Report Says That the Rich Are Getting Richer Faster, Much Faster: "YOYO economics"

[DeepModem Mom]

Source: New York Times

By DAVID CAY JOHNSTON
Published: December 15, 2007

The increase in incomes of the top 1 percent of Americans from 2003 to 2005 exceeded the total income of the poorest 20 percent of Americans, data in a new report by the Congressional Budget Office shows. The poorest fifth of households had total income of $383.4 billion in 2005, while just the increase in income for the top 1 percent came to $524.8 billion, a figure 37 percent higher.

The total income of the top 1.1 million households was $1.8 trillion, or 18.1 percent of the total income of all Americans, up from 14.3 percent of all income in 2003. The total 2005 income of the three million individual Americans at the top was roughly equal to that of the bottom 166 million Americans, analysis of the report showed.

The report is the latest to document the growing concentration of income at the top, a trend that President Bush said last January had been under way for more than 25 years. Earlier reports, based on tax returns, showed that in 2005 the top 10 percent, top 1 percent and fractions of the top 1 percent enjoyed their greatest share of income since 1928 and 1929....

***

Jared Bernstein, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington who characterizes the Bush administration’s policies as YOYO economics, based on You (Are) On Your Own, said the differences in income growth explained why so many Americans have told pollsters that they are feeling squeezed.

“A lot of people justifiably feel they are working harder and smarter, they are baking a bigger and better pie, and yet their slice is not growing much at all,” Mr. Bernstein said. “It is meaningless to middle- and low-income families to say we have a great economy because their economy looks so much different than folks at the top of the scale because this is an economy that is working, but not working for everyone.”...

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/15/business/15rich.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1197696366-ls6PT1FH6bNDNmF9mThcWg&oref=slogin

[reggie the dog]

1. what do people expect

The Republican party has been in power for the last seven years. Of course the rich are quickly getting richer at the expense of the poor, the working class, and the middle class.

[Faygo Kid]

2. It won't be fast enough for many - look out in 2008

Bush must cement his legacy of wealth transfer in 2008. Transferring wealth to the top was as important a goal to him on coming into office as taking out Iraq. Those who say he has been a failure as president are dead wrong - he has been enormously successful in achieving his goals, to the permanent detriment of this nation and the world.

On two other fronts he has been less successful: Disenfranchising voters (although he has had success with this; we shall see) and destroying the social safety net. These two will be major efforts for him in 2008 (along with attacking Iran, of course). He tried but failed to destroy Social Security in a frontal assault. Now, he is trying to keep SSA operations from being funded (you can check it out - underreported story), and to destroy Social Security by preventing it from operating.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

6. Was the 2.3% Social Security COLA increase part of this plan, to create hardship for recipients?

[shanti]

9. exactly

they have a year to grab all the loot they can, and they WILL! watch, it will look like supermarket sweepstakes! i've mentioned it several times, but i'm worried that the treasury will be basically empty when they leave! :grr:

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

29. It's $9,000,000,000,000.00 in the red already.

How much more empty can you get?

[bluestateguy]

3. Well, as long as those Naderities from 2000 feel good about themselves for "voting their conscience"

That's really all that's important.

[boricua79]

15. oh whatever...

I voted for Nader in 2000, and I feel mighty proud of it. I voted for him because he stood for the Green party values (THEN...I did not vote for him when he went Reform).

1) I voted in MA, a state everyone knew was going to Gore
2) I voted with my conscience, which told me that the Green Party was the party with the best political platform and ideas at that time.
3) that "Nader divided the Gore vote" meme has been discredited. Subsequent studies have shown that Gore would have won Florida ANYWAY if the count would have been continued.

What occured was a Supreme Court coup d'etat and they crowned Bush president.

The problem here is not people of conscience who voted Nader. The problem here is the LARGE mass on the other side of the political spectrum who are sleep at the wheel and who are drones for the corporate regime. Get angry at DUMB America....not Naderite America.

ANd what did you do to overturn the stolen election?

[Le Taz Hot]

26. There were a dozen "ifs" in the election

of 2000 that would have turned it over to the REAL winner. Nader isn't even ON that list. That is such up/down, black/white superficial thinking I'm surprised I'm reading it on DU. If you need a villain, start with the Supreme Court.

[Patchuli]

4. Yes, soon we 'poor folk' may have to resort to

EATING THE RICH!! Buhhhuuuwahahahahahaa!!!

}(

[AndyTiedye]

11. I Don't Recommend Eating the Rich. They Contain Unhealthy Levels of Chlorestorol

[Buns_of_Fire]

20. Yeah, and besides, have you ever tried to CLEAN one of them suckers?

[Patchuli]

25. Hmmm....

then maybe we should just take their toys? heh heh heh j/k *of course! agentmike* ;-)

[lovuian]

5. It means a Depression on the horizon

Economics 101 when 90% of a countries assets is owned by a few then a country has a Depression
because the rich needs to get richer

[WorseBeforeBetter]

7. Ah yes, the Ownership Society ... Y(A)OYO.

I wonder how many of those feeling squeezed bought into that whole miserable concept.

[TomClash]

8. It's a class war

And only one side's fighting.

[ohio2007]

10. It's the second cultural revolution

Harsh life for China's hill farmers
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7143206.stm


you are talking about life in China today,right ?

;)

[TomClash]

12. Not sure I get your point

Maybe I'm not awake yet. :)

Can't say I like China's government any more than I like the Bush Administration. China went from Phony Socialism to State Capitalism.

[ohio2007]

22. point is....things are tough all over

especially in the developing country called communist China

[OhioChick]

13. Rich Getting Richer....

and the poor getting poorer.

[Vinca]

14. That was the plan. What other POTUS would lower taxes

while conducting wars? I remember after he was installed he sent those "feel good" checks to everyone - I guess so we'd be distracted and not realize it was like "Supermarket Sweep" to the wealthy. Everything this administration has done has been geared to increasing the wealth at the top. Average Joe's job is gone to China, but not to worry because the CEO just made half a billion dollars for saving the cost of Joe's wages. The next (and, hopefully valid) POTUS has his or her job cut out for them.

[lonestarnot]

16. They need that haute couture.

[allisonthegreat]

17. Happy somebody is getting the $$n/t

[slackmaster]

18. After three decades in the work force, I am still chronically sub-rich

What am I doing wrong?

:argh:

[tanyev]

19. Welcome to Yeronyerownistan!

Population: You

[CatholicEdHead]

21. Yep, the "ownership society" is all about what you can own

screw the rest. :(

[TrogL]

23. the Freepers will say "self-reliance is the American way"

which is the epitomy of YOYO.

Try implementing that attitude in a harsh climate. You'll freeze to death in the dark real quick.

[Hugin]

28. Not to mention so many of them have used "daddy-reliance"...

They must be COMMIES!

[Zorra]

24. It's not Yo-Yo economics - it's

Vampire Economics.

Think about it.

[The2ndWheel]

27. We keep playing their game

And we lose at it. Shocking.

The problem is that we've become so dependent on their game, that we can't exist without it.

[classysassy]

30. Support the troops

who support the rich,when will the average American wakeup?,you damn right its a class war and the rich are winning.