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New Evidence that the Rich Have Prospered while the Poor Got Poorer - Shadowproof

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We got more evidence&nbsp;last week that rich Americans are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. A released August 21st by the Census Bureau shows not only that the top 20% of Americans have been enjoying most of the economic gains over the last decade, but the median net worth of most Americans has actually decreased (for those in the bottom, second and middle quintiles). The following graph illustrates that trend.Coincidentally, the new report was released a day or two after Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan told a reporter at the Weekly Standard that cutting tax rates for the wealthy is a higher priority than raising the child tax credit for middle class and low-income Americans. (Read the Weekly Standard blog post .)1The new Census Bureau analysis divides American households into five quintiles and calculates the median net worth for each quintile, and how that changed from 2000 through 2011. Here are some of the key findings from the data:The one small bit of good news in the data is that the ratio between the wealthiest fifth of households and the second lowest quintile wasn’t as wide in 2011 as it was before the Great Recession (see ). However, I suspect more current figures would indicate that we are again approaching the extreme gap in wealth that existed in the mid-2000s, if we haven’t already surpassed that gap.The Census Bureau report () includes liabilities in its measure of net worth, as well as assets such as stocks, bank accounts, home values, and retirement accounts. The bottom fifth of households had a negative median net worth in 2011, -$6,029, compared to -$905 in 2000.The new report doesn’t estimate the amount of wealth held by the very richest Americans, but another analysis issued this summer sheds light on that. That research by European Central Bank economist Philip Vermeulen and London School of Economics’ Gabriel Zucman concluded that the top 0.1 percent of America’s rich — those worth at least $20 million — held at least 23.5% of all U.S. wealth in 2012. The figures they cite are somewhat higher than others because they have added in estimates of how much was hidden in offshore tax havens.&nbsp; (.)According to a earlier in August, Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz says that a greater concentration of income and wealth at the top could help explain why consumer spending has been slow to rebound from the recession that ended in June 2009.From&nbsp;.Shadowproof is a financially independent news organization. All of our funding comes from small donations made by readers like you.We use your donations to hire freelance writers and cover our operating costs. Monthly membership subscriptions give us the stability we need to make plans while ensuring our organization does not depend on grants or major funders. If you like what you read, support our writers with a donation today.&nbsp;

We got more evidence&nbsp;last week that rich Americans are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. A released August 21st by the Census Bureau shows not only that the top 20% of Americans have been enjoying most of the economic gains over the last decade, but the median net worth of most Americans has actually decreased (for those in the bottom, second and middle quintiles). The following graph illustrates that trend.Coincidentally, the new report was released a day or two after Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan told a reporter at the Weekly Standard that cutting tax rates for the...

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