Income disparity - is it a problem?

[Pepsi]

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I do pretty well myself, I'm not complaining about my plight.  but I think it's a real problem for society

Income Inequality Reaches Gilded Age Levels, Congressional Report Finds

WASHINGTON -- America's 99 percent are not just imagining it. The gap between the incomes of the rich and poor in this new Gilded Age is strikingly broad and deep, according to an October report from Congress' data crunchers.

The study by the Congressional Budget Office, released this week, found that income has become dramatically concentrated, shifting heavily toward the top earners between 1979 and 2007.

And although incomes at all levels have risen some, they've skyrocketed for the very wealthiest of earners.

At the other end of the scale, Americans in the bottom fifth of earners saw their incomes increase by less than 20 percent across the nearly three decades. Incomes for those in the middle 60 percent climbed by less than 40 percent over the same span.

Things start to look especially good for the top fifth of earners, who saw their cash flow jump by 65 percent.

But it's among the top 1 percent where the growth was breathtaking. That contingent saw their incomes spike by 275 percent.

"It is really stunning the degree to which rewards have been concentrated at the top," said Josh Bivens, an economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. "We have now returned to Gilded Age levels of inequality."

The CBO report revealed some other stark facts. While incomes did rise up and down the ladder, the explosive growth for the top 1 percent so vastly outweighed the expansion further down that the top 1 percent's share of the nation's total income more than doubled to just over 20 percent.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/26/income-inequality_n_1032632.html

[johnhp]

Oh, come on now, Pepsi.....why care about the unemployed.  It is not as if the economy is driven by demand or anything.  i am sure that the guys buying classic muscle cars at the Mecum Auto Auction will keep demand at the all time high it is.

[Case_Closed]

TAX THE RICH BECAUSE I AM A FAILURE!

[Case_Closed]

I do pretty well myself, I'm not complaining about my plight.  but I think it's a real problem for society

Is there something preventing "Poor People" from doing what you do?

After all, aren't we all "equal?"

[Pepsi]

Is there something preventing "Poor People" from doing what you do?

After all, aren't we all "equal?"

No we are not all equal.. some are smarter, some have had better opportunities for education, some are more athletic, etc.

[Mornac]

No we are not all equal.. some are smarter, some have had better opportunities for education, some are more athletic, etc.

--And some make more money than others. So what's the problem here?

[Case_Closed]

No we are not all equal.. some are smarter, some have had better opportunities for education, some are more athletic, etc.

In other words, we are a Meritocracy.

The end.

[Pepsi]

--And some make more money than others. So what's the problem here?

the problem from a policy perspective is for the past 30+ years policies have been designed which help the upper income and hurt the lower income levels.  

a good example, if you have $100million in the bank, you can invest in fixed income securities and live quite well on the income generated from your stash of money, and you pay a much lower tax rate than those whom are trying to support a family on $40k a year.    

[Case_Closed]

How did the upper income become the upper income?

Magyck?

[johnhp]

How did the upper income become the upper income?

Magyck?

Theft.  La propriété, c'est le vol!

[Pepsi]

How did the upper income become the upper income?

Magyck?

In some cases hard work and in those cases much of it is through stock grants and options of company equity, in many cases luck of being born to wealth.

The six children of Walmart's founders, Sam and James "Bud" Walton, had the same net worth in 2007 as the entire bottom 30 percent of American earners,

[Case_Closed]

In some cases hard work and in those cases much of it is through stock grants and options of company equity, in many cases luck of being born to wealth.

Are any of those "bad?"

When you die, is it your intention to NOT bequeath your assets to your children, but rather to put it into The Big Kitty?

[Pepsi]

Are any of those "bad?"

When you die, is it your intention to NOT bequeath your assets to your children, but rather to put it into The Big Kitty?

No, its not bad.   Well personally I think its better to be self made than inheriting enough wealth that you never have to work a day in your life, if I strike it billionaire I would make sure my kids know the value of hard work and I wouldnt give them so much they never had to work.

The bottom line issue is tax rates for income gained from investments should not be lower than tax rates which comes from actual work.

[Case_Closed]

The bottom line issue is tax rates for income gained from investments should not be lower than tax rates which comes from actual work.

Why not?  Haven't investments already been taxed before they became investments?

Are you suggesting that investments should be double (which it's already being done) and triple taxed?

You see, Pepsi, that's why investment tax rates are lower.  They've already been taxed once, and in many cases, twice.

[Pepsi]

Not the investments, the (new) income from investments.