
Separate but unequal: Charts show growing rich-poor gap - MichaelApproved
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110223/ts_yblog_thelookout/separate-but-unequal-charts-show-growing-rich-poor-gap
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tokenadult
A friend of mine in the industry points out (referring to the original Mother
Jones article) that he and his wife have a net worth at least 100 times
greater than it was when they first married. Accumulation of wealth comes
about just by working steadily (as they both have) while growing older. In his
words, "We have 100x the net worth of our younger selves (because the starting
number was so low). Is that horrible inequality or the desirable progression
of life?"

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locopati
I've done well by myself too, but two points do not make a trend. It's clear
from looking at the numbers that most people are not doing better over time.
Furthermore, I'm well aware that I'm probably one slip (e.g. a major health
problem, a corporate cutback) away from a significant decline, but that's more
or less out of my control, so I try not to worry about it.

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brudgers
Original Mother Jones article:
[http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-
in...](http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-in-america-
chart-graph)

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rkalla
+1 brudgers, the original article has a lot more detail.

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lionhearted
> According to this chart, most income groups have barely grown richer since
> 1979.

It's worth pointing out that the primary way most professions get more buying
power is by prices coming down, not wages going up.

This "barely grown richer" is just flat-out wrong. Everyone in countries with
remotely decent governance are much better than people 33 years ago were.
_Much_ better. That needs to be acknowledged before any handwringing starts.

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ianferrel
That chart is already inflation adjusted. See on the bottom where it says
"2007 Dollars".

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andymatic
Also relevant
[http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/pages/interactive#/?sta...](http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/pages/interactive#/?start=1917&end=1918)

