Income inequality highest in more than 50 years: census

[Beet]

A variety of factors were at play, from a slowdown in agricultural trade and manufacturing to wages that haven’t caught up with other forms of income, economists say.

While some states have raised the minimum wage, other states such as Kansas haven’t. At the same time, the sustained economic growth from the recession a decade ago has enriched people who own stocks, property and other assets, and have sources of income other than wages, said Donna Ginther, an economist at the University of Kansas.

https://apnews.com/bfa51032ee27470c9f908914328eea99

[GP270watch]

 The United States has also steadily lowered income, estate, and business taxes on the rich, while raising consumption taxes, municipal fees, transportation tolls, and civil fines on working people.

 Not only have wages stagnated while management and executive pay has skyrocketed, the cost of healthcare coverage which people don't understand is a substitute for compensation has skyrocketed, making many American pay more out of pocket. This is another reason why government provided healthcare is good even if it's funded by your taxes, you can make a more transparent negotiation for actual wages in your job. Instead of obfuscating the real value of your labor with healthcare benefits that still leave you losing your hard earned money.
 

[T'Chenka]

Bernie Sanders has been saying this daily for 5+ years now.

[pbrower2a]

As could be said of the Gilded Age and the similar 1920's: those were great times to live so long as one did not have to work for a living. But if one had to work... it was horrible.

The landlord (in the places with burgeoning economies -- not so much in areas with nuked economies like Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, and St. Louis), the shareholder, and the executives aren't kings; they are sultans.

Rising inequality is a usual precursor to economic meltdowns.   

[JA]

The problem has a variety of sources, but two in particular seem to most embody the causes: limited wage growth and significant asset gains. Those who own assets have benefited the most for decades now, but especially since the recession. Housing prices have gone up dramatically, the stock market has done well, etc... So people who already have now have even more.

The people who rely exclusively on or only have limited asset values, such as little to no stocks or only rent, are experiencing little, if any, wealth growth. This is appearing in an unusually severe way as generational wealth inequality as younger generations have limited assets, so have not benefited from the economic rebound like older generations have. And, of course, there are wealthy members and poor members of all age groups.

This contributes to the intergenerational inequality we are seeing expanding as well. Younger Americans from wealthier families who can provide them with assets, financial support (even alleviating college debts), and inheritance place them at a far greater advantage in an economy where dependence on wage growth for success is a recipe for social and financial stagnation and precarity. Accessing the asset market is an unequal endeavor as those dependent upon stagnant wages prove unable to do so without family support (in most cases).

Housing is the most obvious example. Home owners have a short-sighted interest in seeing their home values appreciating at the rate they have in most metros. The outsized influence of these wealthier homeowners on local public policy, such as NIMBYism, help to ensure their home values keep rising at the expense of non-home owners. As buying a house becomes increasingly out of reach, so to does obtaining the easiest method of accessing the middle class - owning a home. And so inequality continues to expand.

We need to not only tackle the underlying causes of wage stagnation and address issues or poverty, but we need to address issues of securing assets. Home ownership needs to be easier to obtain through reducing home prices, education of market investments needs to be expanded, and ordinary people simply need more disposable income to invest in these assets.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Fake News. Donald Trump made America great again.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Housing which had low income buildings have been replaced by condos for people who are middle-class. The poor have been hit the hardest with lack of affordable housing.. BLACK middle-class isnt like it was during the late 90's and 2000's due to automation. While whites have the highest enterpreneurs in the country, who could afford those condos.

[Fuzzy Bear Loves Christian Missionaries]

The United States has also steadily lowered income, estate, and business taxes on the rich, while raising consumption taxes, municipal fees, transportation tolls, and civil fines on working people.

 Not only have wages stagnated while management and executive pay has skyrocketed, the cost of healthcare coverage which people don't understand is a substitute for compensation has skyrocketed, making many American pay more out of pocket. This is another reason why government provided healthcare is good even if it's funded by your taxes, you can make a more transparent negotiation for actual wages in your job. Instead of obfuscating the real value of your labor with healthcare benefits that still leave you losing your hard earned money.
 

If Democrats actually conveyed the highlighted information and educated people as to the ramifications of those policies, they'd do better in elections.

[GP270watch]

The United States has also steadily lowered income, estate, and business taxes on the rich, while raising consumption taxes, municipal fees, transportation tolls, and civil fines on working people.

 Not only have wages stagnated while management and executive pay has skyrocketed, the cost of healthcare coverage which people don't understand is a substitute for compensation has skyrocketed, making many American pay more out of pocket. This is another reason why government provided healthcare is good even if it's funded by your taxes, you can make a more transparent negotiation for actual wages in your job. Instead of obfuscating the real value of your labor with healthcare benefits that still leave you losing your hard earned money.
 

If Democrats actually conveyed the highlighted information and educated people as to the ramifications of those policies, they'd do better in elections.

We're having a tough time convincing our fellow Democrats of this, let alone the rest of the electorate.