he personally has … Continue reading Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 Plan and the 99%
What’s the 99%, the 1%, and the 53% All About?
The OccupyWallStreet movement has helped push the meme of the "99%". But to what are they referring? And what's the remaining 1%? The 99% reference refers to income distribution in the U.S. Income distribution is when we line up all the households in order according to their income from lowest to highest. Obviously with somewhere … Continue reading What’s the 99%, the 1%, and the 53% All About?
On the Occupy Wall Street (and Everywhere Else) Movement
I've been asked what I think of the Occupy Wall Street Movements. I say it's about d*** time. The anger and discontentment that the movement has tapped into is real and has been building for a long time. The mass numbers of people - like say the 99% - have good reasons to be angry. … Continue reading On the Occupy Wall Street (and Everywhere Else) Movement
EconProph 