[lit-ideas] Re: Economic Growth That Floats All Boats?

  • From: "Andreas Ramos" <andreas@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2007 22:12:52 -0700

Don't be silly. Unless you've got a real big yacht, this tide isn't coming in 
for you.

Which reminds me of a boardroom joke.

Reagan promised a rising tide would lift all boats.

He meant "the sea level". As in CEO, CFO, COO...

yrs,
andreas
www.andreas.com


----- Original Message ----- From: "John McCreery" <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; "Anthro-L" <ANTHRO-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2007 6:43 AM
Subject: [lit-ideas] Economic Growth That Floats All Boats?


Don't be silly. Unless you've got a real big yacht, this tide isn't coming
in for you.

From Brad Delong via Kevin Drum,

   Historically speaking, then, here's what we've got:

       * Top 10%: income share stagnant since 1983.
       * Top 5%: Income share stagnant since 1995.
       * Top 1%: Still rocking and rolling!

   This is all pretty rarefied atmosphere, of course. Here's Saez:

       2005 shows a very large increase in income concentration: the top 1%
gains 14% in real terms from 2004 while the bottom 99% gains less than
1%….The striking thing about 2003-2005 is the huge increase at the top with
quasi-stagnation below the top 1%. In the late Clinton years, the top gained
enormously but at least the bottom was also making progress.

   Median wages have been stagnant since the mid-70s. Today, the wages of
everyone below the top 1% are stagnant. As Andrew Tobias likes to say, it's
a grand time to be rich and powerful in America.

--
John McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN
Tel. +81-45-314-9324
http://www.wordworks.jp/

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