The following chart shows the change in income distribution normalized to 1970 dollars across every quintile of our population, with the top quintile expanded into more detail. Income is measured as a share of the nation’s GDP, not tax receipts or stated income. The underlying numbers come from the CBO. Explanation of the data (and the source for the chart) is Afferent Input, and I found this via Kevin Drum, who explains another angle. I don’t have time to say more except to point out that stock market woes seem to affect the folks at the top rather than the folks at the bottom. No wonder we keep talking about dividend tax breaks.
3:15 pm | 1 comment
December 19th, 2007 at 1:03 am
Thanks for the link. I too am surprised that the success of the Top 1% is reflects nearly exactly the ups and downs of the stock market. I think the next year or so will be equally bad for our mighty overlords, with the credit crunch and all.