Inequality wonks wait eagerly for the latest update of the Piketty-Saez data, which estimate concentration of income at the top using income tax returns. The latest edition does not disappoint: it shows, as one might expect but needed confirmed, that the very rich have recovered just fine from the Great Recession, even as the great majority of Americans continue to struggle. In fact, the super-elite — the top 0.01 percent — actually had higher incomes in 2012 than they did at the height of the bubble.
The new data also give an opportunity to emphasize a key fact that all too many discussions of inequality miss: we’re not talking about the rise of a broad class of highly educated workers, we’re talking about a tiny elite. The income share of the top 10 percent has risen to a record; but you’re completely missing the picture if you think of the top 10 percent as a homogeneous group. Here’s the actual gains since the big change in inequality started to happen:
Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at
via Good Times at the Top – NYTimes.com.
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