Wednesday, May 04, 2016

Where Has The Wealth Gone?

I missed this earlier but the digits are important enough to be shared regardless of their being slightly dated:

The economic determinants of Trumpism - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money:

...Here are the numbers: between 1945 and 1974, per capita GDP in the U.S. grew from $17,490 to $27,837. That is an impressive improvement, but it pales in comparison to what has happened since: in 2014, per capita GDP was $55,185, i.e., almost exactly double what it was in 1974. In terms of economic output, the country is twice as rich per person now as it was then.

Where has all this money gone? The answer ought to shock anyone who cares about either economic opportunity or increasing inequality. The average household income of the bottom 50% of American households was $25,475 in 1974, and $26,520 in 2014. In other words, half the population has gotten essentially none of the extra $10 trillion dollars of national wealth that the American economy has generated over the past forty years...
Maybe we should try and get some of that wealth back?

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