Quote:
Originally Posted by Gridlock
This is a very left-wing website...so I take it with a grain of salt, but:
If Top 1% Hadn't Ripped Off Trillions, You'd Likely Be Making Thousands of Dollars More Right Now | Economy | AlterNet
Between 1949 and 1979, those at the top never took in more than 12.8 percent of the total. When Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980, they grabbed 10 percent of our economic output, and the rest of us shared 90 percent. And that's when things started to shift, relatively rapidly. In Reagan's final year in office, the top 1 percent of American households grabbed 15.5 percent of the nation's income.
The last stat they provide is:
By the time George W. Bush was elected, they were taking in 21.5 percent. And in 2007, the year before the crash, they were pulling in 23.5 percent of our pre-tax income, leaving the other 99 percent to share just 76.5 percent of the fruits of our output.
The estimate is that if things had not changed in the 80s, wages would be $12,500 more.
I wanted to add:
If this is true(and thats a big if for me-they did not link to the data they used) then this legitimizes the movement for me.
The rules of the game have changed. People should be pissed about it. If you look and say that we used to share in 90% of the nations wealth, and now we share in 76% of it-and falling! then this is not about we are flat broke, and downtrodden at all. It is about playing a game unfairly balanced towards the houses take.
PLUS-what could a group of consumers with a more equal take in the rewards accomplish with the extra income.
OMG...I think they may have made me a believer. |
It started around Reagan's time and his Reaganomics : Reduced tax rates and less regulation and the Trickle Down Theory.
In my humble opinion some of the solutions might be:
1. Lower corporate tax rates but eliminate loopholes, helps keep tax rates competitive, but eliminate many Big corporations that are currently Effectively paying zero taxes due to credits and legal loopholes.
2. Increase Personal Tax rates - Things like the Buffett rule and force alternative minimum taxes. Also get rid of loopholes like hedge fund managers paying only 15% rate due to how income is considered (dividends, capital gains etc).
3. Focus on Education, spend more money developing kids to be good at Arithmetic, Engineering, science etc. This will have a positive return in the long run.
In 2004 only 6% of U.S. degrees were awarded in engineering, half the average for rich countries. In Japan it’s 20%, and in Germany it’s 16%. In 2008–09 there were more psychology majors than engineering majors in America and more fitness-studies majors than physical-sciences majors.
Federal funding for the physical sciences fell 54% over the 25 years since 1970 and has continued to fall.
*30 years ago, 10% of California’s general revenue went to higher education—and the result was the crown jewel of American public education, the University of California system. Just 3% went to prisons. Today, 11% goes to prisons and 8% to higher education, a number that is dropping fast. There are now about as many Americans who work in the prison business as in auto manufacturing*
4. Limit political contributions. Force more regulations so that companies can't manipulate the market.