Inside the Wealth Conspiracy: Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson
By Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson - Nov 22, 2010
Bloomberg Opinion
Four years ago, then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson took a moment from his economic cheerleading to acknowledge that, yes, economic inequality had risen.
Over the previous three decades, the share of pretax national income raked in by the richest 0.1 percent of Americans had more than quadrupled. By the time Paulson spoke, this tiny upper-crust of American households (average 2007 income: $7 million) brought home about $1 of every $8 earned in the U.S.
Paulson expressed concern about the trend. Yet his basic message was that Americans should get used to it. Growing inequality, he declared, “is simply an economic reality, and it is neither fair nor useful to blame any political party.”
Today, the gap between hardship on Main Street and profits on Wall Street is even more undeniable. Paulson’s view, though, is as widespread among the prosperous and powerful as ever. We hear again and again that those at the top are simply superstars, empowered by technological change and globalization to make vast fortunes. Public policy or partisan positions, in this common perspective, have little or nothing to do with it.
(Continued here.)
Bloomberg Opinion
Four years ago, then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson took a moment from his economic cheerleading to acknowledge that, yes, economic inequality had risen.
Over the previous three decades, the share of pretax national income raked in by the richest 0.1 percent of Americans had more than quadrupled. By the time Paulson spoke, this tiny upper-crust of American households (average 2007 income: $7 million) brought home about $1 of every $8 earned in the U.S.
Paulson expressed concern about the trend. Yet his basic message was that Americans should get used to it. Growing inequality, he declared, “is simply an economic reality, and it is neither fair nor useful to blame any political party.”
Today, the gap between hardship on Main Street and profits on Wall Street is even more undeniable. Paulson’s view, though, is as widespread among the prosperous and powerful as ever. We hear again and again that those at the top are simply superstars, empowered by technological change and globalization to make vast fortunes. Public policy or partisan positions, in this common perspective, have little or nothing to do with it.
(Continued here.)
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