Wage Growth by Income Group

The people got hit by a double whammy!

1.) Since around 1970 the income of the bottom 10% of wage earners has only risen about 26% while the income of the top 0.1% has grown by 160%. (As shown in FIGURE A.)To a large extent that was due to the intentional erosion of policies that had protected workers throughout most of the 20th century.

2.) Then, starting in 1982, the Reagan/Bush/Trump tax cuts for the rich let the rich and powerful keep a whole lot more of their huge incomes.

As a result, the government has diverted $50 trillion from the working class to the rich.

French economist Thomas Piketty, advocates highly progressive income taxes, like what we had until the beginning of trickle down, and inheritance taxes in order “to reduce inequality and prevent the concentration of wealth from destabilizing society.”