Highest Income Inequality Ever

We've surpassed even the vaunted inequality of the 1920s - the "Gilded Age" years that preceded the Great Depression.  In 2007, the top 10% of American workers took home just under 50% of all wages.  Think about that: if 10 workers were to split $100, one guy (no doubt) would get $49.70, and the remaining 9 would split $51.30.  What do you think that one man does for a living compared to the other nine?  What jobs, to your mind, possibly deserve that kind of distorted payout?

The paper, written by a Berkeley professor, shows how from 1993 through 2007, the top 1% of earners captured "half of the overall economic growth."  Think about how hard you've been working at your job for the past two decades - now you know where your hard-earned profits have gone!  And the trend continues - the just released Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows American workers are working longer hours for less pay.  Make sure you click through the link to see that thanks to all this productivity, corporate profits are up.

And the cycle continues.

Steve Benen at the Washington Monthly thinks if Democrats or progressives try to rectify this inequality they will be charged with fomenting "class warfare." David Sirota sees the wrangling over Social Security and concludes we're all ready there.  We've asked a few times here: is it time to protest yet?