Eight Facts About Inequality

Pierce Nahigyen presents these facts about the United States:

1) 400 Americans have more wealth than half of all Americans combined. 

2) America has the second-highest level of income inequality, after Chile. 

3) The current state of inequality can be traced back to 1979. 

4) Non-union wages are also affected by the decline of unions. 

5) There is less opportunity for intergenerational mobility. 

6) Tax cuts to the wealthiest have not improved the economy or created more jobs. 

7) Incomes for the top 1% have increased (but the top 0.01% make even more). 

8) The majority of Congress does not feel your pain.

Update (October 25):  Along the same lines, Richard Escow lists seven ways the "American Dream" is coming to an end.

1. Most people can’t get ahead financially.

2. The stay-at-home parent is a thing of the past.

3. The rich are more debt-free. Others have no choice.

4. Student debt is crushing a generation of non-wealthy Americans.

5. Vacations aren’t for the likes of you anymore.

6. Even with health insurance, medical care is increasingly unaffordable for most people. 

7. Americans can no longer look forward to a secure retirement.

Update (July 17, 2015):  Larry Schwartz offers 35 facts about inequality. Just one example: Mean wealth for an American adult is between $250,000 to $300,000, but the median wealth is only about $39,000.

Inequality Still Rising

The Global Wealth Report 2014 from Credit Suisse shows that, by one measure (wealth to income ratio), wealth inequality is at the highest point since the Great Depression.  The report also says that the top one percent in the world own 48 percent of the wealth.

Update (October 25):  Lynn Stuart Parramore points out how the Credit Suisse report supports Thomas Piketty's contention that we're returning to a world of extreme inequality.

Update (November 7):  Paul Buchheit highlights five facts from the Global Wealth Databook 2014.

1. Each Year Since the Recession, America's Richest 1% Have Made More Than the Cost of All U.S. Social Programs

2. Almost None of the New 1% Wealth Led To Innovation and Jobs

3. Just 47 Wealthy Americans Own More Than Half of the U.S. Population

4. The Upper Middle Class of America Owns a Smaller Percentage of Wealth Than the Corresponding Groups in All Major Nations Except Russia and Indonesia.

5. Ten Percent of the World's Total Wealth Was Taken by the Global 1% in the Past Three Years.

Update (January 2, 2015):  An interview with Joseph Stiglitz on why the rich are getting richer and Paul Krugman worries about parallels to 1930s Europe.

Update (October 25, 2015):  Paul Buchheit again has five facts from the Global Wealth Databook 2015.

1. Of the Half-Billion Poorest Adults in the World, One out of Ten is an American

2. The Richest 1/10 of American Adults Have Averaged Over $1 Million Each in New Wealth Since the Recession

3. The US is the Only Region Where the Middle-Class Does Not Own Its Equivalent Share of Wealth

4. For a Full 70% of Americans, Percentage Ownership of National Wealth is One of the Lowest in the World

5. Only Kazakhstan, Libya, Russia, and Ukraine Have Worse Wealth Inequality than the United States

Ocean Warming Underestimated

Studies published in Nature Climate Change indicate that the upper layer of oceans in the Southern Hemisphere have been warming faster than previously suggested.

Update (October 13):  Joe Romm argues that the 2 degree Celsius limit on atmospheric warming is now even more urgent.  "It's worse than we thought."

Update (October 20):  Dahl Jamail has an overview of stories about how climate change has been underestimated.

Update (June 1, 2015):  Big changes are coming to the oceans.