FINANCIAL TIMES: …The CBO concluded that while after-tax household incomes grew by 275 per cent for the richest 1 per cent between 1979 and 2007, they rose by 65 per cent for the rest of the top 20 per cent of Americans. For the 60 per cent in the middle-class, after-tax incomes grew by slightly less than 40 per cent, and for the poorest 20 per cent by only 18 per cent.
The CBO said the primary source of greater income disparity in the US was that the richest 1 per cent simply raked in a much bigger share of money than they had in previous decades, pointing to some possible factors such as changes to executive compensation policies, and innovations in the labour market for athletes and music stars.
But the CBO also said tax and spending policies had contributed to rising inequality by not “equalising” the dispersion of income as much as it did three decades ago. … (more)
EDITOR: We assume that the household incomes are not adjusted for inflation, but there is no way to tell from the article.
