As 2017 approaches, a recent study indicates that the income gap in the US is growing. According to a December 22 CNNMoney article,
The gap between the “haves” and “have nots” is widening, according to the latest data out this week.
The rich are money-making machines. Today, the top mega wealthy — the top 1% — earn an average of $1.3 million a year. It’s more than three times as much as the 1980s, when the rich “only” made $428,000, on average, according to economists Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman. Meanwhile, the bottom 50% of the American population earned an average of $16,000 in pre-tax income in 1980. That hasn’t changed in over three decades.
In the past decade, there has only been a brief period when the chasm narrowed, the report indicates:
Around 2009 and 2010, inequality narrowed slightly because the rich had lost a lot of wealth.
But since then, inequality has grown and is on track to widen further. The wealthy have recovered far faster as the stock market has surged over 230% since bottoming out in March 2009 and property values have shot back up to pre-recession levels.
– Truth Out