The richest 1 percent now owns more of the countrys wealth than at any time in the past 50 years

[BadGimp]

Source: Washington Post

The wealthiest 1 percent of American households own 40 percent of the country's wealth, according to a new paper by economist Edward N. Woolf. That share is higher than it has been at any point since at least 1962, according to Woolf's data, which comes from the federal Survey of Consumer Finances.

From 2013, the share of wealth owned by the 1 percent shot up by nearly three percentage points. Wealth owned by the bottom 90 percent, meanwhile, fell over the same period. Today, the top 1 percent of households own more wealth than the bottom 90 percent combined. That gap, between the ultrawealthy and everyone else, has only become wider in the past several decades.



Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/12/06/the-richest-1-percent-now-owns-more-of-the-countrys-wealth-than-at-any-time-in-the-past-50-years/?utm_term=.478fc185a0c9

[Botany]

1. Today, the top 1 percent of households own more wealth than the bottom 90 percent combined.

So that is why they needed a tax cut.

[yallerdawg]

2. And the plan is...

to give them a lot more over the next 50 years!

Are we learning anything here yet?

Vote for the Democrat!

[FakeNoose]

7. Actually

... it's only until the next Democrat is POTUS. Then everything changes, so maybe 3 years, tops.

[LudwigPastorius]

3. The 2008 stock crash was just a blip for the gilded class.

The relentless march of economic inequality continues, if it's not back to the highest levels in our country's history (as it was before the crash) it will be soon...then the GOP tax/theft bill will become law and we'll reach Brazil then South Africa levels.

I hope the 1% like social strife, because their greed is guaranteeing that it's coming.

[jalan48]

4. Can Democrats make this THE issue in 2018 and 2020?

It's something that affects all Americans regardless of gender and race.

[FiveGoodMen]

5. That's a good question. Can they?

If the Dems had made this their primary issue in the last several elections, I think we'd have the majority.

But the party isn't really sure that being the champion of the little guy is still their thing.

[jalan48]

6. Maybe we are having an "identity" crisis.

[Tom Rinaldo]

8. Only if they clearly refuse to be seen as part of the problem

The trend line has continued under both Democratic and Republican Administrations and Congressional majorities. Many Americans believe the entire political establishment has failed them, and Democrats get lumped in with that.

[FakeNoose]

9. It's even more insidious than this

... once we realize what they're planning to do with the money they take from us. They're going to outfit all the manufacturing plants (whatever hasn't been outsourced already) with robots to steal our jobs. American workers will all be unemployed in 10 years, and we will have financed it for them with our tax-givebacks.

The ideal American manufacturing plants will have all robots and one manager to push the button. No shut downs, no strikes, no benefits, no complaints. It's a CEO's wet dream and we're making it possible for them.

[Lanius]

10. And the Republicans want to widen the gap between the rich and everyone else.

I've always said the GOP wants to create another Gilded Age. If they could get away with putting young children to work they would.

[Hortensis]

11. Just imagine if this massive tax theft is passed.

Come January, if they can't find the money to pay for the massive transfers of wealth upward (and that is the plan), Paygo will loot programs like SocSec and Medicare to pay the "bill" automatically each month. Teaching other thieves how to do it right -- auto-robbery.

[SWBTATTReg]

12. Want to give the middle class a tax cut?

Best way is to tax the upper 1% or like amount, and tax their wealth, not income. Give exemptions e.g., don't include primary home / 401K / and base amount of let's say 500,000 or so, in base to calculate wealth tax. Switzerland has such a tax now...

Rest of us? Very low tax rate after a hefty exemption from income...

[FigTree]

13. Russia shows

that one can go at least up to 75% of the national wealth in the hands of the top 1% of the population and still have a minimally compliant mass. One just needs a better grip on the media, a more violent day to day repression and a firmly implanted and regularly stimulated nationalist current. Getting there.

[FakeNoose]

15. Yes, modern day Russia is like 18th century France

The Bourbon dynasty - directly before the French Revolution of 1789. The poor people of Paris had enough of their shit and destroyed the ruling class. Killed them or exiled them, it was all over in a couple of years.

I don't think it would happen here but it could in Russia if Putin doesn't retire soon.

[Blue_Tires]

14. But hey, some Trumper in Arkansas got to stick it to the elites, or something

[Marcuse]

16. The concentration of wealth in the US is nearly as bad as in the world at large.

[SWBTATTReg]

17. Amen...

Love the cartoon, sad about the topic it depicts...and the US claims that dreams come true....

[BigmanPigman]

18. World wide the figures are the same.This is scary politically.