from the harvard political review:
http://www.hpronline.org/news/2004/07/19/C...on-692881.shtml Quote:
| In the years between World War II and 1981, the Gini coefficient for U.S. families, the most common numerical measure of income inequality, fluctuated between .35 and .38, levels about on par with the modern-day United Kingdom. |
Quote:
Then, in 1981, Congress passed the Economic Recovery Tax Act, effectively signaling a sea change in the philosophy behind the tax structure. The act significantly reduced both the top income tax rate and the capital gains tax rate. It was then followed by the Tax Reform Act of 1986, which lowered the top income tax rate to 28 percent, half its level in previous decades. Moreover, these tax cuts were paired with an accelerated schedule of Social Security tax increases, which fall disproportionately on lower-income taxpayers. Although these changes were slightly moderated in the early 1990s, the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 have returned the overall tax structure to what Williamson calls a long-running "inegalitarian trend."
These alterations to the tax code have corresponded with an unprecedented climb in the Gini coefficient. After over three decades of relative stability, in the 1980s inequality began a steady increase, reaching an unprecedented high of .435 on the Gini coefficent scale in 2001, a level slightly more unequal than what is experienced in Turkey. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, since 1980 the wealthiest 20 percent have enjoyed a 14 percent increase in their share of aggregate income, while the poorest 20 percent have experienced an 18 percent drop. |
if it was .435 in 2001, imagine what it is now. we are the most unequal developed country in the world by a long shot. in all other developed countries, prosperity hits a broader swath of their citizens.
fyi, the gini coefficient is a value on the lorenz curve that measures inequality in a society. 0.0 is total equality and 1.0 is total inequality.