Top 1% (US) income grew 275% from 1979-2007

[CAleftist]

The income of the richest 1 percent in the U.S. soared 275 percent from 1979 to 2007, but the bottom 20 percent grew by just 18 percent, new government data shows.



The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a study (http://cbo.gov/ftpdocs/124xx/doc12485/10-25-HouseholdIncome.pdf) this week that compared real after-tax household income between 1979 and 2007, which were both after recessions and had similar overall economic activity.
While the income of the richest 1 percent (http://abcnews.go.com/Business/top-10-cities-ultra-high-net-worth-individuals/story?id=14761048) nearly tripled, increases were smaller down the economic ladder. After the 1 percent, income for the next highest 20 percent grew by 65 percent, much faster than it did for the remaining 80 percent of the population but still lagging well behind the top percentile.

http://abcnews.go.com/images/Business/ht_cbo_household_income_cc_111026_wblog.jpgClick to Expand (Source: Congressional Budget Office) (http://abcnews.go.com/images/Business/ht_cbo_household_income_cc_111026_wmain.jpg)
The changes illustrate how the better off have captured the bulk of income gains over the past three decades. The top quintile has seen its share of income rise while the other four quintiles have suffered declines in their shares, according to John Bowler, director of country risk service with the Economist Intelligence Unit.



The report states that without the growth of the top percentile, income inequality still would have increased, "but not by nearly as much." The study was prepared at the request of Sens. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.


http://abcnews.go.com/Business/income-doubles-top-percent-1979/story?id=14817561

[Dunk]

Did the CBO just use payroll figures for lower quintiles? For how much the BLS cooks its books with its stringent definitions, I'm always suspicious things are actually worse than these governmental organizations let on.

[GatesofLenin]

Nationalize the banks, industry, etc ... and you choke of all sources of profit from the bourgeois. I wish the top 1% good luck in hiding their ill-gotten profits when there's no more crooked banks to hide from the tax-man.

[arabellaB]

It only confirms what Americans already know. The rules have been changed by the unfair tax policies of the last decade and our tax code is doing less to level the playing field than it was in the past.