Record number of US millionaires (WSWS)

[undeterred]

By Jamie Chapman
8 June 2005

The number of millionaire households in the United States grew in 2004 to a record 7.5 million, up 21 percent in one year, according to surveys cited in the May 25 Wall Street Journal. This very wealthy segment of the population now controls an astounding $11 trillion in assets. The study of millionaire growth was released by Spectrem Group, a firm that specializes in wealth research. Spectrem managing director Catherine McBreen explained to the Wall Street Journal, “People’s attitudes toward the economy are so negative, but the reality is that the affluent are bouncing back to where they were before the bear market.”

On the other end of the scale, however, working people in the US are not “bouncing back,” but falling ever further behind. Wages of hourly workers have failed to keep up with inflation for the 11th month in a row. For April 2005, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a further 0.3 percent decline in real wages of. Even with an increase in the average number of hours worked, average weekly earnings stood at only $537.60 during April, or less than $28,000 a year. The persistent decline in workers’ real wages is emblematic of the so-called economic recovery, now entering its 43rd month.

Meanwhile, job growth remains anemic. The economy generated only 78,000 jobs in May, well below economists’ expectations. The growth in employment marks a sharp reduction from the 274,000 April figure, which was briefly heralded as the start of a long-awaited turnaround for jobs.

In its analysis of the May statistics, the Economic Policy Institute documented the two-year “fits and starts” pattern whereby a sizable number of jobs are created one month only to be followed by a sharp decline the next. With May’s numbers, the total number of jobs has only now reached the levels of March 2001, when officially the recession began. The monthly growth was the slowest in nearly two years.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/jun2005/mill-j08.shtml

[Deja Q]

1. I'm happy for them. Now how about the INCREASING number of the poor?

Thanks to offshoring and other valid issues?

Catherine can go enlist herself. She can feel proud of the small amount of millionaires. If we were a culture of life, she'd be more concerned about the GROWING number of the poor.

And THAT is a reality more worthy of mentioning, this repuke spin is just that and nothing more.

[progressiveBadger]

2. And they said that communism creates a wealthy elite and no middle class

Busheconomics is doing a bang up job of it as well!

[AuntiBush]

3. That's Bush's base: The "Have-More's"

No wonder "they" no longer need us...

[undeterred]

8. "have more but I still want more"

I am amazed at the people who are in that upper 1% but still don't think they have enough.

[undeterred]

4. Well thank God the rich are getting richer, I was worried that

the poor were getting poorer without benefit to anyone...:sarcasm:

[tk2kewl]

5. This is bullshit

This is entirely due to the over-inflated real-estate market.

My net worth has gone up quite a bit (no millionaire here) in the last 5 years due entirely to a real estate investment made 11 years ago and one made 2 years ago. It's all meaningless paper wealth.

[SteppingRazor]

6. See? Bushenomics works!!

We can all be millionaires if we just pull ourselves up by the bootstraps and work hard...

I'd continue the sarcastic bit, but I can't stop laughing.

[tanyev]

7. It does work.

It is rewarding the exact segment of the population it is supposed to. The rest of us don't matter so much.

[wallwriter]

9. Strategy: Reward the wealthy elite...

Be sure they control the media. Tell everyone else that either a) gays and foreigners are the real problem, b) it's the fault of the war on "terr," c) they should be ashamed for waging class warfare (as if the poor people started it) or d) shame on them for reading anything other than the Bible.

And there you have it. The Republican party.