David Cay Johnston published an interesting article, Richest Are Leaving Even the Rich Far Behind, in Sunday’s New York Times as part of its special Class Matters section. Here is the opening:
When F. Scott Fitzgerald pronounced that the very rich "are different from you and me," Ernest Hemingway’s famously dismissive response was: "Yes, they have more money." Today he might well add: much, much, much more money. The people at the top of America’s money pyramid have so prospered in recent years that they have pulled far ahead of the rest of the population, an analysis of tax records and other government data by The New York Times shows. They have even left behind people making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Call them the hyper-rich.
They are not just a few Croesus-like rarities. Draw a line under the top 0.1% of income earners – the top one-thousandth. Above that line are about 145,000 taxpayers, each with at least $1.6 million in income and often much more. The average income for the top 0.1% was $3 million in 2002, the latest year for which averages are available. That number is two and a half times the $1.2 million, adjusted for inflation, that group reported in 1980. No other income group rose nearly as fast.
See also:
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Not Since the 20’s Roared (graphic)
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About the Data (links to data used)
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Bibliography (links to books used)
