tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60475443833726450902024-02-07T04:24:17.998-08:00Economics Without Greed Essays on inequality and sustainable economics. Ben Leethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14058357566482675649noreply@blogger.comBlogger132125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047544383372645090.post-15621639837635779392018-06-29T13:22:00.001-07:002018-08-12T11:01:36.409-07:00Wealth and Income Distribution Charts <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;">I created <span style="background-color: #cc0000; color: white;"> </span><b><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #cc0000;">two charts</span></span></b>, one on income, the other on wealth.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">And I've included<span style="background-color: #cc0000; color: white;"><b> two essays,</b></span> both rather basic. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Basic to a modern economy are the distribution profiles of income and wealth. I've fashioned two home-made colored-pencil charts in this posting, one displays wealth distribution and the other income distribution. And below them I've included two recent short essays that are introductory in nature, all the same they are crucial for understanding the needs we face. In short, the lower-earning and -saving majority are being left out, and <span style="background-color: #f4cccc;"><span style="color: #990000;"><b>a social disaster is in the making. </b></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #ead1dc; font-size: large;">But first I'm including an Introduction to the overall blog, you can skip it, or read it, here it is:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #ead1dc; font-size: large;">A reader stumbling on to this blog might wonder what to read. The essay below is easy and basic, <span style="background-color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #f4cccc;">"America's Economic Decline Simply Explained" </span></span> (click<a href="http://benl8.blogspot.com/2018/05/table-of-contents-of-blog.html"> here</a>). The next about <a href="https://benl8.blogspot.com/2018/04/stark-inequality.html">Stark Inequality</a> is a little harder, but full of basic info. The <a href="https://benl8.blogspot.com/2016/12/solutions-accentuate-positive.html">Solutions</a> essay breaks a lot of assumptions about how to solve economic problems, and the <a href="https://benl8.blogspot.com/2017/06/a-ten-year-vision-towards-full.html">Full Employment</a> is good, also bursting with unconventional ideas; and last of all the <a href="https://benl8.blogspot.com/2017/10/a-radical-populist-budget.html">Radical Populist Budget</a> is one of my favorites. The most popular essay is <a href="https://benl8.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-1950s-and-today.html">"The 1950s and Today."</a> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #ead1dc; font-size: large;">I have few readers, but few is better than none. This is my public record book where I store thoughts. I also enjoy constructing the photos and making detailed and very involved searches -- <a href="https://benl8.blogspot.com/2017/09/growth-and-federal-budget.html">Growth and the Federal Budget</a> is such a long-winded and overly detailed screed. Often I'll come back and realize that I've forgotten the content of an essay. That's because they are too dense, but, then, also I repeat a lot. The <a href="http://www.levyinstitute.org/publications/what-do-we-know-about-the-labor-share-and-the-profit-share-part-3-measures-and-structural-factors">graph</a> from Olivier Giovannoni on the decline of income share for the lower-earning 90%, from 1980 to the present, is the most important thing a reader should learn. Most of the above articles I recommended contain this graph. The Radical Populist essay has it, and in several more it appears. Even this present essay could use, so here it is, again. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #66bb33; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 14.489999771118164px; font-weight: bold;"></span>
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<img class="CSS_LIGHTBOX_SCALED_IMAGE_IMG" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmtrh5fB_f7-f0tnPsKWP_ZSPmnVFRHcKdTLuu4oDVSeu-qVtpehb9EP1KS2xgn8M0p5an_qpXuhBRh6E7C7wWzqOKOkH-5idWiNHeWzywAS2bj248RyEMA8Hu5JtzUdQThQmYnqcvrZY/s1600/Giovannoni%252C+90%2525+income+share+.png" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.498039) 1px 1px 5px; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.498039) 1px 1px 5px; height: 484px; outline: rgb(0, 0, 0) solid 1px; padding: 8px; position: relative; width: 666px;" /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #ead1dc;"><span style="background-color: #ead1dc; font-size: large;">What does the graph show? The deep blue area represents the "labor share" to the lower-earning 90%. Note that in 1980 it begins to decline, from 55% to 38%. Here's <a href="http://www.levyinstitute.org/publications/what-do-we-know-about-the-labor-share-and-the-profit-share-part-3-measures-and-structural-factors">what Giovannoni states</a> at the Levy Institute: <b><span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; color: blue;">"</span></b></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #ead1dc; color: blue; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">This amounts to a transfer of $1.8 trillion from labor to capital in 2012 alone and brings the US labor share to its 1920s level."</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: #d9d2e9;">In 2018 the share decline, of 17%, represents $2.75 trillion. Without this drop the incomes of the lower-paid workers would be about $19,000 higher per worker among each one of the 144 million workers whose income is below $90,000 a year. So this is a major shift in income distribution, and if we could ever regain the "labor share" of 1945 to 1980 we would be living in a much improved society. Not perfect, by any means, but improved. That's why the graph is so important. (Continued at --</span> <a href="http://benl8.blogspot.com/2018/05/table-of-contents-of-blog.html" style="background-color: white;"> the most recent essay of May, 2018</a><span style="background-color: white;">.) </span></span></span></span></span><br />
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Today's report:<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It's a common sense Keynesian idea that aggregate demand is necessary for efficient, mass production. Mass production exists only with mass consumption which is also called purchasing demand. Therefore a relative equality is needed. T</span><span style="font-size: large;">he worker-majority must be able to purchase what they produce. Wages and wealth must keep pace. A</span><span style="font-size: large;"> too equal distribution would be unfair, but a too unequal distribution will be a drag on output -- not enough purchasers. What corporation will produce goods that are not purchased? Why is India so poor? </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">From two reports I've reproduced two charts, on income and wealth distribution.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">And I've included two recent essays, one 1,200 words, the other 900. Similar in focus. </span><br />
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Wealth today:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSsb7RtBcnnndirfiEdV6d283Bh2z-2Estn8M-GaaR4IUyb4V76gU5KKZ2emZb9m0fW4rm9OnazWZVlYqWUiWRI_BNtpEtUgQBLq7Txx4Wuk8Sx0jqhkggHF8RhQmEapQSR10D-uyUoxI/s1600/P5240039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSsb7RtBcnnndirfiEdV6d283Bh2z-2Estn8M-GaaR4IUyb4V76gU5KKZ2emZb9m0fW4rm9OnazWZVlYqWUiWRI_BNtpEtUgQBLq7Txx4Wuk8Sx0jqhkggHF8RhQmEapQSR10D-uyUoxI/s640/P5240039.JPG" width="480" /></a><br />
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Source, <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/conference/2018/preliminary/paper/5ZFEEf69">Edward N. Wolff</a><br />
YouTube has a video on "Wealth Inequality in America". By July, 2018, some 21 million had viewed the video. It is amazing, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM&t=303s">check it out here</a>.<br />
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Income today:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzYpFbcqUcAAfjWOGObaBTQ_tBxXtYPTOSPZ5Whgcc0RJylMCfeok4IWzI3QMZXh5NcPmw3ryVzfqa7rqQprMRRgG9LC1i_svTlKp8ckM1BXIhJINuNAOv1MXgmp4suA6S62YJ7DUnTWo/s1600/P6140053.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzYpFbcqUcAAfjWOGObaBTQ_tBxXtYPTOSPZ5Whgcc0RJylMCfeok4IWzI3QMZXh5NcPmw3ryVzfqa7rqQprMRRgG9LC1i_svTlKp8ckM1BXIhJINuNAOv1MXgmp4suA6S62YJ7DUnTWo/s640/P6140053.JPG" width="480" /></a><br />
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Hope you can read the small print.<br />
Source: <a href="http://gabriel-zucman.eu/files/PSZ2016.pdf">here</a>, <a href="https://voxeu.org/article/economic-growth-us-tale-two-countries">here</a> and <a href="https://equitablegrowth.org/economic-growth-in-the-united-states-a-tale-of-two-countries/">here</a>.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Post-tax income growth of 21% between 1980 and 2014 shows a slight improvement for the lower 50%, but that's in light of an overall growth rate of 61%.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">This following is a letter to the editor, so it's general info and simple: </span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="background-color: #351c75;"> </span><span style="background-color: #990000;"> <span style="color: white;">The Trump/Republican Budget and </span></span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="background-color: #990000;"><span style="color: white;"> America’s Poorest 40%</span> </span><span style="background-color: blue;"> </span><span style="background-color: #990000;"> </span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">In April, 2018, the Congressional Budget Office scored the <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/53651">Trump/Republican tax bill</a> passed in December, 2017, and said it would increase the public debt from 76% to 96% of GDP by 2028. This is an increase of $4.6 trillion. Mr. McClintock voted for this bill stating that economic growth would increase the tax revenues offsetting the decline created by the tax cuts. In 1980, running against Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush called this “voodoo economics”. Reagan and Bush I increased the national debt from 25% of GDP to over 50%. Bush was correct. And in 10 years we will see approximately the same increase in the national debt. A report <a href="https://itep.org/federal-tax-cuts-in-the-bush-obama-and-trump-years/">from ITEP</a> states:<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; color: #351c75;"> "</span></span></span><span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; color: #351c75; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Open Sans';">The national debt today [April 9, 2018] stands at $15.7 trillion.</span><a href="https://itep.org/federal-tax-cuts-in-the-bush-obama-and-trump-years/#_edn3" name="_ednref3" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Open Sans'; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; text-decoration: none;">[3]</a><span style="font-family: 'Open Sans';"> Two decisions made since 2000 — tax cuts and America’s wars since September 11, 2001 — together account for roughly two-thirds of that amount.</span><a href="https://itep.org/federal-tax-cuts-in-the-bush-obama-and-trump-years/#_edn4" name="_ednref4" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Open Sans'; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; text-decoration: none;">[4]</a>"</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Due to the fact that about 60% of the county voted for Mr. McClintock, and he and Mr. Trump see eye to eye, I don’t know how to approach the readers of the Mariposa Gazette. It will be an uphill battle. In my opinion, the Republicans, nationally, are making life worse for most Americans.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Approximately 43% of Americans live with incomes that fall below 200% of the official poverty level. They are either poor or “low income" in this very wealthy nation, according to the Supplemental Poverty Measure, <a href="https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2017/demo/p60-261.pdf">U. S. Census, page 7</a>. This is after paying taxes and receiving government transfers. Many scholars claim the poverty line is artificially low, and 140% of poverty is where it should be set. These 43% are our neighbors, and they make up the majority in some cities and neighborhoods. As a nation we are so rich that poverty could be eliminated. How much income does our economy generate? It created over <a href="https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=5060">$15 trillion in 2017</a> (see page 34), and evenly divided among 163 million workers, that’s an income of $92,067 per worker. But over half of all workers earned less than $30,553 in 2016 (last year for available statistics), and the average annual income for the lower half was below $13,000 a year. These facts come from the <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2016">Social Security Administration’s</a> annual report on wage income. An income of $13,000 a year is also 11% of the average of $92,067, and a minimum wage worker working full-time year-round would earn more. I repeat, we are very prosperous, but we have polarized income and wealth distribution. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Between 1980 and 2014 the economy grew by 60%, according to <a href="https://equitablegrowth.org/working-papers/distributional-national-accounts/">two</a> reputable <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/53597">reports</a>. The income of the lower-earning half increased from $16,000 to $16,200, while the income of the top 1% increased from $420,000 to $1,300,000. The top 1% received 36% of all growth, the next 9% received 32%, and the percentiles 50 to 90 received 32%. The lower half received zero percent. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">On June 7, 2018, the Federal Reserve released its quarterly <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/20180607/z1.pdf">Flow of Funds report</a>, (see page 2) and the private “household net worth” is over $100 trillion. That’s trillion, not billion. It stood at $100.768 trillion — the first time surpassing $100 trillion. The federal government will spend $4.1 trillion in 2018 in comparison. And still we have a $500 billion deficit. We could easily tax that $100 Trillion and balance the budget. A financial transaction tax would be enough. Household net worth stood at $48 trillion just 9 years ago, so there has been a boom in the value of paper assets, as many stock watchers know. Wage income did not double, it increased by 5%. The nation’s average wealth, per adult over 20 years-old, stands above $400,000. We are wealthy. Yet the median wealth — the middle rung — per adult is about $40,000. The lower-saving 40% of U.S. households has a negative net worth, they owe on average $9,860, according to a <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/conference/2018/preliminary/paper/5ZFEEf69">study by Edward N. Wolff</a>, a scholar with abundant credentials in wealth studies. The wealthiest one percent own nearly 40% of all wealth, on average about $15 million per adult, or $31,300,000 per household, according to E. Wolff. Eighty percent of U.S. households own only 10.1% of all wealth. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdy8YpF7t8CY5g3H8EYSms6o6CkR-27vnu5NypD7cV_TcZ7U-gZMrPn9hcf_XCquGabb6h2s26aMNmaBjjMUQBfsOmPxLDfyLenqftTBl14sGyKyApvlnRgeWutDpjb-LU4v8Dbi9hPM8/s1600/Wolff%252C+Wealth+Distribution+copy+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdy8YpF7t8CY5g3H8EYSms6o6CkR-27vnu5NypD7cV_TcZ7U-gZMrPn9hcf_XCquGabb6h2s26aMNmaBjjMUQBfsOmPxLDfyLenqftTBl14sGyKyApvlnRgeWutDpjb-LU4v8Dbi9hPM8/s640/Wolff%252C+Wealth+Distribution+copy+2.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is not the profile of a nation that should massively cut taxes to the wealthiest. The Trump tax cut and the following budget are twin policies. Mr. McClintock railed for years against the Obama era deficits, and now he supports deficits. Obama’s high spending was directly related to the worst recession in 75 years; they included unemployment insurance payouts, food, housing, and medical services to the nearly 9 million families who lost employment, and often their homes. The first 14 months of the recession were under George Bush’s term of office, the last 4 months were under Obama’s term. Deregulation of the financial sector resulted in the approximate evaporation of 25% of the private savings of America’s households, 70% of which were financial savings. It was a financial sector crisis.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Trump budget will slash funding to programs that provide “social benefits” to the lower-earning 40% of America. These “non-defense discretionary” programs will lose 60% of their funding by 2028, it’s clearly stated in the 2019 budget proposal. Robert Greenstein at the <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/press/statements/greenstein-house-budget-committee-2019-budget-continues-trend-of-harsh-deep-cuts">Center for Budget and Policy Priorities</a> states these are “massive cuts in . . . education, health care, assistance to low-income children and families, job training, environmental protection, and scientific research.” </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <a class="irc_mil i3597" data-noload="" data-ved="2ahUKEwjGsf7VroHcAhWLiVQKHWndAHsQjRx6BAgBEAU" href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/trump-budget-would-cut-non-defense-programs-deeply-in-2019-and-beyond" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk" rel="noopener" style="border: 0px; color: #660099; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; text-align: center; text-decoration: none;" tabindex="0" target="_blank" wrc_done="true"><img alt="Image result for budget cuts to non defense discretionary programs 2018 to 2028" class="irc_mi" height="640" src="https://www.cbpp.org/sites/default/files/styles/report_371px/public/atoms/files/2-14-18bud2-f1.png?itok=0MP1Brp9" style="-webkit-background-size: 21px; background-color: white; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; margin-top: 0px;" width="450" /></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">In light of these facts, I can’t understand how intelligent adults can vote in support of the present government. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">And a last graph originating from the <a href="https://freepress.org/article/us-leaders-release-joint-statement-opposing-trump-budget">Office of Management of Budget: </a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img alt="" height="639" src="https://freepress.org/sites/default/files/styles/620px_wide/public/main/articles/trump-budget.jpg?itok=rH1Tyhxi" style="border: 0px; color: #4a4a4a; float: none; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px;" typeof="foaf:Image" width="620" /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">How to absorb all this? The largest cuts occur to which agencies? </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">$15 bn to HHS, $11 bn to State, $9 bn to Education. The EPA and State are the big losers, HHS is second biggest loser. But what is the average cut in one percentage? Maybe it's 14%. These are discretionary non-defense programs, so Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security are not included. Note the fine print about "eliminate funding". And the IRS? The CBPP has a report, stating, "</span></span><span style="background-color: #660000; font-family: "roboto" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #f4cccc; font-size: large;">Despite the once-in-a-generation enforcement challenge that the law poses, the bill leaves enforcement funding at roughly the same level as in 2017 — and down $1.5 billion (23 percent) since 2010 in inflation-adjusted terms." The new tax law is an opportunity for evasion. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">The next article deals with the income distribution of 1960. </span><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: yellow; font-size: x-large;"> Give Me That Ol’ Time Income </span></span><span style="background-color: yellow; font-size: x-large;">Distribution </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; background-color: white;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Times aren’t so good for many Americans. A recent <a href="http://press.careerbuilder.com/2017-08-24-Living-Paycheck-to-Paycheck-is-a-Way-of-Life-for-Majority-of-U-S-Workers-According-to-New-CareerBuilder-Survey"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">survey</span></a> found that 78% of U.S. workers live paycheck to paycheck -- "</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #343434; font-family: "lato" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">38% sometimes live paycheck-to-paycheck, 17 percent said they usually do and 23 percent said they always do</span>."</span><span style="font-size: large;">, that's 78% on the edge --- and 71% live in debt, and 56% save less than $100 a month, and 40% of adults say that finding </span><a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/report-economic-well-being-us-households.htm"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: large;">$400 in cash</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> for an emergency within 30 days would be impossible. The total national income divided by all who worked and submitted a W-2 form, 163 million, equals over $92,000 per worker. Something is wrong here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The </span><a href="https://www.abodo.com/blog/millennials-living-at-home/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: large;">Millenial generation</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> (comprising 34% of U.S. population and between 18 and 34 years-old) is often </span><a href="https://www.abodo.com/blog/millennials-living-at-home/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: large;">paying</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> between 68% to 90% of income just to rent an apartment. Nationally a rate of 34.1% of young adults are </span><a href="https://www.abodo.com/blog/millennials-living-at-home/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: large;">living at home</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> with parents; this rate has never before been so high; in Miami area “a whopping 44.8% of 18- to 34-year-olds live with their parents.” The Pew Center published a graph showing in 1960 the median income for this age group was $27,300 a year, and it is now $15,000. Rental costs as a percentage of income have increased. The Federal Reserve conducts an annual </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/report-economic-well-being-us-households.htm">survey</a>,</span><span style="font-size: large;"> page 7, on household well-being, and reading the fine print, it concludes that 40% of all adults “have scores that suggest a high likelihood of material hardship”. The U.S. Census </span><a href="https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2017/demo/p60-261.html"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: large;">poverty study</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">, the Supplemental Poverty Measure, shows that 43% of Americans live in households with after-tax and after-transfer incomes below 200% the poverty line. That indicates a per person income of below $12,500 in a family of four. Yet our very prosperous economy generates over “$45,090” of income after taxes for each individual, says the </span><a href="https://bea.gov/iTable/iTable.cfm?reqid=19&step=2#reqid=19&step=3&isuri=1&1921=survey&1903=58"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: large;">Bureau of Economic Analysis</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> (Table 2.1). Very likely, 40% of Americans live with incomes that are less than, and often much less than, a quarter of the average that our economy generates. That is shocking and depressing. We should work to change the depressing picture. Some of these data come from </span><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/06/18/jobs-everyone-fantasy"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: large;">an article</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> by Paul Buchheit at Common Dreams. Another <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/07/02/update-2018-more-evidence-half-americans-are-or-near-poverty">article by Buchheit</a> argues that about half of Americans live in poverty. Kathleen Short of the U.S. Census <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/working-papers/2013/demo/SEHSD-WP2013-28.html">has stated, see page 30</a>, in 2013, about 30% live below 140% of the poverty threshold, and that's poverty. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">As Woody Guthrie once sang, </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">“If you ain't got the do re mi, boys, you ain't got the do re mi,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Why, you better go back to beautiful Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see;</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">But believe it or not, you won't find it so hot</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">If you ain't got the do re mi.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">It was not always like this. Let’s look at past distribution ratios of wealth and income, this will restore a little hope on our sad condition. I printed out a page from Edward Wolff's <a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w24085"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">2018 report on wealth</span></a> , 2017, "Household Wealth Trends in the United States, 1962 to 2016: Has Middle Class Wealth Recovered?" (For a summary, see <a href="http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2018/01/the-housing-market-crash-and-wealth-inequality-in-the-us.html"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">here</span></a>.) Table 2 shows figures for wealth and income distribution from 1962 to 2016. The wealth picture shows in 1962 the lower-saving 80% owned 19.0% of everything, and now they own 10.1%. If we had that 1962 ratio today, an additional $87,840 would be in the savings of each of the 100 million households of the lower-saving 80%. It would increase the median household savings from $78,100 to almost $166,000, and it would erase the debt burden of the lower-saving 40% of U.S. households. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">And for income distribution, in 1962 the lower-earning 80% took in 54.0% of all income, but by 2015 its share had dropped to 36.0%, a drop of 18.0%. What happened to the 18%? The top-earning 10% in '62 took in 30.0%, and in 2015 they received 49.9% - an increase of 19.9% of all income. How much is 18% of all income? Today it's $2.7 trillion (multiply 18% times $15.007 trillion, from Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, <a href="https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=5060"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Overview</span></a>), or it's $2.9 trillion (<a href="http://bea.gov/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">BEA.gov</span></a>, Table 2.1). So $2.7 trillion distributed to the lower-earning 80% of workers, and that would be about 130 million workers, would increase the income of each of the 130 million by $20,769 every year. Other researchers also report the same general shift in income shares. This is in the ballpark for the figures that the Economic Policy Institute present on <a href="https://www.epi.org/blog/your-pay/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">their web page</span></a> “What should you be earning?” It also matches the general picture drawn by Olivier Giovannoni (<a href="https://utip.lbj.utexas.edu/abstract.html#UTIP66"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Working Paper #66</span></a>) showing a distribution slide of the lower-earning 90% beginning in 1980. The CBO <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/42729"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">report</span></a> of 2011 also shows a massive shift. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Now let’s look at the change that would happen to the incomes of the lower-earning half of U.S. workers. The median income worker — half earned more wage income and half earned less — among all 163 million workers in 2016 earned in wages $30,533. That means 81 million earned less than $30,533, and the <i>average</i> income for the lower half was just under $13,000 in 2016. (You have to add the income columns of the <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2016"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Social Security Administration</span></a> report, and divide by number of workers.) If we could add back the income share they once enjoyed, it would be, on average, an additional $20,769 of yearly income on top of today’s average of $13,000, for a total average income of $33,769 per worker for all 81 million in the lower-earning half. This is to say this average income would increase by times 2.6, and would be a little more than today’s median. The median worker’s income would increase from $30,533 to $51,299. The Economic Policy Institute <a href="https://www.epi.org/blog/your-pay/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">estimates</span></a> that $47,050 would be this worker’s income.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Wolff’s report shows the lower 80% earning 36.0% of all income in 2016. Restoring that to 54% adds $2.7 trillion back to the lower 80% of worker’s income. So the upshot -- if we had the same distribution as 1962, half of all workers would nearly triple their average incomes, from $13,000 to $33,769. Today’s median would become the average for the lower 50%, and the median would be between $47,000 and $51,299. A different world it would be. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">How did the economy survive with such a strange and equal distribution of income? It grew faster, and all wage levels grew together, not like today (see <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-income-figure-2c-average-family-income/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">here</span></a>). We still could return to 1962 policies, I think the top marginal income tax rate was 91% on all income in excess of $3,000,000, and 81% on all income above $1,050,430 (see the <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/190500966/Federal-Individual-Individual-Income-Tax-Rate-Adjusted-for-Inflation#fullscreen&from_embed"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Tax Policy Institute</span></a>). </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Many economists would claim this distribution ratio would be impossible. When Gerald Friedman stated that the Sanders’ proposals for the economy would drive growth to 5% a year he was thoroughly scolded by mainstream left-wing economists such as Paul Krugman. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Friedman offered a <a href="https://urpe.wordpress.com/2016/03/08/gerald-friedman-responds-to-the-romers-on-the-sanders-plan-different-models-different-politics/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">reasonable reply</span></a>, affirming it is possible. It is. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">As another song goes, “I want that old time religion (or income distribution), It is good enough for me." </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: #45818e;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: #45818e; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: white;">Some Recommendations </span> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">OK, too much info already. But here's some reading that is promising. First the Center for American Progress published a positive paper, </span><span style="color: white; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #bf9000;">Blueprint for the 21st Century</b></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">, which includes a government jobs program. What a relief that this is getting some attention. I calculated recently that the actual unemployment rate is around 11.8%, not the official 3.8%. The report states unemployment is 8.7%, but they should add on part-time workers who want full-time, and it jumps to close to 12%. Here's a few relevant sentences from the Intro: </span><b style="background-color: #9fc5e8;">"</b></span><b style="background-color: #9fc5e8;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "open sans" , sans-serif; font-size: 1.1rem;">As part of the Jobs Blueprint, the Center for American Progress proposes five major initiatives that will provide high quality, affordable child care; rebuild America’s infrastructure; modernize K-12 schools; prepare America’s communities and housing stock for the effects of climate change; and provide critical supports to senior citizens and persons with disabilities. We propose investing in America’s physical capital and human capital for the 21st century—investments that the market will not make by itself. Together, these nationwide investments will create more than 3 million new jobs. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "open sans" , sans-serif; font-size: 1.1rem;">Furthermore, in the most economically distressed areas of the country, CAP proposes a job guarantee that, we estimate, about 1.2 million persons will take up."</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Also I'm listening to the </span><b><span style="background-color: #b45f06; color: white; font-size: x-large;">Ralph Nader Radio Hour</span></b><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">, this morning I'm listening to economist </span><a href="https://ralphnaderradiohour.com/a-more-progressive-economic-agenda/" style="background-color: white; font-size: x-large;">Robert Pollin talk</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;"> about the California health care for all program, funded by a corporate tax on "gross receipts" on the largest corporations with more than 500 employees. Remember that 1,900 or so corporations in the U.S. employ 34% of all workers and generate 44% of all revenues. They will fund the California health care tax, in part, the other part is a sales tax that exempts spending on food, housing and transportation, and has a tax credit to households with low incomes. Same show, Dr. S. Woolhandler explains health care for all. Ralph's shows in general are very high quality; you can learn a lot. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">Last recommendation, read the article at the Century Foundation about labor unions, <a href="https://tcf.org/content/commentary/better-deal-ensures-long-overdue-worker-protections/">"A 'Better Deal' Ensures Long-Overdue Worker Protections". </a> On the same topic, <a href="http://feelthebern.org/bernie-sanders-on-workers-rights/">Bernie Sanders' web page</a> explains his position on labor reform. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">Here's a quote from the Sanders' web page: "</span><a href="http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/recent-business/sanders-americans-already-work-longer-hours" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #087ed7; font-family: robotobold, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">According to the OECD</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "robotoregular" , sans-serif;">, in 2013 Americans worked 54 more hours [one week] per year than Japanese workers, 119 hours [3 weeks] more than British workers, 299 hours [7.5 weeks] more than French workers, and 425 [10 weeks] hours more than German workers. According to this </span><a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/175286/hour-workweek-actually-longer-seven-hours.aspx" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #087ed7; font-family: robotobold, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Gallup poll</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "robotoregular" , sans-serif;">, the average American working a full-time job is working well over 40 hours a week:", </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">and a graph follows. Here's <a href="http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/21130/bernie_sanders_labor_unions_workplace_democracy_elizabeth_warren">a link to an article</a> published at In These Times, "Sanders Has a Sweeping Plan to Expand Worker Rights and Workplace Democracy". </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;">The "last" recommendation, for now, July 16, continues. Professor William </span><a href="http://prospect.org/article/curse-stock-buybacks-0" style="background-color: white; color: #111111;">Lazonick published this month</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;"> in the American Prospect, the article </span><b><span style="background-color: #38761d; color: white;">"The Curse of Stock Buybacks"</span></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;">. Here's the concluding paragraph: "</span></span><span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; font-family: "droid serif" , "cambria" , "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: large;">And most importantly, on March 22, [Senator] Baldwin introduced legislation known as the Reward Work Act, which would rescind Rule 10b-18 [that allows stock buybacks] and, for the sake of retain and reinvest, mandate that all U.S. publicly listed business corporations have one-third of board members be representatives of workers. Rolling back the 2017 corporate tax cut is imperative. In addition, a ban on stock buybacks would be a giant step in resurrecting corporate employment as a foundation for a prosperous and expanding middle class."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Two such new rules -- eliminating stock buybacks and mandating workers on corporate boards -- would mark a radical departure from the predatory, value extraction model that now characterizes the core of the American economy. Lazonick is the <a href="https://www.ineteconomics.org/uploads/papers/WP_54-Lazonick-Value-Extracting-CEO-Mod-2017.pdf">source of the fact</a> that "<span style="background-color: #66bb33; font-family: "times new roman"; font-weight: bold;">The </span><a href="https://www.ineteconomics.org/uploads/papers/WP_54-Lazonick-Value-Extracting-CEO-Mod-2017.pdf" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: #993222; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">largest 1,909 corporations</span></a><span style="background-color: #66bb33; font-family: "times new roman"; font-weight: bold;">, all employing more than 5,000 workers in the U.S., generated 44% of all revenues, and employed 34% of all workers. The health (or non-health) of these large companies spills over to the smaller ones. "</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">I wrote that sentence, it <a href="http://benl8.blogspot.com/2018/05/">appears in this recent essay</a>. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="color: white; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #990000;">Certain reforms are critical:</b></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">1) Prohibit stock buybacks; </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">2) Establish a short-term capital gains tax that will kill the pernicious short-term speculative beast that has captured American finance; </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">3) Place workers and community members on corporate boards; </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">4) Legislate tax incentives to transform American corporations into profit-sharing and ownership-sharing organizations (ESOPs); </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">5) Re-establish the power and legitimacy of worker strikes; </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">6) Raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, which would increase the incomes of 41 million workers <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/15-by-2024-would-lift-wages-for-41-million/">(see here)</a>, or 25% of U.S. workers. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">7) Tax financial assets;</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">8) Finance elections with public funds only;</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">9) Re-establish the guillotine. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">Maybe only #9 is necessary. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">Nick Hanauer also published at the American Prospect with the advice to raise taxes on the wealthiest. <a href="http://prospect.org/article/want-expand-economy-tax-rich">"Want to Expand the Economy? Tax the Rich" </a> -- The<a href="https://benl8.blogspot.com/2016/12/solutions-accentuate-positive.html"> "Solutions"</a> essay at this blog elaborates on this theme. </span></span></div>
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Ben Leethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14058357566482675649noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047544383372645090.post-83883010610811489702018-05-28T16:46:00.002-07:002018-08-05T15:47:33.305-07:00Decline Explained, and Blog Contents <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;">A reader stumbling on to this blog might wonder what to read. The essay below is easy and basic, <span style="background-color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #f4cccc;">"America's Economic Decline Simply Explained"</span></span>. The next about <a href="https://benl8.blogspot.com/2018/04/stark-inequality.html">Stark Inequality</a> is a little harder, but full of basic info. The <a href="https://benl8.blogspot.com/2016/12/solutions-accentuate-positive.html">Solutions</a> essay breaks a lot of assumptions about how to solve economic problems, and the <a href="https://benl8.blogspot.com/2017/06/a-ten-year-vision-towards-full.html">Full Employment</a> is good, also bursting with unconventional ideas; and last of all the <a href="https://benl8.blogspot.com/2017/10/a-radical-populist-budget.html">Radical Populist Budget</a> is one of my favorites. The most popular essay is <a href="https://benl8.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-1950s-and-today.html">"The 1950s and Today."</a> I have few readers, but few is better than none. This is my public record book where I store thoughts. I also enjoy constructing the photos and making detailed and very involved searches -- <a href="https://benl8.blogspot.com/2017/09/growth-and-federal-budget.html">Growth and the Federal Budget</a> is such a long-winded and overly detailed screed. Often I'll come back and realize that I've forgotten the content of an essay. That's because they are too dense, but, then, also I repeat a lot. The <a href="http://www.levyinstitute.org/publications/what-do-we-know-about-the-labor-share-and-the-profit-share-part-3-measures-and-structural-factors">graph</a> from Olivier Giovannoni on the decline of income share for the lower-earning 90%, from 1980 to the present, is the most important thing a reader should learn. Most of the above articles I recommended contain this graph. The Radical Populist essay has it, and in several more it appears. Even this present essay could use, so here it is, again. </span><br />
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<img class="CSS_LIGHTBOX_SCALED_IMAGE_IMG" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmtrh5fB_f7-f0tnPsKWP_ZSPmnVFRHcKdTLuu4oDVSeu-qVtpehb9EP1KS2xgn8M0p5an_qpXuhBRh6E7C7wWzqOKOkH-5idWiNHeWzywAS2bj248RyEMA8Hu5JtzUdQThQmYnqcvrZY/s1600/Giovannoni%252C+90%2525+income+share+.png" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.498039) 1px 1px 5px; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.498039) 1px 1px 5px; height: 484px; outline: rgb(0, 0, 0) solid 1px; padding: 8px; position: relative; width: 666px;" /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">What does the graph show? The deep blue area represents the "labor share" to the lower-earning 90%. Note that in 1980 is begins to decline, from 55% to 38%. Here's <a href="http://www.levyinstitute.org/publications/what-do-we-know-about-the-labor-share-and-the-profit-share-part-3-measures-and-structural-factors">what Giovannoni states</a> at the Levy Institute: <b><span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; color: blue;">"</span></b></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; color: blue; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">This amounts to a transfer of $1.8 trillion from labor to capital in 2012 alone and brings the US labor share to its 1920s level."</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In 2018 the share decline, of 17%, represents $2.75 trillion. Without this drop the incomes of the lower-paid workers would be about $19,000 higher per worker among each one of the 144 million workers whose income is below $90,000 a year. So this is a major shift in income distribution, and if we could ever regain the "labor share" of 1945 to 1980 we would be living in a much improved society. Not perfect, by any means, but improved. That's why the graph is so important. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The following is a short introductory essay on the economy. It should be published somewhere soon, it's not long or complicated. </span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;"> America’s Economic Decline Simply Explained </span> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Many people wonder why the U.S. economy is not working for them. I’d like to explain in simple terms. I’ve written a blog for 10 years, Economics Without Greed. I may be an amateur, yet my reasoning is not that far off. Here’s why the economy is not working: </span></span></div>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Most people work for large corporations or non-profits. The <a href="https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2015/econ/g12-susb.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">U.S. Census</span></a> shows that 82% of private sector workers are employed in firms with more than 20 workers, 65% work in firms with over 100 workers, and 51% work in firms with more than 500 workers. (I have to warn the readers to not focus on the numbers, but focus on the main concepts.) The <a href="https://www.ineteconomics.org/uploads/papers/WP_54-Lazonick-Value-Extracting-CEO-Mod-2017.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">largest 1,909 corporations</span></a>, all employing more than 5,000 workers in the U.S., generated 44% of all revenues, and employed 34% of all workers. The health (or non-health) of these large companies spills over to the smaller ones. </span></span></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Large corporations distribute around 91% of their profits to shareholder owners, not to workers in higher wages, nor to plant expansions, nor to research. Wages are kept as low as possible. Since 2001, when </span><a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/A055RC1A027NBEA"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">corporate profits</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> were 4.6% of GDP, they have increased to 8.9% of GDPin 2018. Some years these large corporations distribute more than 100% of their net profits to shareholders, thus looting their own companies. Professor William Lazonick’s research has shown </span><a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-lazonick/how-american-corporations_b_1399500.html"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">“How American Corporations Transformed from Producers to Predators.”</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> (Also </span><a href="https://hbr.org/2014/09/profits-without-prosperity"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">“Profits Without Prosperity” </span></a><span style="font-size: large;">published and winner of best article of the year at the Harvard Business Review.) </span></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Most of the profits (85%) generated by corporations end up in finance seeking the highest rates of return; this surplus is not recycled into productive economic activity that would employ workers and increases prosperity. It is tied into hedged bets which act to diversify risk of catastrophic decline. Assets are added to existing value of financial assets. Seventy-five percent of </span><a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/the_state_of_working_americas_wealth_2011/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">financial assets</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> are owned by 5 % of households.</span></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Since there is a limited amount of corporate stock, these stocks necessarily increase in value. Wealth then accumulates exponentially for the minority owner class. In the past 9 years, since January of 2009, financial assets have </span><a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/20091210/z1.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">increased their value</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> by 87% (inflation adjusted), from $48 trillion to $98 trillion. In the same period wages for non-supervisory workers grew by 5%. And looking further back, since 1964 the S&P 500 Index has increased by 250%, and </span><a href="https://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">average weekly wages</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> for nonsupervisory workers are exactly the same as in 1964, a zero percent increase. The aggregate value of stock more than triples, while weekly (and yearly) wages for 80% of the work force stays frozen. The economy’s per capita </span><a href="https://bea.gov/iTable/iTable.cfm?reqid=19&step=2#reqid=19&step=3&isuri=1&1921=survey&1903=58"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">“disposable personal income”</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> has tripled since 1964 (inflation adjusted) shows the Bureau of Economic </span><span style="font-size: large;">Analysis. But average weekly wages for 80% of workers have </span><span style="font-size: large;">not increased at all. </span></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Labor organizing rights are suppressed by both corporations and by law; most of the change occurred </span><a href="https://mronline.org/2006/08/01/taking-back-the-workers-law-an-interview-with-ellen-dannin/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">by judicial amendment</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> of the National Labor Relations Act, not by enacting a new law. Now strikes are rare because the original purpose of the NLRA has been nullified, and strikes normally result in lay offs. </span></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">If wages had matched the growth of productivity, the </span><a href="https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2016"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">average wage income</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> would not be today’s $46,640 but $69,648 (and that’s 49% higher). The median worker’s wage would not be $30,553 but $47,703 (and that’s 56% higher). Half of U.S. workers earn less than $30,553 a year. Adding their collective income, they earn a little more than $1 trillion in an economy that generates $16.2 trillion. Their collective average income, for 81 million workers, is less than minimum wage paid to a full-time year-round worker. There’s an interactive web page at the Economic Policy Institute that asks and answers the question </span><a href="https://www.epi.org/blog/your-pay/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">“What Should You Be Earning?”</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> It shows how large the productivity to wage gap is. Most workers could be earning about 50% more income. </span></li>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Earnings -- Would Be ---- wage income </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"> $10,000 ---- $17,845 --- a gain of 78% 22 </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">$20,000 ---- $32,256 of 61% 36 </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">$30,000 ---- $46,855 of 56% 49 </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">$40,000 ---- $60,744 of 52% 61 </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">$50,000 ---- $73,299 of 47% 70 </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">$60,000 ---- $82,747 of 38% 77 </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">$70,000 ---- $92,308 of 32% 82 </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">$80,000 ---- $100,453 of 26% 86 </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">$90,000 ---- $107,919 of 20% 89 </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">$100,000 --- $115,832 of 16% 91 </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">$110,000 --- $123,807 of 13% 93 </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">$120,000 --- $131,782 of 10% 94 </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>According to the EPI table and the Social Security table, at least 61% of workers (all in the lower earning 61%) would receive more than a 50% increase in income. Of the 163 million American workers submitting W-2 forms to the </b><a href="https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2016"><span style="color: #993222; line-height: normal;"><b>Social Security Administration</b></span></a><b> in 2016, 91% reported income below $100,000. </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">These are the reasons the economy is failing so many. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The <a href="https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2017/demo/p60-261.pdf">U.S. Census report</a>, “The Supplemental Poverty Measure”, shows 43% of Americans live in households with incomes below 200% of poverty (see Figure 6). </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">This interesting graphic shows one important facet of the economy: many households, about 20%, are pushed below 400% poverty. They are pushed into the lower income ranges, and the range between 1.0 and 1.99 of poverty enlarges, nearly doubles. That is, taxes push incomes down, government programs do not raise incomes upwards out of poverty, for the most part. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Some researchers say that 200% of poverty income <i>is</i> <i>poverty</i>, and <a href="https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/working-papers/2013/demo/sehsd2013-28.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">some say</span></a> that 140% is actual poverty (<a href="https://www.census.gov/library/working-papers/2013/demo/SEHSD-WP2013-28.html">Kathleen Short, page 23</a>). Below 140% includes 28% of Americans. Short, a 30 year veteran of the Census department, stated, <span style="background-color: black; color: yellow;">"</span></span></span><span style="background-color: black; font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">This suggests that families with resources
below approximately 140 percent of the SPM threshold, rather than 200 percent, may be characterized
as not able to meet their basic needs and achieve a safe and decent standard of living, or as families
with ‘low income’."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> That sounds like a definition of poverty, <span style="background-color: black; color: yellow;">"not able to . . . achieve a safe and decent standard of living."</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 11pt;"> </span>Either way, a sizable portion of Americans, perhaps 93%, live with incomes below the average “disposable personal income” which the <a href="https://www.bea.gov/iTable/iTable.cfm?reqid=19&step=2#reqid=19&step=3&isuri=1&1921=survey&1903=58"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Bureau of Economic Analysis</span></a> places at over $44,000 per person in 2017. A household of four with the per capita average “disposable personal income” (meaning post-taxes) would have an income of $178,000 (and that is post-tax income, so pre-tax would be about $210,000). An income of $48,600 for a four-person family, which is twice the poverty level (200%FPL), is slightly over a quarter of the average of $178,000. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span>As the SPM shows, 43% of Americans live below 200% FPL, and their pre-tax income is less than a quarter of the AVERAGE. This is inequality of a very high, extreme, stark nature. In my opinion the resources flowing to the highest income groups putrefy and go to waste. Hoarding is waste.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Shared prosperity is a long, difficult American dream away for many Americans. </span></span></div>
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Ben Leethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14058357566482675649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047544383372645090.post-54184527861587001902016-12-10T11:09:00.000-08:002018-08-05T15:46:05.702-07:00Solutions, Accentuate the Positive<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="background-color: blue; white-space: pre;"><span style="color: white; font-size: x-large;"> </span></span></span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: blue; color: white;">Solutions — The Way Forward </span> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span> </span><span style="background-color: blue; color: white; font-size: x-large;"> To Shared Prosperity </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The problem: </span></div>
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<a href="http://dy00k1db5oznd.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Screen-Shot-2014-09-29-at-11.29.04-AM.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1982d1; display: block; outline: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none; z-index: 100;"><img alt="Average income growth in US recoveries: top 10% versus the bottom 90%. (Graph: Pavlina Tcherneva)" class="size-full wp-image-99825" src="http://dy00k1db5oznd.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Screen-Shot-2014-09-29-at-11.29.04-AM.png" height="465" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" srcset="http://dy00k1db5oznd.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Screen-Shot-2014-09-29-at-11.29.04-AM.png 640x, http://dy00k1db5oznd.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Screen-Shot-2014-09-29-at-11.29.04-AM-300x217.png 300x, http://dy00k1db5oznd.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Screen-Shot-2014-09-29-at-11.29.04-AM-600x435.png 600x" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px;" width="640" /></a><br />
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Average income growth in US recoveries: top 10% versus the bottom 90%. (Graph: Pavlina Tcherneva)</div>
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<a href="http://billmoyers.com/2014/09/29/smart-charts-economic-recovery-1-percent/">Read the article about Pavlina Tcherneva</a> who made this graph.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/113th-congress-2013-2014/reports/49440-distribution-income-and-taxes-2.pdf">CBO report</a> on income distribution is stark, but the report by Saez, Piketty and Zucman, 2016, is starker.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This graph came from <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/49440">the CBO</a>, income distribution before taxes in 2011. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And from <a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/research-analysis/economic-growth-in-the-united-states-a-tale-of-two-countries/">the Saez, et al report</a> that how the lower 50% lost while the top 1% gained, this graph:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><img alt="" class="wp-photo size-full alignnone wp-image-31832" data-alignment="alignnone" data-attachid="31832" src="http://cdn.equitablegrowth.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/06135631/playfair2.png" height="1040" sizes="(max-width: 1490px) 100vw, 1490px" srcset="http://cdn.equitablegrowth.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/06135631/playfair2-300x209.png 300x, http://cdn.equitablegrowth.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/06135631/playfair2-768x536.png 768x, http://cdn.equitablegrowth.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/06135631/playfair2-1080x754.png 1080x, http://cdn.equitablegrowth.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/06135631/playfair2.png 1490x" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; display: block; font-family: jaf-facitweb, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%;" width="1490" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">This shows that each household in the lower 50% of households lost about $20,000 of yearly income, and all their loss was captured by the top 1%. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/research-analysis/economic-growth-in-the-united-states-a-tale-of-two-countries/">From the report</a>: </span><br />
<span style="background-color: blue; color: yellow; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: , sans-serif;">From 1980 to 2014, for example, none of the growth in per-adult national income went to the bottom 50 percent, while 32 percent went to the middle class (defined as adults between the median and the 90</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: , sans-serif; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">th</span><span style="font-family: , sans-serif;"> percentile), 68 percent to the top 10 percent, and 36 percent to the top 1 percent. An economy that fails to deliver growth for half of its people for an entire generation is bound to generate discontent with the status quo and a rejection of establishment politics.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #741b47; color: #ea9999; font-size: large;"> No growth to lower half; </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #741b47; color: #ea9999; font-size: large;"> about a third to the 50 to 90 percentiles, </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #741b47; color: #ea9999; font-size: large;"> and about a third to 90 to 99 percentiles. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #741b47; color: #ea9999;"> about a third to the top 1%, </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><span style="background-color: #741b47;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I find myself mentally pursuing solutions. The world has to react to the presidential and Congressional realities, but perhaps we are forgetting the evolution of positive outcomes. Here is my list of 14 solutions to transform the economy worldwide, no small ambition. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="color: #ffd966; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> The 14 Solutions </span> </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">1.</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;"> </span><span style="color: white; font-kerning: none; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #783f04;">Get money out of politics</b></span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #783f04;">.</b></span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"><a href="https://www.ineteconomics.org/uploads/papers/Ferg-Jorg-Chen-INET-Working-Paper-Industrial-Structure-and-Party-Competition-in-an-Age-of-Hunger-Games-8-Jan-2018.pdf">This report, Table 2, page 51</a>, shows that donations of $10,000 or larger were the biggest contributor in the 2016 presidential contest. It breaks donation amounts into 7 sizes, from less than $200 to over $100,000 in the 2016 presidential election. Hillary Clinton received 60.0% of her donations in amounts greater $10,000, Trump 47.1%, and Sanders 4.8%. Sanders was obviously the people's candidate. I remember watching the World Series that year, and anti-Hillary advertising was blanketing the between innings advertising slots. Big money spent late in the race, this report states, played a very large role in the election.</span></span></span><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> What chance does a tax increase on the rich have when the wealthiest pay for, or buy, our candidates? </span><a href="http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2016/09/thomas-ferguson-on-how-money-drives-congressional-elections.html"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Thomas Ferguson</span></a>, and <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/resources/dollarocracy/02.php"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Open Secret</span></a>, and others have information about this, </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">and </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://act.represent.us/sign/how-to-really-drain-the-swamp/?t=1&akid=11687.360444.HWuUK0"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Represent.Us has 10 reforms</span></a>.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> <a href="https://act.represent.us/sign/the-solution/?source=homepage_1">Here is a crisp video</a> on election corruption from Represent.Us -- this video is convincing and right on, you should click now -- and here is the <a href="https://anticorruptionact.org/">anti-corruption act site</a>. You can download the act itself. Incumbents win re-election 90% of the time, they collect over 80% of all donations, and almost half of the time they outspend their opponent by 10 to 1 --- all this <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/resources/dollarocracy/03.php">in charts at the Open Secrets site, here</a>. Money calls the shots, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJy8vTu66tE">here's Lawrence Lessig at Ted Talks video</a>, presenting a clear picture about the 0.02% who determine our democratic (?) system. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">2. <b><span style="background-color: #783f04; color: white;">End "Financialism"</span></b>, a mutant off-spring of capitalism, the parasite that is destroying the host. Finance is destroying capitalism, period. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Since 1986 financial assets have increased their value by 194%, that is almost tripling in value. T</span><span style="font-size: large;">hey increased from $24 trillion to $72 trillion, adjusting for inflation (in comparison the national debt stands at $20 trillion in 2016). </span><span style="font-size: large;">In the same period, GDP per capita rose by 56%. 56% vs. 194% -- This creates a disincentive for productive investment because investing in financial assets pays far more than normal economic growth. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Since the recession ended in June of 2009, the "real" household net worth - call it wealth - has increased by 64%, up from $48.9 trillion to $90.2 trillion. </span><span style="font-size: large;">(See </span><a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1.pdf"><span style="font-size: large;">the FRB report</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">, page 2, and Table B101) </span><span style="font-size: large;">How, we should ask, is this possible? To create a stunning increase in total net worth during a period of recession? While the wealthiest six million households are now wealthier by over $5 million on average, even more millions of Americans lost their jobs and/or income and often their homes. Half of Americans live a precarious life indecent for such a wealthy nation. While most of the attention has gone to the federal budget -- national debt rose by $9 trillion to $19 trillion in the same period -- the real problem is the enrichment of a minority at the expense of the majority. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Most American families lost over 40% of their life savings. </span><br />
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Median household wealth, by race and ethnicity, 1983–2010 (2010 dollars)</h1>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Graph from <a href="http://the state of working america's wealth 2011">State of Working America</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The average household net worth is $721,000 (see FRB Flow of Funds, linked above) </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Running in the opposite direction, financial wealth was booming. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Something is wrong here?</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The book <a href="https://ig.ft.com/sites/business-book-award/books/2016/shortlist/makers-and-takers-by-rana-foroohar">Makers and Takers by Rana Foroohar</a> targets unequivocally the financial system as the crippler of our economy. She cites a book by Adair Turner that claims 85% of corporate profits end up bolstering financial assets and 15% are applied to actual investment. And she cites (page 332) a study that "finds that the function of financial system . . . is no longer to funnel money to new investments, but to funnel it through existing assets, such as housing, often via complex securitization." (from an FRB paper by <a href="http://www.frbsf.org/economic-research/files/schularick_taylor.pdf">Schularick and Taylor, Credit Booms Gone Bust</a>, 2009) From their conclusion: ". . . </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #cfe2f3;"><span style="font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt";">episodes of financial instability have more often than not been the result of
credit booms gone wrong, most likely due to failures in the operation and/or regulation of the
financial system. . . . </span><span style="font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt";">For policymakers, a complacent
attitude towards the growth in the scale and riskiness of the credit system now looks like a
misguided choice that ignored history.</span><span style="font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt";">"</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt"; font-size: 8pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt";">Foroohar's book is also easy to read as she was a journalist at Time magazine for 20 years or more. I've not finished it, but it's good so far. </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">See her </span><a href="https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/videos/the-dangers-of-financialization" style="font-size: x-large;">interview at INET</a><span style="font-size: large;">.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">John Kay, author of <i>Other People's Money</i>, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/bf4e7770-613a-11e5-9846-de406ccb37f2">states in an interview </a>with the Financial Times,<b><span style="background-color: #351c75; color: #cfe2f3;"> "that only three percent of British bank assets are to enterprises engaged in the production of goods and services. Most of the rest are loans to other banks. The primary activity of large banks is no longer financing growth in the real economy but 'exchanging bits of paper' with their peers, sometimes cutting the paper into different shapes in the name of 'innovation'."</span></b> See<a href="https://www.ineteconomics.org/research/experts/jkay"> his interview</a> at Institute for New Economic Thinking. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">"Capitalism is killing itself," states the expert in this interview. Another expert agrees. Watch this February, 2017, <a href="http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=18521">video interview at The Real News Network</a>, where Paul Jay interviews Heiner Flassbeck, <b><span style="color: blue;">"Mountains of Uninvested Corporate Cash, Not Mexico, Most Responsible for Job Loss."</span></b> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Flassbeck worked as an economist for the German government, then for the United Nations at UNCTAD, United Nations Council on Trade and Development. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.lawrencemitchell.net/category/the-economy/">Lawrence Mitchell</a>, author of The Speculation Economy, has penned an accurate picture of this "financialism" parasite at his blog. His last installment, May 5, 2014, carries a paragraph "How can we fix it?" The details are not appropriate in this broader essay, but should be glanced at. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The U.S. and global economies suffer from a scandalous and enormous over-supply of unused capital. Daniel Alpert covers this in his book <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Age-Oversupply-Overcoming-Greatest-Challenge/dp/1591845963">The Age of Oversupply</a>, Overcoming the Greatest Challenge to the Global Economy</i>, and in this shorter essay, <a href="http://www.thirdway.org/report/glut-the-us-economy-and-the-american-worker-in-the-age-of-oversupply">Glut</a>. Other authors have been writing about it <a href="http://www.yesmagazine.org/blogs/david-korten/money-from-nothing">here</a> (David Korten), and <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2016/12/15/are-stuck-with-inequality/92i87PuU5CSiPlkR6F8ioM/story.html">here</a>, (Robert Kuttner), and <a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2016/11/24/top-1-of-adults-own-51-of-the-worlds-wealth-top-10-own-89-and-bottom-50-own-only-1/">here</a> (Michael Roberts). And read my comment at the end of this essay. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrcN8TgEd18qiK4BFkNMaf6BPdZLanaArDWNSSxtYX-DL4nOtiDOfHetE_oacv1qIpLXiFnEph6OSCk40xCt_187rcKYzbpQFTCGGwmhsmXw3tdH3J1IEdlCXRkM0bgqN-mx-eepf-Tsg9/s1600/NetWorthGDPQ22016.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="color: #994499; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 15.600000381469727px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Household Net Worth as Percent of GDP" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrcN8TgEd18qiK4BFkNMaf6BPdZLanaArDWNSSxtYX-DL4nOtiDOfHetE_oacv1qIpLXiFnEph6OSCk40xCt_187rcKYzbpQFTCGGwmhsmXw3tdH3J1IEdlCXRkM0bgqN-mx-eepf-Tsg9/s320/NetWorthGDPQ22016.PNG" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); float: right; margin: 10px; padding: 4px;" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">At the risk of cluttering my list, here's a graph showing the ratio of household net worth to GDP, at a historical high (<a href="http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2016/09/feds-flow-of-funds-household-net-worth.html">see this web page</a>). Today 70% of all U.S. assets are financial. See Flow of Funds, Table B.101. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Globally, private net worth exceeds $256 trillion according to </span><a href="https://www.credit-suisse.com/us/en/about-us/research/research-institute/news-and-videos/articles/news-and-expertise/2016/11/en/the-global-wealth-report-2016.html" style="font-size: x-large;">Credit Suisse Bank</a><span style="font-size: large;">. How much of this value is simply wasted, not put to productive use, squandered in speculation not investment? Most of it, perhaps 85% as Faroohar claims. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #990000;">A Global View </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">What is a proper social response to this enormous pile of unused wealth? The </span><a href="http://www.pewglobal.org/2015/07/08/a-global-middle-class-is-more-promise-than-reality/" style="font-size: x-large;">Pew Research reports</a><span style="font-size: large;"> that in 2011 51% of humans (3.5 billion people) consumed or lived on less than $5 a day, and "</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">at the end of the first decade of the 21st century, the vast majority of the world’s population (71%) [5 billion humans] remained either poor or low income", living on less than $10 a day.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> The Credit Suisse's wealth pyramid shows that 74% of the world's adults own 2.4% of total wealth, about $1,700 per adult. And they all survive at less than $10 a day. As for the poorer half of humankind, they consume annually $5 trillion of resources, 2% of the world's private net worth. This is a tragedy. A modest tax on these resources could improve the lot of half of all humans. The dynamics of "financialism" should be examined, and the incentives changed drastically. That's the purpose of this essay. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">James Kwak, co-author of several books with Simon Johnson, here proposes <a href="https://jameskwak.net/2016/07/20/reducing-inequality-with-a-retrospective-tax-on-capital/">a retrospective tax on capital</a>. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">And here is another proposal about<a href="http://inequality.org/viable-billionaire-tax/"> a modest tax on billionaire's wealth</a>. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I highly recommend this <a href="http://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/wp_661.pdf">short report by L. Randall Wray</a> which capsulizes the essential economic problem we face, <b><span style="color: #351c75;">"Minsky's Money Market Capitalism and the Global Financial Crisis".</span></b> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: blue; font-size: x-large;">The Way Finance Outpaces the Economy </span></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I don't like to complicate matters, but ---- as usual I have to anyway. Here's how financial growth exceeds normal economic growth. In 31 years, 1986 to 2016, the nation saved about $20.5 trillion, but financial assets increased in value by $61 trillion. How is that possible? Instead of using this surplus to improve the quality of life, the wealthy minority place their gains into a finite number of paper products. When the economy's surplus is converted into hoarded savings and poured into this finite pool, the value of these limited assets (stocks and bonds) automatically increases. During the 1960s and '70s this did not happen. If you want proof of skimming off the top, <a href="https://hbr.org/2014/09/profits-without-prosperity">read the Harvard Business Review article</a> by Professor William Lazonick showing that 91% of the profits from the S&P 500 went to shareholder dividends and stock buybacks. </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: bold;">Stock values in this condition become a parallel currency that increases faster than the actual currency and faster than the economy! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">3. </span><span style="font-size: large; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;">Tax Financial Transactions</span></b>,</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">or, better, tax financial assets directly as a property tax.</span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The public part of the national debt of the federal government is $14 trillion, while 6 times greater at $90<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>trillion is the total household net worth, or savings net of debt. <a href="http://inequality.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/Pathways-SOTU-2016-Wealth-Inequality-3.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">A current study shows</span></a> the wealthiest 0.1%, or 160,000 families, own about $20 trillion in assets, or $122 million average wealth, mostly untaxed financial assets. The <a href="http://www.cpegonline.org/working-papers/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">CPEG writers</span></a> have offered a FTT plan that would raise $900 billion in new taxes; and they are trying to create an Illinois tax on the Chicago Board of Trading. Also James Kwak has authored <a href="http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/research/JLPP/upload/Kwak-final.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">a plan to tax financial assets directly</span></a>. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/James-Kwak/e/B005WFMOJI">Kwak co-authored</a> several books with Simon Johnson, economics professor at MIT. I imagine this is the best way to treat the economy's imbalance, and to also balance the federal budget: direct taxation of financial wealth. Of course a reworking of the long-term capital gains tax is much needed. And international trade should be conditioned on raising the incomes of all workers, not just on the efficiency of lower priced goods. It all fits together -- financialization is a global parasite. The Peter Barnes’ book, <a href="http://dividendsforall.net/potential-revenue-sources/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">With Liberty and Dividends for All</span></a>, also discusses a FTT. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">3. </span><span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><span style="background-color: #783f04; color: white;">Raise the Minimum Wage</span></b> and <b><span style="background-color: #783f04; color: white;">Increase the Earned Income Tax Credit,</span></b> <b><span style="background-color: #783f04; color: white;">EITC</span></b>. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Senator <a href="https://khanna.house.gov/media/press-releases/release-sen-sherrod-brown-and-rep-ro-khanna-introduce-landmark-legislation">Sherrod Brown</a> (Ohio, Dem) and Rep. Ro Khanna propose to double the pay-out on the EITC, an annual pay bonus for low-income workers, benefitting over 20 million households in 2017. Doubling would increase the pay-out from $70 billion to $140 billion per year. Childless workers would finally be eligible for a decent benefit. At U.Mass/Amherst, scholar </span></span><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;"><a href="http://www.peri.umass.edu/publication/item/467-making-work-pay-combining-the-benefits-of-the-earned-income-tax-credit-and-minimum-wage">Jeanette Wicks-Lim</a> in 2011</span> wrote a similar proposal, which I analyzed. How much income do the lower-earning half</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> of American workers earn (81 million workers)? Less than 7% of all the </span><span style="font-size: large;">national income says <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2016">the Social Security Administration</a>. They need a raise. See </span><a href="https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2014"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">here</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> and </span><a href="http://benl8.blogspot.com/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">here</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">, my blogspot web page.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">4. </span><span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><span style="background-color: #783f04; color: white;">Rewrite the National Labor Relations Act</span></b> and make strikes effective again. Bernie Sanders in May, 2018, <a href="http://feelthebern.org/bernie-sanders-on-workers-rights/">proposed an overhaul </a>of the old labor laws that enables workers to form unions, make owners submit a contract, go to binding arbitration, and support secondary labor strikes. See also <a href="http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/21130/bernie_sanders_labor_unions_workplace_democracy_elizabeth_warren">here</a>. </span></span><a href="http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&context=books"><span style="font-size: large; line-height: normal;">Ellen Dannin has a book</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> on litigating the NLRA and reviving its original intent. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Others authors include Michael Yates, Thomas Geoghegan, Stanley Aronowitz. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2853485"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Kate Andrias</span></a> presents a new approach. And <a href="http://www.salon.com/2016/09/03/it-is-time-we-reinvente_partner/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">this article at Salon</span></a>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">5. </span><span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><span style="background-color: #783f04; color: white;">Create Public Jobs</span></b>, about 4 to 5 million, $300 billion per year.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre;">Senator Sanders again makes history with a May, 2018 proposal for a guaranteed job plan. </span>See Phillip Harvey <a href="http://www.putamericatowork.net/2016_01_01_archive.html"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">speak about a public jobs program</span></a> and read <span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;"><a href="http://www.demos.org/publication/back-work-public-jobs-proposal-economic-recovery">his proposal</a>. The Center for American Progress, CAP, has two proposals, <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/reports/2018/05/14/450856/blueprint-21st-century/">"Blueprint for the 21st Century"</a> calling for 4.2 million new jobs; this would cost the taxpayers $250 billion a year. And see</span> </span></span><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/poverty/reports/2015/01/29/105622/a-subsidized-jobs-program-for-the-21st-century/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">this program at CAP</span></a>. For info about a Universal or Guaranteed Income Plans, which I do not favor, see Peter Barnes’ book <a href="http://dividendsforall.net/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">With Liberty and Dividends for All</span></a> (see the books web page), </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">and an article with James Boyce </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://triplecrisis.com/200-a-month-for-everyone/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">“$200 a Month for Everyone”</span></a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">6. </span><span style="font-kerning: none;">Create Corporate <b><span style="background-color: #783f04; color: white;">Profit Sharing</span></b> programs, and give tax preference status.</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>See the book <a href="http://thecitizensshare.com/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">The Citizens’ Share</span></a> by Blasi, Freeman and Kruse. Only 15% of corporations have either profit sharing or ownership sharing. Both are promising methods of raising income for the 80% who are employees and vastly underpaid. Simply put, our tax policy should encourage widespread prosperity by favoring companies that share their good fortune. As I mentioned elsewhere, William Lazonick has shown that over 10 years, the top 500 companies distributed 91% of their profits either as dividends to owners or as share buybacks. Leaving virtually nothing for employee raises or research and development. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">And read these articles at the Center for American Progress, <a href="https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/CapitalismForEveryone-report.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">one</span></a>, </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">and at Hillary Clinton’s web page, <a href="https://www.hillaryclinton.com/briefing/factsheets/2015/07/16/profit-sharing/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">two</span></a>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">7. </span><span style="font-kerning: none;">Create cooperative, <b><span style="background-color: #783f04; color: white;">worker-owned businesses</span></b>, and give tax preference status. I suspect that mostly businesses with less than 500 employees would develop this model, but they employ nearly half the work force. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">See author Alperovitz speak about his book <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kBW3gU8ogs"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">What Then Must We Do?</span></a>) </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">and Marjorie Kelley on </span><a href="http://community-wealth.org/sites/clone.community-wealth.org/files/downloads/InclusiveEconomy_TDC_Web.pdf"><span style="font-size: large; line-height: normal;">Broad-based Ownership Models</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">8. </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Create <b><span style="background-color: #783f04; color: white;">National Corporate Charters</span></b>,</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"> a national standard mandating worker and community member positions on the board — a Ralph Nader proposal found in his book</span></span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Seventeen Solutions</i>. The Roosevelt Institute paper on this,<b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: blue;"> "<a href="http://rooseveltinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Corp-Gov_FINAL.pdf">Fighting Short-Termism with Worker Power </a>-- Can Germany's Co-Determination System Fix American Corporate Governance?"</span></b> takes a long look at the issue. Large corporations are the most powerful element in the American economy, and they serve only owner-shareholders. William Lazonick calls them predators and their work places "sweatshops". The quickest, and most effective, reform is an institutional one, re-designing the corporation to serve workers and community. In <a href="https://www.ineteconomics.org/research/research-papers/innovative-enterprise-or-sweatshop-economics-in-search-of-foundations-of-economic-analysis">Lazonick's paper</a> he begins with a litany, "In 2012, 964 companies that had 10,000 or more employees in the United States, with an average workforce of 33,542 [and employing a total of 32 million workers], were only 0.017 percent of all U.S. businesses. But these 964 companies had 9 percent of all establishments, 29 percent of employees, 31 percent of payrolls, and 36 percent of receipts." And their impact on society and economy is unparalleled. The surest and quickest way to share their profits with workers is to mandate decision making power to the workers in all 964 enterprises, or better in all enterprises with more than 500 workers, employing about 50% of all workers. Remember that <a href="https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CES0500000031">"average weekly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers"</a> have not increased since 1964, that's a 54 year pay freeze. Corporations have not shared their profits with workers. The Commerce Dept. reports that per capita "disposable personal income" has tripled in 54 years, from $13,000 to over $39,000 (see <a href="http://bea.gov/">BEA.gov</a>, Table 2.1). I hope to write a longer paper on this corporate governance topic some day. States the Roosevelt Institute's paper, "Germans have instead adapted their system while remaining true to their values, including recognizing workers' rights and contributions and a commitment to long-term strategy and investment. . . . Germany's unique system . . . recognizes workers as corporate decision-makers, has been a key apparatus for pushing back against the pressures of shareholder ideology." </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> A sample from an <a href="https://www.theglobalist.com/economic-democracy-and-codetermination-harnessing-the-capitalist-engine/">essay by Steven Hill</a>, author of Europe's Promise. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">"<span style="font-family: "arial";">Half of the supervisory board members for the largest corporations in Germany — Siemens, Bertelsmann, BMW, Daimler and many more — are elected by workers. In Sweden, one-third of the directors of their corporations are worker elected.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; font-family: "arial";"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Imagine Wal-Mart’s board of directors having anywhere from a third to half of its directors elected directly by its workers. It’s hard to even conceive of such a notion from the American standpoint. Yet, most European nations employ some version of this as standard operating procedure. The impact has been immensely significant." </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">And read some charter revocation proposals </span><a href="http://www.poclad.org/BWA/2010/BWA_2010_NOV.html"><span style="font-size: large; line-height: normal;">here</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> and</span><span style="font-size: large;"> <a href="http://www.multinationalmonitor.org/mm2002/02oct-nov/oct-nov02corp1.html"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">here</span></a></span><span style="font-size: large;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">9. </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Mandate<span style="background-color: #783f04;"> <b><span style="background-color: #783f04; color: white;">paid vacations</span></b></span></span><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: #783f04;"> </span>for employees with at least one year of employment in the firm.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Almost all <a href="http://cepr.net/documents/publications/no-vacation-update-2013-05.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">European nations mandate</span></a> 20 or more paid vacation days, and some 30. The U.S. mandates zero. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">10. </span><span style="font-kerning: none;">Enable <b><span style="background-color: #783f04; color: white;">Debt Restructuring</span></b> for <a href="https://studentloanhero.com/blog/the-complete-list-of-student-loan-forgiveness-programs/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">student loans</span></a> and <a href="http://billmoyers.com/2015/02/14/needless-default/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">mortgages</span></a></span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">11. </span><span style="font-kerning: none;">Heal these <b><span style="background-color: #783f04; color: white;">Six major economic inefficiencies</span></b>:</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b><span style="background-color: blue; color: yellow;">Health Care</span></b> — We need single payer, see <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_health_expenditure_per_capita"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">the OECD international comparison</span></a>. The </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">U.S. pays more than twice the OECD average per capita expense. Here's <a href="http://"Gerald Friedman" Medicare for All, dollars and sense">a convincing essay</a> on the affordability of a Medicare for All plan. Essentially it is far cheaper for everyone to eliminate insurance premiums and replace them with cost-saving taxes to pay for coverage that replicates Medicare. It would not be universal coverage that includes mental health, dental, vision and hearing health, but it would duplicate the services of Medicare, but for All. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="background-color: blue; color: yellow;"><b>Finance</b></span> — Just break up big banks? <a href="http://www.levyinstitute.org/publications/financing-the-capital-development-of-the-economy-a-keynes-schumpeter-minsky-synthesis">L. Randall Wray</a> has a good paper here. Also some <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUs_kuvn7wQ">videos</a>, and at <a href="https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/videos/making-finance-work-for-innovation">INET</a> with Marianna Mazzucato. See also this <a href="https://volckeralliance.org/sites/default/files/Reshaping%20the%20Financial%20Regulatory%20System%20-%20The%20Volcker%20Alliance.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">major proposal by Paul Volkert</span></a>. And I refer you to # 2 above. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b><span style="background-color: blue; color: yellow;">Low-Income Housing</span></b>, we need affordable housing. Read <a href="http://www.attn.com/stories/4920/united-states-minimum-wage-and-rent"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">here</span></a> and <a href="http://fortune.com/2014/03/25/americas-thorny-affordable-housing-crisis/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">here</span></a>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b><span style="background-color: blue; color: yellow;">Military Budget</span></b>, <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/38120-why-is-it-so-hard-to-reduce-the-pentagon-budget"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">we need a reduction</span></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b><span style="background-color: blue; color: yellow;">Childcare expenses</span></b> are prohibitively high. Here is <a href="https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/early-childhood-education/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Hillary Clinton’s plan.</span></a> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="background-color: blue; color: yellow;"> Monopolies </span></b> -- break them up</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"> with new standards. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Barry Lynn has done pioneering work on this,<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Cornered-Monopoly-Capitalism-Economics-Destruction/dp/0470928565"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;"> Cornered is the book</span></a>. </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">And read articles </span><a href="http://www.alternet.org/economy/us-economy-increasingly-dominated-monopolies-2015-corporate-mergers-continue"><span style="font-size: large; line-height: normal;">here</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> and </span><a href="http://www.cheatsheet.com/business/10-companies-you-didnt-know-had-near-monopolies.html/?a=viewall"><span style="font-size: large; line-height: normal;">here</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">13. </span><span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><span style="background-color: #783f04; color: white;">Repair the trade deficit</span></b> and create trade agreements that put labor, environmental and democratic standards in place.</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Lori Wallack and Jared Bernstein <a href="http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/The-New-Rules-of-the-Road.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">wrote a recent essay</span></a> on topic.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">14. </span><span style="font-kerning: none;">Create a well-funded <b><span style="background-color: #783f04; color: white;">Individual Development Account</span></b> (IDA) program</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">to increase the asset savings of the lower 50% of most Americans. Savings of poor individuals are</span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">matched, almost 1 to 2, with a government subsidy; these accounts can be used solely for education,</span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">home mortgages or business development and rarely for pension savings. <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Can-Poor-Save-Individual-Development/dp/0202308391">Can the Poor Save?</a></i> and <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Inclusion-American-Dream-Assets-Poverty/dp/0195168194">Inclusion in the American Dream</a></i> are two books describing the program. </span><span style="font-size: large;">See the </span><a href="https://csd.wustl.edu/OurWork/FinIncl/InclAssetBuild/AmerDream"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">Center for Social Development</span> </span></a><span style="font-size: large;">at Washington University in St. Louis for info on the IDA program.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> <b><span style="background-color: #783f04; color: #d9ead3;"> The parts of the entire reform are the following: about $20 billion a year for an IDA program, combined with a doubled EITC ($140 billion), </span></b></span><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="background-color: #783f04; color: #d9ead3;">a robust government jobs program (4.2 million new jobs, $250 billion), </span></b><b><span style="background-color: #783f04; color: #d9ead3;">corporate profit sharing as a government incentived tax-driven norm, worker ownership-sharing also a tax-driven norm, new corporate governance rules especially for the largest corporations, stronger labor laws, a higher minimum wage, and the reduction in some basic costs such as medical care, child care, housing and education will make a radical improvement to the lower-earning 80% of America. </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">We must promote all of these standards and reforms globally through our trade policies with other low-labor-cost nations.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span>Nick Hanauer at <a href="http://prospect.org/article/want-expand-economy-tax-rich">the American Prospect</a> has a recent article, </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">"Want to Expand the Economy? Tax the Rich", in the July 2018 issue. It's not enough to continue supporting the richest with very low taxes, it's time to raise their taxes to the rate of 1930 to 1980, when it averaged 78% on income over today's $1 million, about. In 1960 it was 91% on income over $3 million, and 81% on income over $1 million. </span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">If Bernie Sanders had been elected on November 8, 2016, what would we be talking about? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">We would be imaging a new way forward to a fairer economy with shared prosperity. </span></span><a href="https://berniesanders.com/issues/"><span style="font-size: large;">Sanders' web page still</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> covers 32 issues and solutions, lots of constructive thinking.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The national conversation has to continue, as ignorance is epic and dangerous. The Michael Moore movie <i>Where Do We Invade Next?</i> highlights the constructive social arrangements of Europe that are steps towards a shared prosperity. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://prospect.org/article/how-democrats-can-hijack-tax-reform-debate">Harold Myerson at the American Prospect</a> (Feb. 23, 2017) lays out a strategy for the Democrats similar to what I've proposed here. I think main idea that politicians need to pass along to voters is that inequality has shifted dramatically, and more and more families are strapped and suffering as a result. It can be changed, but the Republican plan will make it worse, quite obviously. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">An <a href="http://inequality.org/poverty/">article at Inequality.org</a>, by Bob Lord, 2/20/17, states "</span></span><span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">The experience of the bottom 50 percent in France over the same period -- 1978 to 2015 --was entirely different. They saw their real income increase by 39 percent, even though overall growth in France was only 39 percent. That’s not a clerical error. In France, the participation of the bottom 50% in the country’s growth was exactly proportional. During the same period that the income share of America’s bottom 50 percent was plummeting, the income share of the bottom 50 percent in France stayed remarkably constant, never straying more than a percentage point or so from 22 percent, with zero overall movement between 1978 and 2015."</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">An article by<a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/research-analysis/economic-growth-in-the-united-states-a-tale-of-two-countries/"> Piketty, Saez, and Guzman</a> states, "</span></span><span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; font-family: , sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">While the bottom 50 percent of incomes were 11 percent lower in France than in the United States in 1980, they are now 16 percent higher."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today the lower-earning 50% in France has a higher standard of living -- with incomes 16% higher -- than the bottom 50% in the U.S., despite the fact that the per capita income is $36,205 in France and $56,115 in the U.S. according<a href="http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD"> to the World Bank</a>. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The problem is quite obvious, isn't it. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><span style="background-color: red; color: white; font-size: x-large;">About Inequality </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This may be redundant to anyone who's read my blog. But it's still worth your attention. It's shocking, no less. See the last paragraph. </span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: blue;">We have abundant prosperity in the U.S. but it is not shared.</span></b> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">A new vision must emerge to share this abundance with all. Of the total annual income of the U.S. economy, 22% goes to the top-earning one percent, while the lower-earning fifty-five percent earn a collective 16%. The best report on this comes from this site, <a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/research-analysis/economic-growth-in-the-united-states-a-tale-of-two-countries/">The Washington Center for Equitable Growth.</a> I quote it's report below, but as an example it states that the standard of living in France for the lower 50% is higher than the standard in the U.S. for the lower 50%, as their income is 16% higher (I mentioned already, yes.) </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Bureau of Economic Analysis, Department of Commerce, reports that the annual post-tax income of each citizen, all 325 million citizens, is $43,075 in Q2 of 2016. This works out to an “average” income for all four person families of $172,300 per year. Yet half of these families have incomes of less than $64,700 after paying all taxes, and $63,741 is the national median cost of living for this 4 person family according to the Economic Policy Institute. Therefore, about half of all such families have less income and are struggling to achieve a modest lifestyle. Half of the U.S. has no money for frills of savings. They are working paycheck to paycheck. (I cover most of this with links to sources in the previous essay at this blog.)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: blue;">30% live in poverty, unable to "achieve a safe and decent standard of living". </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The author of the U.S. Census report Supplemental Poverty Measure states (on page 23 of linked report) that <a href="https://www.census.gov/hhes/povmeas/publications/SEHSD2013-28.pdf">140% of the poverty level is the accurate poverty level</a> below which people “are unable to meet their basic needs”, and 30% of the U.S. population, about 95 million in 2016, fall into the category. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: large;">From the report: </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">"The overall poverty rate using the updated modified family
budget thresholds was 30.0 percent, about 13.9 percentage points higher than the 16.1 percent SPM
rate. . . . </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">approximately 140 percent of the SPM threshold, rather than 200 percent, may be characterized
as</span> </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: yellow;">not able to meet their basic needs and achieve a safe and decent standard of living,</b></span><span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="color: blue;">or as families
with ‘low income’.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Therefore, 50% of U.S. citizens are struggling and 30% are living in poverty. Yet we have abundant prosperity, over $100,000 of income for all households says <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/49440"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">the report from the Congressional Budget Office</span></a>. Over $721,000 of savings per household, states the Federal Reserve <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1.pdf">Flow of Funds report</a>, page 2. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Yet half of U.S. households own less than $85,000, the lower-saving 50% of households <a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/confirming-redistribution-wealth-upward/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">own 1.1% of the nation’s total household savings</span></a>. And 35% of households own less than $10,000, see <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-wealth-table-6-4-share-households-net/">here</a>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span>The median household savings is slightly higher than 50 years ago, <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-wealth-table-6-3-change-average-wealth/">see here</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The United Nations ranks nations according to a Human Development Index. The U.S. falls into 8th place before the reality of inequality is taken into consideration. The adjusted inequality status <a href="http://hdr.undp.org/en/composite/IHDI">places the U.S. in 28th position</a>, and its neighbors were Italy and Greece, in one year, and Poland and Cypress in another. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Stanford University's <a href="http://inequality.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/Pathways-SOTU-2016.pdf">Center of Poverty and Inequality</a> published a report in late 2016 stating on page 5: "</span><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">the U.S. has the lowest
overall ranking among our 10 well-off countries, a result
that arises in part because it brings up the rear of the pack
in three of the six domains covered here (safety net, income
inequality, wealth inequality). Even when the comparison set
is expanded to include the less well-off countries, </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: yellow;">the U.S.
still ranks a dismal 18th (out of 21 countries)</b></span><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">, with only Spain,
Estonia, and Greece scoring worse (see Table 4). </span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">This inequality and poor results to share our prosperity is ignored in political discussion, and solutions to it are off that table. But clearly we have the resources and the available programs, we just have failed to reach a national awareness and consensus on how to remedy the condition. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span>
<span style="color: white; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #274e13;">The Corporation </b></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The 14 Solutions I propose are radical because they restructure our major institution, the corporation. A U.S. Census report states that 50% of non-supervisory employees, about 60 million workers, work in firms with more than 500 workers, and 66% work in firms with more than 100 workers. The corporation is where America works, and is underpaid. Professor William Lazonick reports that 91% of corporate profits among the S&P 500 corporations, between 2001 and 2011, an amount of $4.44 trillion, went to shareholder dividends and stock buybacks, leaving very little for wage increases or research and development. The author concludes this will be catastrophic to the economy if it continues, and corporate reform must be included in a broader appreciation of our problems and solutions. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the previous essay at this blog, I showed the <a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/your-pay/">EPI.org report</a> "What Should Be Your Pay?" There you enter a yearly salary and discover that it would be about $20,000 higher if wages and salary growth had tracked the growth of productivity, as it had for the 30 years 1947 to 1977. The previous essay, at this blog, deals extensively with literature about this loss of income for most, 80%, of U.S. workers. Maybe you are one of those workers, or live in one of those families? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The <a href="http://njfac.org/index.php/2017/02/03/unemployment-data-january-2017/">National Jobs for All Coalition</a> reports in its monthly employment report that about 12% of U.S. workers are looking for a full-time job, and another 12% are working full-time and year-round for wages less than the poverty level for a four person family. Since the per capita income in America is $43,075 for all 325 million citizens, it is grossly unequal that 24% of workers are earning less than $25,000. In fact, the Social Security Administration reports that 45% of workers, or 71 million, earn less than $25,000 annually. Together their collective income comes to less than 6 percent of the total annual national income states the <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2014"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">report from the Social Security Administration</span></a>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Raising wage income is the primary theme and concern of the Economic Policy Institute, see their extensive report <a href="http://www.epi.org/pay/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">“Raising America’s Pay”</span></a>. One of the institute’s reports states, “Between 1979 and 2013, the top 1 percent’s share of income doubled nationally, increasing from 10 percent to 20.1 percent.” And, </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">“The average inflation-adjusted income of the bottom 99 percent of families grew by 18.9 percent between 1979 and 2007. Over the same period, the average income of the top 1 percent of families grew by 200.5 percent [or tripled]. This lopsided income growth means that the top 1 percent of families captured 53.9 percent of all income growth over the period.” (see <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/income-inequality-in-the-us/">“Income Inequality in the U.S. by state, metropolitan area, and county”</a>). </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Regurgitating details about inequality can take us only so far. We need a comprehensive view of our needs and possible restructuring. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Since writing and posting this essay I've read <a href="http://www.lawrencemitchell.net/category/the-economy/">Lawrence Mitchell's essays on Financialism</a>. I feel he has captured the germ of the problem, the hoarding of the economic surplus by a wealthy minority, and such action continually pumps-up the value of financial assets, corrupting the motivation for actual productive use of the surplus. Eventually the system will collapse by destroying the host. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">If you owned a successful corporation making abundant surplus where would you invest, in your company or in the financial market? </span><span style="font-size: large;">You’d be crazy if you invested in your company. This dynamic parallels the research of William Lazonick who showed, 2003 to 2013, </span><span style="font-size: large;">that 450 of the S&P companies spent 91% of profits on dividends and stock buybacks, not on R & D or employee raises.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">See my last essay.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: blue;">The economy adds $41 trillion in savings 2009 to 2016, an increase nominally of 84%</b></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Also, since 2009, private household net worth has grown by 64% adjusting for inflation, from $48.9 trillion to $90.2 trillion </span><span style="font-size: large;">— </span><a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1.pdf"><span style="font-size: large;">Flow of Funds, page 2</span> </a><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">— at the same time the economy </span><span style="font-size: large;">had its worst performance in 75 years -- 9 million lost their jobs permanently, another 6 million lost their homes through foreclosure, the median household lost 40% of its life savings. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">By my calculation the top one percent increased their average savings from $19 million in 2009 to $33 trillion in 2016. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">That covers wealth, and the Washington Center of Equitable Growth describes income: </span><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: , sans-serif; font-size: large;">From 1980 to 2014, average national income per adult grew by 61 percent in the United States, yet the average pre-tax income of the bottom 50 percent of individual income earners stagnated [no growth] at about $16,000 per adult after adjusting for inflation.</span><span class="footnote" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: , sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/research-analysis/economic-growth-in-the-united-states-a-tale-of-two-countries/#fn-31833-5" id="fnref-31833-5" style="-webkit-transition: color 150ms ease; box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: color 150ms ease;">5</a></span><span style="font-family: , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> In contrast, income skyrocketed at the top of the income distribution, rising 121 percent for the top 10 percent, 205 percent for the top 1 percent, and</span><span style="background-color: yellow; font-size: x-large;"> 636 percent for the top 0.001 percent.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> (See Figures 1 and 2.)</span></span></b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">How are these two trends possible -- the immense growth in savings and income for the wealthiest while the typical household loses 40% of its life savings, incomes drop to 1996 levels, and jobs become more precarious, and housing less affordable? Why are so many citizens ignorant of these dual trends? Has the news media in this country failed? Real trillion dollars of gains went to a minority, while the majority suffered. Is this truly a democracy? </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">In eight years, 2008 to 2016, GDP increased 10.5%, a</span><span style="font-size: large;">nd real disposable income was up 12.3% (</span><a href="http://bea.gov/">BEA.gov</a> Table 2.1) <span style="font-size: large;">-- but total savings increased a huge $41 trillion, up 64%, to $90 trillion. The national debt increased by $10 trillion to $20 trillion. And politicians claim it's impossible to pay off the debt, government programs must be slashed. </span><br />
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Ben Leethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14058357566482675649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047544383372645090.post-7638425116702583032018-02-07T16:08:00.001-08:002018-06-29T20:03:42.455-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="background-color: blue; color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"> Wage Growth for 80% Stalls Since 1969 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;">Since 1969 average wages for nonsupervisory workers (NS) have dropped by 7% ($2,860 a year) while the GDP per capita expanded by 128%, more than doubling.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;"> The real (inflation adjusted) <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/A229RX0">disposable personal income per capita</a> has grown by 140% since 1969. </span><br />
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<figure class="chart-28478" style="border: 0px; break-before: page; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h1 style="background-image: url(http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/wp-content/themes/swa-clone/img/sprite/originals/chart-icon-white.png); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; font-family: myriad-pro, 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Sans', Geneva, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 3px 24px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Cumulative change in real hourly wages of men, by wage percentile, 1979–2011 </h1>
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Source: Authors' analysis of Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group microdata</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-wages-figure-4c-change-real-hourly-wages/">See State of Working America</a>, and the table <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-wages-table-4-5-hourly-wages-men-wage/">here</a>. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmW6vppWpRkK8LP2jHUrPPoIbgpgc4N16hGcOedEzXRqwW03bTUtTFy-9A8jup5CneLXPoztWDFKDfisa_oxMaq2utF8l8BvZrbu_m2psfUvL1hGt8jClSBYixOfVlsD1YqNhttu-gsHY/s1600/EPI%252C+wages+1979+-2017.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="419" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmW6vppWpRkK8LP2jHUrPPoIbgpgc4N16hGcOedEzXRqwW03bTUtTFy-9A8jup5CneLXPoztWDFKDfisa_oxMaq2utF8l8BvZrbu_m2psfUvL1hGt8jClSBYixOfVlsD1YqNhttu-gsHY/s640/EPI%252C+wages+1979+-2017.png" width="640" /></a><br />
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From EPI's latest report of March 1, 2018, <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/the-state-of-american-wages-2017-wages-have-finally-recovered-from-the-blow-of-the-great-recession-but-are-still-growing-too-slowly-and-unequally/">The State of America's Wages</a> by Elise Gould.<br />
This report links to EPI's site "What Should You Be Making?", showing that an income of $40,000 today should be making $60,939, had productivity and wage gains been equal.<br />
That's about a 50% gain in income. Most of America's workers, the 80% who are nonsupervisory workers, should and could be making about 50% more. See my list below that shows how incomes from $10,000 to $110,000 would have risen if coupled with productivity gains. <span style="color: #20124d; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: yellow;"> On average most workers would be earning about 50% more than they are earning today. </b></span><br />
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<h4 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0.5em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Cumulative change in total economy productivity and real hourly compensation of production/nonsupervisory workers, 1948–2015</h4>
<div class="data-table-wrapper table-wrapper visuallyhidden overflowing" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.34902); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 2px; border-top-width: 0px !important; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, 'Proxima Nova', sans-serif; font-size: 13.4399995803833px; height: 1px !important; line-height: inherit; margin: -1px !important; max-height: 400px; outline: 0px; overflow-x: auto; overflow-y: hidden !important; padding: 0px !important; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: 1px !important;">
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; empty-cells: show; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 247.0625px;"><thead style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="col" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: bottom;">Year</th><th scope="col" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Real hourly compensation</th><th scope="col" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Productivity</th></tr>
</thead><tbody style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1948</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.00%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.00%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1949</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">6.25%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.55%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1950</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">10.48%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">9.33%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1951</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">11.75%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12.35%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1952</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15.04%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15.63%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1953</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">20.84%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">19.55%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1954</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">23.52%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">21.56%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1955</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">28.74%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">26.46%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1956</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">33.94%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">26.66%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1957</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">37.14%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">30.09%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1958</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">38.16%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.78%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1959</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">42.55%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">37.64%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1960</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">45.49%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">40.05%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1961</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">47.99%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">44.36%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1962</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">52.47%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">49.79%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1963</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">55.02%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">55.01%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1964</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">58.50%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">59.99%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1965</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">62.46%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">64.94%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1966</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">64.89%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">70.00%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1967</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">66.89%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">72.05%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1968</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">70.73%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">77.16%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1969</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">74.66%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">77.88%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1970</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">76.59%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">80.37%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1971</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">82.01%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">87.10%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1972</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">91.24%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">92.05%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1973</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">91.29%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">96.75%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1974</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">86.96%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">93.66%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1975</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">86.84%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">97.92%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1976</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">89.66%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">103.44%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1977</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">93.13%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">105.79%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1978</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">95.96%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">107.79%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1979</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">93.43%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">108.14%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1980</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">88.56%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">106.57%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1981</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">87.59%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">111.02%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1982</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">87.76%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">107.88%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1983</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">88.35%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">114.13%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1984</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">86.94%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">119.73%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1985</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">86.31%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">123.43%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1986</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">87.32%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">127.99%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1987</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">84.59%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">129.12%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1988</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">83.85%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">131.78%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1989</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">83.70%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">133.65%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1990</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">82.22%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">136.98%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1991</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">81.87%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">138.89%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1992</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">83.04%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">147.56%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1993</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">83.38%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">148.37%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1994</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">83.82%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">150.75%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1995</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">82.70%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">150.86%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1996</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">82.79%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">156.92%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1997</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">84.80%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">160.50%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1998</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">89.17%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">165.71%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1999</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">91.92%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">172.08%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2000</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">92.90%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">178.50%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2001</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">95.56%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">182.84%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2002</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">99.38%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">190.72%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2003</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">101.63%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">200.17%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2004</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">100.84%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">208.21%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2005</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">100.05%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">213.58%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2006</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">100.21%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">215.48%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2007</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">101.70%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">217.70%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2008</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">101.71%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">218.24%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2009</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">109.69%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">224.75%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2010</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">111.53%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">234.28%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2011</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">109.06%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">234.67%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2012</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">107.27%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">236.51%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2013</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">108.32%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">237.57%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2014</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">109.13%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">239.30%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2015</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">112.53%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">241.08%</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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transform="translate(77,20) scale(1 1)" visibility="visible" zindex="6"><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(471,-3)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" x="4" y="13" zindex="1">241.08%</text></g></g><g class="highcharts-data-labels" opacity="1" transform="translate(77,20) scale(1 1)" visibility="visible" zindex="6"><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(471,114)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" x="4" y="13" zindex="1">112.53%</text></g></g><g class="highcharts-legend" transform="translate(70,25)" zindex="7"><rect fill="rgba(255,255,255,0.8)" height="41" rx="5" ry="5" strokewidth="0" visibility="visible" width="161" x="0" y="0"></rect><g zindex="1"><g><g class="highcharts-legend-item" transform="translate(8,3)" zindex="1"><path d="M 0 7 L 12 7" fill="none" stroke-width="3" stroke="#256284"></path><text style="color: black; cursor: pointer; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; padding: 1px;" text-anchor="start" x="17" y="10" zindex="2">Productivity</text></g><g class="highcharts-legend-item" transform="translate(8,18)" zindex="1"><path d="M 0 7 L 12 7" fill="none" stroke-width="3" stroke="#9ec6e8"></path><text style="color: black; cursor: pointer; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; padding: 1px;" text-anchor="start" x="17" y="10" zindex="2"><tspan>Real hourly compensation</tspan></text></g></g></g></g><g class="highcharts-axis-labels highcharts-yaxis-labels" zindex="7"><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; width: 175px;" text-anchor="end" x="62" y="294.1796875">-50</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; width: 175px;" text-anchor="end" x="62" y="248.84635416666669">0</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; width: 175px;" text-anchor="end" x="62" y="203.51302083333334">50</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; width: 175px;" text-anchor="end" x="62" y="158.1796875">100</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; width: 175px;" text-anchor="end" x="62" y="112.84635416666669">150</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; width: 175px;" text-anchor="end" x="62" y="67.51302083333334">200</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; width: 175px;" text-anchor="end" x="62" y="22.1796875">250%</text></g><g class="highcharts-axis-labels highcharts-yaxis-labels" zindex="7"></g><g class="highcharts-axis-labels highcharts-xaxis-labels" zindex="7"><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" text-anchor="middle" x="112.79056831802828" y="310">1950</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" text-anchor="middle" x="179.6735366083192" y="310">1960</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" text-anchor="middle" x="246.57481896440706" y="310">1970</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" text-anchor="middle" x="313.457787254698" y="310">1980</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" text-anchor="middle" x="380.35906961078587" y="310">1990</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" text-anchor="middle" x="447.2420379010768" y="310">2000</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" text-anchor="middle" x="514.1433202571646" y="310">2010</text></g><g class="highcharts-tooltip" opacity="0" style="border: 0px; cursor: default; padding: 0; white-space: nowrap;" transform="translate(272,83)" zindex="8"><path d="M 0.5 0.5 L 83.5 0.5 C 83.5 0.5 83.5 0.5 83.5 0.5 L 83.5 67.5 C 83.5 67.5 83.5 67.5 83.5 67.5 L 47.5 67.5 41.5 73.5 35.5 67.5 0.5 67.5 C 0.5 67.5 0.5 67.5 0.5 67.5 L 0.5 0.5 C 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5" fill="rgba(255, 255, 255, .85)" stroke-width="1" stroke="rgba(200, 200, 200, .6)"></path></g></svg><br />
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<div class="donotprint" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, 'Proxima Nova', sans-serif; font-size: 13.4399995803833px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a class="toggle-button chart-tabletoggle-link donotprint" href="http://www.epi.org/chart/swa2014-wages-figure-4u-cumulative-change-in-total-economy-productivity-and-real-hourly-compensation-of-productionnonsupervisory-workers-1948-2015/?utm_source=epi_press&utm_medium=chart_embed&utm_campaign=charts_v1&view=embed&embed_template=charts_v2013_08_21&newest&chartoptions=showtable%2Cshowdata%2Cshowimagelink%2Cshowembed%2Chidelinkback#" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #868686; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px 1em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><span class="zleft active" style="background-color: #bbbbbb; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(187 , 187 , 187); box-sizing: border-box; color: white; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.1em 0.4em 0.05em 0.35em; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">Chart</span><span class="zright not-active" style="border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(187 , 187 , 187); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.1em 0.4em 0.05em 0.35em; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">Data</span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="source-and-notes" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, 'Proxima Nova', sans-serif; font-size: 0.93617em; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<div class="chart-notes" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Note:</strong> Data are for compensation of production/nonsuper</div>
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<h4 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0.5em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Change in average real annual household income, by income group, 1979–2010</h4>
<div class="data-table-wrapper table-wrapper visuallyhidden overflowing" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.34902); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 2px; border-top-width: 0px !important; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, 'Proxima Nova', sans-serif; font-size: 13.4399995803833px; height: 1px !important; line-height: inherit; margin: -1px !important; max-height: 400px; outline: 0px; overflow-x: auto; overflow-y: hidden !important; padding: 0px !important; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: 1px !important;">
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; empty-cells: show; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 530.25px;"><thead style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="col" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: bottom;">Year</th><th class=" table-highlight" data-series-options="{"color":"#b60931"}" scope="col" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">All households</th><th scope="col" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Bottom fifth</th><th scope="col" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Middle fifth</th><th scope="col" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">81–90%</th><th scope="col" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">91–95%</th><th scope="col" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">96–99%</th><th scope="col" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Top 1 percent</th></tr>
</thead><tbody style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1979/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.0%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.0%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.0%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.0%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.0%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.0%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.0%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1980/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-3.3%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-3.2%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-3.6%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-2.6%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-2.2%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-3.8%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-4.7%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1981/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-3.5%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-5.5%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-4.8%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-3.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-2.6%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-5.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-5.3%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1982/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-3.8%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-7.1%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-7.0%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-3.9%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-3.9%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-5.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-0.8%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1983/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-3.1%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-9.9%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-8.6%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-2.8%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-1.3%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-2.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">8.9%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1984/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2.1%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-6.2%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-3.5%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">3.2%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">6.2%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">5.5%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">20.2%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1985/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">3.8%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-5.5%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-3.2%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2.6%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">5.7%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">6.8%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">28.5%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1986/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">11.3%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-4.6%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-0.6%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">8.1%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">11.3%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.2%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">68.5%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1987/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">7.7%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-4.9%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-1.5%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">9.0%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">13.2%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15.7%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">36.0%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1988/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12.5%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-2.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.2%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">10.6%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15.1%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">20.2%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">70.7%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1989/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">13.3%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.0%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12.3%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.5%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22.3%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">59.2%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1990/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">5.0%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.5%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">10.2%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">14.3%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">52.9%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1991/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">9.7%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">6.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-0.5%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">8.3%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">13.1%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15.7%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">36.7%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1992/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12.7%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">7.6%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.2%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">9.9%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15.3%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">20.3%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">55.1%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1993/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">13.3%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">9.3%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.1%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">11.3%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">16.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">20.8%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">49.1%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1994/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">14.7%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">10.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">13.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.3%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">23.5%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">53.5%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1995/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">19.1%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">14.6%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">4.6%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">16.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">21.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">29.7%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">70.7%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1996/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">23.1%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">13.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">5.8%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.1%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">25.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">34.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">87.7%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1997/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">27.8%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15.2%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">7.3%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">20.5%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">29.5%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">42.9%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">115.5%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1998/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">33.7%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">19.0%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">9.6%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">24.8%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">34.0%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">50.1%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">143.1%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1999/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">39.5%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">21.0%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">28.8%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">39.0%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">56.2%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">163.5%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2000/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">41.6%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">16.7%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">11.6%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">30.5%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">42.2%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">59.5%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">187.0%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2001/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">34.1%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">19.5%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">13.0%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">28.2%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">37.2%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">49.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">126.9%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2002/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">28.8%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">16.5%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">10.6%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">26.3%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">34.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">43.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">100.6%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2003/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">30.6%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15.7%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">10.5%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">27.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">36.7%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">47.7%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">112.8%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2004/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">38.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.6%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">14.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.3%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">41.6%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">56.6%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">153.5%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2005/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">45.1%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">21.8%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15.7%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">34.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">46.5%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">68.2%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">205.6%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2006/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">49.5%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">25.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">16.2%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">37.2%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">49.5%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">72.6%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">229.2%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2007/01/01</th><td class="xl148 table-highlight" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">53.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">29.2%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">19.7%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">39.1%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">53.0%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">78.1%</td><td class="xl148 table-highlight" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">244.7%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2008/01/01</th><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">41.4%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">26.1%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15.3%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">35.3%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">46.6%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">63.0%</td><td class="xl148" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">178.7%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2009/01/01</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">34.0%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">26.5%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">13.7%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.9%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">43.4%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">53.5%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">118.9%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2010/01/01</th><td data-point="{"y":-20}" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">37.8%</td><td data-point="{"y":-4}" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">27.6%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">14.1%</td><td data-point="{"y":-10}" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">33.5%</td><td data-point="{"y":-25}" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">45.9%</td><td data-point="{"y":-15}" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">58.9%</td><td data-point="{"y":-15}" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">153.9%</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="chart-fallback-image" data-fallback-image="http://www.epi.org/files/charts/img/5669-body.png" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, 'Proxima Nova', sans-serif; font-size: 13.4399995803833px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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fill="#bbddff" stroke-width="1" stroke="#FFFFFF" visibility="hidden"></path></g></g><g class="highcharts-data-labels" opacity="1" transform="translate(77,20) scale(1 1)" visibility="visible" zindex="6"><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(286,21)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" x="4" y="13" zindex="1">244.7%</text></g></g><g class="highcharts-data-labels" opacity="1" transform="translate(77,20) scale(1 1)" visibility="visible" zindex="6"><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(289,170)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" x="4" y="13" zindex="1">53.4%</text></g></g><g class="highcharts-legend" transform="translate(460,25)" zindex="7"><rect fill="rgba(255,255,255,0.8)" height="127" rx="5" ry="5" strokewidth="0" visibility="visible" width="68" x="0" y="0"></rect><g zindex="1"><g><g class="highcharts-legend-item" transform="translate(8,3)" zindex="1"><path d="M 0 7 L 12 7" fill="none" stroke-width="3" stroke="#004466"></path><text style="color: black; cursor: pointer; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; padding: 1px; width: 70px;" text-anchor="start" x="17" y="10" zindex="2"><tspan>Top 1 percent</tspan></text></g><g class="highcharts-legend-item" transform="translate(8,18)" zindex="1"><path d="M 0 7 L 12 7" fill="none" stroke-width="3" stroke="#256284"></path><text style="color: black; cursor: pointer; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; padding: 1px; width: 70px;" text-anchor="start" x="17" y="10" zindex="2">96–99%</text></g><g class="highcharts-legend-item" transform="translate(8,33)" zindex="1"><path d="M 0 7 L 12 7" fill="none" stroke-width="3" stroke="#4a81a3"></path><text style="color: black; cursor: pointer; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; padding: 1px; width: 70px;" text-anchor="start" x="17" y="10" zindex="2">91–95%</text></g><g class="highcharts-legend-item" transform="translate(8,48)" zindex="1"><path d="M 0 7 L 12 7" fill="none" stroke-width="3" stroke="rgb(182,9,49)"></path><text style="color: black; cursor: pointer; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; padding: 1px; width: 70px;" text-anchor="start" x="17" y="10" zindex="2"><tspan>All</tspan><tspan dy="11" x="17">households</tspan></text></g><g class="highcharts-legend-item" transform="translate(8,74)" zindex="1"><path d="M 0 7 L 12 7" fill="none" stroke-width="3" stroke="#709fc1"></path><text style="color: black; cursor: pointer; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; padding: 1px; width: 70px;" text-anchor="start" x="17" y="10" zindex="2">81–90%</text></g><g class="highcharts-legend-item" transform="translate(8,89)" zindex="1"><path d="M 0 7 L 12 7" fill="none" stroke-width="3" stroke="#95bee0"></path><text style="color: black; cursor: pointer; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; padding: 1px; width: 70px;" text-anchor="start" x="17" y="10" zindex="2"><tspan>Bottom fifth</tspan></text></g><g class="highcharts-legend-item" transform="translate(8,104)" zindex="1"><path d="M 0 7 L 12 7" fill="none" stroke-width="3" stroke="#bbddff"></path><text style="color: black; cursor: pointer; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; padding: 1px; width: 70px;" text-anchor="start" x="17" y="10" zindex="2"><tspan>Middle fifth</tspan></text></g></g></g></g><g class="highcharts-axis-labels highcharts-yaxis-labels" zindex="7"><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; width: 175px;" text-anchor="end" x="62" y="294.1796875">-50</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; width: 175px;" text-anchor="end" x="62" y="255.32254464285717">0</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; width: 175px;" text-anchor="end" x="62" y="216.46540178571428">50</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; width: 175px;" text-anchor="end" x="62" y="177.60825892857144">100</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; width: 175px;" text-anchor="end" x="62" y="138.75111607142858">150</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; width: 175px;" text-anchor="end" x="62" y="99.89397321428572">200</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; width: 175px;" text-anchor="end" x="62" y="61.03683035714286">250</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; width: 175px;" text-anchor="end" x="62" y="22.1796875">300%</text></g><g class="highcharts-axis-labels highcharts-yaxis-labels" zindex="7"></g><g class="highcharts-axis-labels highcharts-xaxis-labels" zindex="7"><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" text-anchor="middle" x="103.53006484521984" y="310">1980</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" text-anchor="middle" x="207.64758911199783" y="310">1990</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" text-anchor="middle" x="311.7366114558996" y="310">2000</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" text-anchor="middle" x="415.8541357226776" y="310">2010</text></g><g class="highcharts-tooltip" opacity="0" style="border: 0px; cursor: default; padding: 0; white-space: nowrap;" transform="translate(314,82)" zindex="8"><path d="M 0.5 0.5 L 59.5 0.5 C 59.5 0.5 59.5 0.5 59.5 0.5 L 59.5 67.5 C 59.5 67.5 59.5 67.5 59.5 67.5 L 35.5 67.5 29.5 73.5 23.5 67.5 0.5 67.5 C 0.5 67.5 0.5 67.5 0.5 67.5 L 0.5 0.5 C 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5" fill="rgba(255, 255, 255, .85)" stroke-width="1" stroke="rgba(200, 200, 200, .6)"></path></g></svg><br />
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<div class="donotprint" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, 'Proxima Nova', sans-serif; font-size: 13.4399995803833px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a class="toggle-button chart-tabletoggle-link donotprint" href="http://www.epi.org/chart/swa-income-figure-2m-change-real-annual-2/?utm_source=epi_press&utm_medium=chart_embed&utm_campaign=charts_v1&view=embed&embed_template=charts_v2013_08_21&newest&chartoptions=showtable%2Cshowdata%2Cshowimagelink%2Cshowembed%2Chidelinkback#" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #868686; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px 1em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><span class="zleft active" style="background-color: #bbbbbb; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(187 , 187 , 187); box-sizing: border-box; color: white; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.1em 0.4em 0.05em 0.35em; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">Chart</span><span class="zright not-active" style="border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(187 , 187 , 187); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.1em 0.4em 0.05em 0.35em; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">Data</span></a></div>
<div class="source-and-notes" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, 'Proxima Nova', sans-serif; font-size: 0.93617em; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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Note: Data are for comprehensive income. Shaded areas denote recessions.</div>
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Source: Authors' analysis of data from the Congressional Budget Office (2010)</div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="embed-menu" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: proxima-nova, 'Proxima Nova', sans-serif; font-size: 13.4399995803833px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a class="embed-menu toggle-button donotprint" href="http://www.epi.org/chart/swa-income-figure-2m-change-real-annual-2/?utm_source=epi_press&utm_medium=chart_embed&utm_campaign=charts_v1&view=embed&embed_template=charts_v2013_08_21&newest&chartoptions=showtable%2Cshowdata%2Cshowimagelink%2Cshowembed%2Chidelinkback#" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #be1e2e; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px 1em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><span class="fa fa-share-square" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #bbbbbb; display: inline-block; font-family: "fontawesome"; font-size: 1.1em; height: 1.85em; line-height: 1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.3em; vertical-align: sub; width: 1em;"></span> Share</a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;">From <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-income-figure-2m-change-real-annual/">State of Working America.</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;">From <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-wages-figure-4u-change-total-economy/">State of Working America.</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;">And from <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-wages-figure-4b-real-hourly-earnings/">State of Working America</a>.</span><br />
<h4 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0.5em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Real hourly earnings and compensation of private production and nonsupervisory workers, 1947–2013</h4>
<div class="data-table-wrapper table-wrapper visuallyhidden overflowing" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.34902); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 2px; border-top-width: 0px !important; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, 'Proxima Nova', sans-serif; font-size: 13.4399995803833px; height: 1px !important; line-height: inherit; margin: -1px !important; max-height: 400px; outline: 0px; overflow-x: auto; overflow-y: hidden !important; padding: 0px !important; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: 1px !important;">
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; empty-cells: show; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 227.0520782470703px;"><thead style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="col" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: bottom;">Year</th><th scope="col" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Hourly earnings</th><th scope="col" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Hourly compensation</th></tr>
</thead><tbody style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1947</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">11.05</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">11.91</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1948</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">11.14</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12.00</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1949</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">11.74</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12.75</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1950</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12.13</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">13.26</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1951</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12.17</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">13.41</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1952</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12.53</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">13.82</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1953</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">13.18</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">14.52</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1954</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">13.39</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">14.83</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1955</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">13.94</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15.46</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1956</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">14.45</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">16.08</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1957</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">14.69</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">16.47</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1958</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">14.75</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">16.60</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1959</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15.15</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.11</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1960</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15.42</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.48</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1961</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15.63</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.78</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1962</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">16.06</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.32</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1963</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">16.27</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.61</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1964</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">16.61</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">19.02</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1965</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.01</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">19.51</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1966</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.17</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">19.81</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1967</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.38</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">20.04</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1968</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.72</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">20.49</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1969</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.09</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">20.97</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1970</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.20</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">21.18</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1971</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.62</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">21.83</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1972</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">19.42</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22.94</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1973</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">19.40</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22.95</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1974</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.87</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22.43</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1975</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.62</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22.42</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1976</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.84</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22.75</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1977</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">19.05</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">23.19</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1978</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">19.27</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">23.51</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1979</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.96</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">23.20</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1980</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.44</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22.63</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1981</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.28</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22.50</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1982</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.24</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22.53</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1983</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.23</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22.60</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1984</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.13</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22.43</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1985</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.04</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22.36</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1986</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.11</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22.47</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1987</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.93</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22.15</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1988</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.86</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22.06</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1989</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.78</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22.04</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1990</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.62</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">21.86</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1991</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.53</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">21.82</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1992</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.52</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">21.96</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1993</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.54</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22.01</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1994</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.63</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22.05</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1995</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.68</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">21.92</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1996</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.80</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">21.93</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1997</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.10</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22.17</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1998</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.57</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22.69</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1999</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.86</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">23.03</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2000</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.96</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">23.16</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2001</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">19.13</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">23.48</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2002</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">19.38</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">23.95</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2003</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">19.47</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">24.21</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2004</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">19.35</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">24.13</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2005</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">19.23</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">24.02</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2006</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">19.35</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">24.03</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2007</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">19.57</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">24.21</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2008</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">19.55</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">24.23</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2009</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">20.21</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">25.18</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2010</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">20.35</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">25.42</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2011</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">20.13</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">25.11</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2012</th><td class="xl68" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">20.03</td><td class="xl69" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">24.90</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2013</th><td class="xl71" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">20.13</td><td class="xl72" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">25.06</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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stroke="#256284"></path><text style="color: black; cursor: pointer; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; padding: 1px;" text-anchor="start" x="17" y="10" zindex="2"><tspan>Hourly compensation</tspan></text></g><g class="highcharts-legend-item" transform="translate(8,18)" zindex="1"><path d="M 0 7 L 12 7" fill="none" stroke-width="3" stroke="#9ec6e8"></path><text style="color: black; cursor: pointer; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; padding: 1px;" text-anchor="start" x="17" y="10" zindex="2"><tspan>Hourly earnings</tspan></text></g></g></g></g><g class="highcharts-axis-labels highcharts-xaxis-labels" zindex="7"><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" text-anchor="middle" x="103.34093140305029" y="310">1950</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" text-anchor="middle" x="173.71551140056138" y="310">1960</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" text-anchor="middle" x="244.10936154593597" y="310">1970</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" text-anchor="middle" x="314.48394154344703" y="310">1980</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" text-anchor="middle" x="384.8777916888217" y="310">1990</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" text-anchor="middle" x="455.25237168633276" y="310">2000</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" text-anchor="middle" x="525.6462218317074" y="310">2010</text></g><g class="highcharts-axis-labels highcharts-yaxis-labels" zindex="7"><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; width: 175px;" text-anchor="end" x="44" y="294.1796875">10</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; width: 175px;" text-anchor="end" x="44" y="226.1796875">15</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; width: 175px;" text-anchor="end" x="44" y="158.1796875">20</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; width: 175px;" text-anchor="end" x="44" y="90.1796875">25</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; width: 175px;" text-anchor="end" x="44" y="22.1796875">30</text></g><g class="highcharts-axis-labels highcharts-yaxis-labels" zindex="7"></g><g class="highcharts-tooltip" opacity="0" style="border: 0px; cursor: default; padding: 0; white-space: nowrap;" transform="translate(146,135)" zindex="8"><path d="M 0.5 0.5 L 57.5 0.5 C 57.5 0.5 57.5 0.5 57.5 0.5 L 57.5 67.5 C 57.5 67.5 57.5 67.5 57.5 67.5 L 34.5 67.5 28.5 73.5 22.5 67.5 0.5 67.5 C 0.5 67.5 0.5 67.5 0.5 67.5 L 0.5 0.5 C 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5" fill="rgba(255, 255, 255, .85)" stroke-width="1" stroke="rgba(200, 200, 200, .6)"></path></g></svg><br />
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<a class="toggle-button chart-tabletoggle-link donotprint" href="http://www.epi.org/chart/swa-wages-figure-4b-real-hourly-earnings-2/?utm_source=epi_press&utm_medium=chart_embed&utm_campaign=charts_v1&view=embed&embed_template=charts_v2013_08_21&newest&chartoptions=showtable%2Cshowdata%2Cshowimagelink%2Cshowembed%2Chidelinkback#" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #868686; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px 1em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><span class="zleft active" style="background-color: #bbbbbb; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(187 , 187 , 187); box-sizing: border-box; color: white; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.1em 0.4em 0.05em 0.35em; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">Chart</span><span class="zright not-active" style="border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(187 , 187 , 187); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.1em 0.4em 0.05em 0.35em; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">Data</span></a></div>
<div class="source-and-notes" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, 'Proxima Nova', sans-serif; font-size: 0.93617em; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<div class="chart-notes" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Note:</strong> Private production and nonsupervisory workers account for more than 80 percent of wage and salary employment.<a class="epi-toggler toggle-extended-notes no-screenshot onlyforweb toggle-enabled" data-toggle2-parent=".figure" data-toggle2-target=".chart-extended-notes" href="http://www.epi.org/chart/swa-wages-figure-4b-real-hourly-earnings-2/?utm_source=epi_press&utm_medium=chart_embed&utm_campaign=charts_v1&view=embed&embed_template=charts_v2013_08_21&newest&chartoptions=showtable%2Cshowdata%2Cshowimagelink%2Cshowembed%2Chidelinkback#" style="background-color: #bbbbbb; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 0.4em; border-bottom-right-radius: 0.4em; border-top-left-radius: 0.4em; border-top-right-radius: 0.4em; box-sizing: border-box; color: white; font-size: 0.85em; height: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0.1em 0.35em 0.05em; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: nowrap; word-break: break-word;"></a></div>
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<div class="chart-source" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Source:</strong> EPI analysis of Bureau of Economic Analysis National Income and Product Accounts data and Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Employment Statistics</div>
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<h4 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0.5em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Cumulative change in real annual wages, by wage group, 1979–2012</h4>
<div class="data-table-wrapper table-wrapper visuallyhidden overflowing" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.34902); border-right-style: dotted; border-right-width: 2px; border-top-width: 0px !important; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, 'Proxima Nova', sans-serif; font-size: 13.4399995803833px; height: 1px !important; line-height: inherit; margin: -1px !important; max-height: 400px; outline: 0px; overflow-x: auto; overflow-y: hidden !important; padding: 0px !important; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: 1px !important;">
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; empty-cells: show; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 285.6458435058594px;"><thead style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="col" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: bottom;">Year</th><th scope="col" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Top 1%</th><th scope="col" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">95th to 99th</th><th scope="col" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">90th to 95th</th><th scope="col" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Bottom 90%</th></tr>
</thead><tbody style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1979</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.0%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.0%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.0%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.0%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1980</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">3.4%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-0.2%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-1.3%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-2.2%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1981</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">3.1%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-0.1%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-1.1%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-2.6%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1982</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">9.5%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2.2%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-0.9%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-3.9%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1983</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">13.6%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">3.6%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.7%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-3.7%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1984</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">20.7%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">6.0%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2.5%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-1.8%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1985</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">23.0%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">8.1%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">4.0%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-1.0%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1986</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.6%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12.5%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">6.4%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.1%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1987</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">53.5%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15.0%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">7.4%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2.1%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1988</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">68.7%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.4%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">8.2%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2.2%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1989</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">63.3%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.2%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">8.1%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.8%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1990</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">64.8%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">16.5%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">7.1%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.1%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1991</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">53.6%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15.5%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">6.9%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.0%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1992</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">74.3%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">19.2%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">9.0%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.5%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1993</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">67.9%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">20.6%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">9.2%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.9%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1994</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">63.4%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">21.0%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">11.2%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2.0%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1995</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">70.2%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">24.1%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12.2%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2.8%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1996</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">79.0%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">27.0%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">13.6%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">4.1%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1997</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">100.6%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.3%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">16.9%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">7.0%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1998</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">113.1%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">38.2%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">21.3%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">11.0%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1999</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">129.7%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">42.9%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">25.0%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">13.2%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2000</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">144.8%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">48.0%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">26.8%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15.3%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2001</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">130.4%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">46.4%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">29.0%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15.7%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2002</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">109.3%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">43.2%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">29.0%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15.6%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2003</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">113.9%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">44.9%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">30.3%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15.7%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2004</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">127.2%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">47.1%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">30.8%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15.6%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2005</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">135.4%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">48.7%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">30.8%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15.0%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2006</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">143.4%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">52.1%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.5%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15.7%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2007</th><td class="xl89 table-highlight" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">156.2%</td><td class="xl89 table-highlight" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">55.4%</td><td class="xl89 table-highlight" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">34.1%</td><td class="xl90 table-highlight" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">16.7%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2008</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">137.5%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">53.8%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">34.2%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">16.0%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2009</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">116.2%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">53.6%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">35.4%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">16.0%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2010</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">130.9%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">55.7%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">35.7%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15.2%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2011</th><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">134.0%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">56.9%</td><td class="xl89" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">36.2%</td><td class="xl90" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">14.5%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2012</th><td class="xl91" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">153.6%</td><td class="xl91" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">61.6%</td><td class="xl91" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">39.2%</td><td class="xl92" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.1%</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="chart-fallback-image" data-fallback-image="http://www.epi.org/files/charts/img/7633-body.png" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, 'Proxima Nova', sans-serif; font-size: 13.4399995803833px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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visibility="visible" zindex="0.1"><path d="M 470.59090909090907 195.9952 C 474.58690909090905 195.9952 474.58690909090905 201.9952 470.59090909090907 201.9952 C 466.5949090909091 201.9952 466.5949090909091 195.9952 470.59090909090907 195.9952 Z" fill="#a8cdef" stroke-width="1"></path><path d="M 402.6924605718682 196.4304 C 406.6884605718682 196.4304 406.6884605718682 202.4304 402.6924605718682 202.4304 C 398.6964605718682 202.4304 398.6964605718682 196.4304 402.6924605718682 196.4304 Z" fill="#a8cdef" stroke-width="1"></path><path d="M 416.264713424798 195.192 C 422.92471342479803 195.192 422.92471342479803 205.192 416.264713424798 205.192 C 409.604713424798 205.192 409.604713424798 195.192 416.264713424798 195.192 Z" fill="#a8cdef" stroke-width="1" stroke="#FFFFFF" visibility="hidden"></path></g></g><g class="highcharts-data-labels" opacity="1" transform="translate(77,20) scale(1 1)" visibility="visible" zindex="6"><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(381,26)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" x="4" y="13" zindex="1">156.2%</text></g><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(471,39)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" x="4" y="13" zindex="1">153.6%</text></g></g><g class="highcharts-data-labels" opacity="1" transform="translate(77,20) scale(1 1)" visibility="visible" zindex="6"><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(383,135)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" x="4" y="13" zindex="1">55.4%</text></g><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(471,140)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" x="4" y="13" zindex="1">61.6%</text></g></g><g class="highcharts-data-labels" opacity="1" transform="translate(77,20) scale(1 1)" visibility="visible" zindex="6"><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(385,158)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" x="4" y="13" zindex="1">34.1%</text></g><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(471,164)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" x="4" y="13" zindex="1">39.2%</text></g></g><g class="highcharts-data-labels" opacity="1" transform="translate(77,20) scale(1 1)" visibility="visible" zindex="6"><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(385,177)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" x="4" y="13" zindex="1">16.7%</text></g><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(471,188)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" x="4" y="13" zindex="1">17.1%</text></g></g><g class="highcharts-legend" transform="translate(70,25)" zindex="7"><rect fill="rgba(255,255,255,0.8)" height="71" rx="5" ry="5" strokewidth="0" visibility="visible" width="94" x="0" y="0"></rect><g zindex="1"><g><g class="highcharts-legend-item" transform="translate(8,3)" zindex="1"><path d="M 0 7 L 12 7" fill="none" stroke-width="3" stroke="#004466"></path><text style="color: black; cursor: pointer; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; padding: 1px;" text-anchor="start" x="17" y="10" zindex="2"><tspan>Top 1%</tspan></text></g><g class="highcharts-legend-item" transform="translate(8,18)" zindex="1"><path d="M 0 7 L 12 7" fill="none" stroke-width="3" stroke="#4a81a3"></path><text style="color: black; cursor: pointer; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; padding: 1px;" text-anchor="start" x="17" y="10" zindex="2"><tspan>95th to 99th</tspan></text></g><g class="highcharts-legend-item" transform="translate(8,33)" zindex="1"><path d="M 0 7 L 12 7" fill="none" stroke-width="3" stroke="#709fc1"></path><text style="color: black; cursor: pointer; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; padding: 1px;" text-anchor="start" x="17" y="10" zindex="2"><tspan>90th to 95th</tspan></text></g><g class="highcharts-legend-item" transform="translate(8,48)" zindex="1"><path d="M 0 7 L 12 7" fill="none" stroke-width="3" stroke="#a8cdef"></path><text style="color: black; cursor: pointer; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; padding: 1px;" text-anchor="start" x="17" y="10" zindex="2"><tspan>Bottom 90%</tspan></text></g></g></g></g><g class="highcharts-axis-labels highcharts-yaxis-labels" zindex="7"><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; width: 175px;" text-anchor="end" x="62" y="294.1796875">-50</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; width: 175px;" text-anchor="end" x="62" y="239.77968750000002">0</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; width: 175px;" text-anchor="end" x="62" y="185.3796875">50</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; width: 175px;" text-anchor="end" x="62" y="130.97968749999998">100</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; width: 175px;" text-anchor="end" x="62" y="76.57968749999998">150</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px; width: 175px;" text-anchor="end" x="62" y="22.1796875">200%</text></g><g class="highcharts-axis-labels highcharts-yaxis-labels" zindex="7"></g><g class="highcharts-axis-labels highcharts-xaxis-labels" zindex="7"><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" text-anchor="middle" x="112.96894901055691" y="310">1980</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" text-anchor="middle" x="180.90458178398939" y="310">1985</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" text-anchor="middle" x="248.80303030303028" y="310">1990</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" text-anchor="middle" x="316.7014788220712" y="310">1995</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" text-anchor="middle" x="384.5999273411121" y="310">2000</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" text-anchor="middle" x="452.5355601145446" y="310">2005</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 11.289599418640137px;" text-anchor="middle" x="520.4340086335856" y="310">2010</text></g><g class="highcharts-tooltip" opacity="0" style="border: 0px; cursor: default; padding: 0; white-space: nowrap;" transform="translate(410,28)" zindex="8"><path d="M 0.5 0.5 L 59.5 0.5 C 59.5 0.5 59.5 0.5 59.5 0.5 L 59.5 55.5 C 59.5 55.5 59.5 55.5 59.5 55.5 L 35.5 55.5 29.5 61.5 23.5 55.5 0.5 55.5 C 0.5 55.5 0.5 55.5 0.5 55.5 L 0.5 0.5 C 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5" fill="rgba(255, 255, 255, .85)" stroke-width="1" stroke="rgba(200, 200, 200, .6)"></path></g></svg><br />
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<a class="toggle-button chart-tabletoggle-link donotprint" href="http://www.epi.org/chart/swa-wages-figure-4h-change-real-annual-wages-2/?utm_source=epi_press&utm_medium=chart_embed&utm_campaign=charts_v1&view=embed&embed_template=charts_v2013_08_21&newest&chartoptions=showtable%2Cshowdata%2Cshowimagelink%2Cshowembed%2Chidelinkback#" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #868686; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px 1em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><span class="zleft active" style="background-color: #bbbbbb; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(187 , 187 , 187); box-sizing: border-box; color: white; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.1em 0.4em 0.05em 0.35em; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">Chart</span><span class="zright not-active" style="border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(187 , 187 , 187); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.1em 0.4em 0.05em 0.35em; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">Data</span></a></div>
<div class="source-and-notes" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, 'Proxima Nova', sans-serif; font-size: 0.93617em; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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<div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Source:</strong> EPI analysis of Kopczuk, Saez, and Song (2010) and Social Security Administration wage statistics</div>
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See <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-wages-figure-4h-change-real-annual-wages/">State of Working America</a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/understanding-the-historic-divergence-between-productivity-and-a-typical-workers-pay-why-it-matters-and-why-its-real/">This report by Bivens and Mishe</a>l from EPI summarizes the graphs found at their web page, State of Working America. A key paragraph: <span style="background-color: #f4cccc; color: blue;">"<span style="font-family: , "proxima nova" , sans-serif;">Since 1973, hourly compensation of the vast majority of American workers has not risen in line with economy-wide productivity. In fact, hourly compensation has almost stopped rising </span><em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: proxima-nova, 'Proxima Nova', sans-serif; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">at all</em><span style="font-family: , "proxima nova" , sans-serif;">. Net productivity grew 72.2 percent between 1973 and 2014. Yet inflation-adjusted hourly compensation of the median worker rose just 8.7 percent, or 0.20 percent annually, over this same period, with essentially all of the growth occurring between 1995 and 2002." </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: , "proxima nova" , sans-serif;">Figure B of the report shows this brief wage growth spurt. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;">The <a href="https://www.epi.org/blog/growth-or-not-in-real-wages/">Economic Policy Institute published</a> on March 3, 2018 an interactive bar graph with specific "real" wage increases for percentiles from 10th to 90th from 1979 to 2017. The lower earning 80% of workers saw on average a 10% wage increase over 38 years, 4 cents a year. The majority of male workers lost wages, but "all workers" up to the 50th percentile saw growth of 6.5% on average, over 38 years when productivity increased by 75%. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;">Today the average NS worker receives $39,032 yearly in income. In 1969 he or she was receiving $41,892. In 48 years while the economy doubles its per person output, 80% of workers get a wage cut of 7%. The chart above states "hourly" income, and I have drawn from the Federal Reserve Chart which states "weekly" income. Let's imagine that average wages grew commensurate with the whole economy's growth; that $41,892 income would be 128% higher, $95,513. The economy doubled in per capita output, why did the wages not grow equally? Even I think that is unrealistic. But between the years 1946 and 1971 the two growth rates matched.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">In 1979 “nonsupervisory workers” (NS) earned $38,584 a year (in dollars adjusted for inflation, or “real”). </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">Thirty-eight years later, in 2017, NS workers earned 1% more, $39,032 a year, on average. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The real GDP per capita increased, 1979 to 2017, by 83% (see <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/A939RX0Q048SBEA"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/A939RX0Q048SBEA</span></a>)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The BLS states that real wages for NS workers increased by 0.7% in 2017. Hourly wages increased by 0.1%, and hours worked increased by 0.6%, giving a total increase of 0.7%. (see here: Table A-2, <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/realer.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/realer.pdf</span></a>) </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">What was the increase in GDP per capita for 2017? The Fed reports a 1.8% increase (<a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/A939RX0Q048SBEA"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/A939RX0Q048SBEA</span></a>) </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Another way to state it: the NS workers wages increased at 39% of the rate of per capita income increase, in 2017, a good year. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The BLS says about NS workers: “These groups account for approximately four-fifths of the total employment on private nonfarm payrolls.” </span></span><br />
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Cumulative change in hourly productivity, real average hourly compensation, and median compensation, 1973–2011</h1>
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Note: Data are for compensation of production/nonsupervisory workers in the private sector and productivity of the total economy.</div>
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Source: Authors' analysis of unpublished Total Economy Productivity data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Labor Productivity and Costs program, data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis National Income and Product Accounts, and Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group microdata</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">From <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-wages-figure-4v-change-hourly-productivity/">State of Working America</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">A web page produced by the <a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/your-pay/">Economic Policy Institute</a> (EPI) states that if wages for NS workers had kept pace with the economy’s growth rate, then an income of $39,032 a year in 2017 would grow to $58,825, some $19,793 higher. Approximately a 50% gain in income. I calculate that all incomes below $80,000 would be earning approximately $20,000 a year more — if wage growth had matched economy-wide growth. I contend - albeit a radical claim -- that all 138 million NS workers would be making about $20,000 more each year. Multiply the $20,000 by 138 million and arrive at $2.7 trillion, which is 16.6% of the total national income. The researcher at University of Texas’ Inequality Project, Olivier Giovannoni states that the lower earning 90% of workers has lost between 15% and 18% of the national income, which is between $2.4 trillion and $2.9 trillion. This is the third essay in which I've posted this graph from Mr. Giovannoni:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmtrh5fB_f7-f0tnPsKWP_ZSPmnVFRHcKdTLuu4oDVSeu-qVtpehb9EP1KS2xgn8M0p5an_qpXuhBRh6E7C7wWzqOKOkH-5idWiNHeWzywAS2bj248RyEMA8Hu5JtzUdQThQmYnqcvrZY/s1600/Giovannoni%252C+90%2525+income+share+.png" imageanchor="1" style="color: #993222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.489999771118164px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmtrh5fB_f7-f0tnPsKWP_ZSPmnVFRHcKdTLuu4oDVSeu-qVtpehb9EP1KS2xgn8M0p5an_qpXuhBRh6E7C7wWzqOKOkH-5idWiNHeWzywAS2bj248RyEMA8Hu5JtzUdQThQmYnqcvrZY/s640/Giovannoni%252C+90%2525+income+share+.png" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.498039) 1px 1px 5px; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.498039) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">(<a href="https://utip.lbj.utexas.edu/papers.html">Link to graph</a>, University of Texas, Inequality Project, Working Paper #66, page 34, also published at the <a href="http://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/wp_805.pdf">Levy Economics Institute</a>)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Main idea: most everyone who is an employee (nonsupervisory worker) could be earning $20,000 year more each year. All 138 million of them. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Of course I'm not the only one to come to this sort of radical conclusion. </span><span style="font-size: large;">The Economic Policy Institute in 2014 published an interactive web page, </span><a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/your-pay/">"<span style="font-size: large;">What Should You Be Earning?</span>"</a><span style="font-size: large;">. I collected the earnings' changes for the following incomes:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow; font-size: large;"> Earnings -- Would Be ---- wage income </span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="background-color: #444444; font-size: large;"> percentile </span></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="background-color: #444444; font-size: large;">$10,000 ---- $17,783 --- a gain of 78% 22 </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow; font-size: large;">$20,000 ---- $32,547 of 63% 36 </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow; font-size: large;">$30,000 ---- $46,339 of 54% 49 </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow; font-size: large;">$40,000 ---- $60,939 of 52% 61 </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow; font-size: large;">$50,000 ---- $73,337 of 47% 70 </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow; font-size: large;">$60,000 ---- $84,920 of 42% 77 </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow; font-size: large;">$70,000 ---- $93,781 of 34% 82 </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow; font-size: large;">$80,000 ---- $102,374 of 28% 86 </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow; font-size: large;">$90,000 ---- $109,393 of 22% 89 </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow; font-size: large;">$100,000 --- $116.953 of 17% 91 </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow; font-size: large;">$110,000 --- $125,025 of 14% 93 </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow; font-size: large;">$120,000 --- $133,155 of 11% 94 </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">According to the EPI table and the Social Security table, at least 61% of workers (all in the lower earning 61%) would receive more than a 50% increase in income. Of the 163 million American workers submitting W-2 forms to the <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2016">Social Security Administration</a> in 2016, 91% reported income below $100,000. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: large;">This increase of 50% also coincides with the above graph by Olivier Giovannoni; if the drop from 55% to 38% were reversed, and the 55% level were again achieved, then the lower-earning 90% would receive approximately an income gain of over 50%. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Next, I compare the relationship between the almost static "average weekly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers" (see <a href="http://St. Louis Fed FRED, median weekly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers">Federal Reserve</a> graph) with the more robust growth of disposable personal income per capita, and the national income in billions. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">I looked up the average weekly wages at almost 10 year intervals for nonsupervisory workers (Column 1), converted it to constant dollars, then multiplied for yearly earnings. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: cyan;">Column 1</b> -- “average yearly incomes for nonsupervisory workers; </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #d0e0e3;">Column 2</b> -- Real disposable Income Per Capita, and </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: cyan;">Column 3</b> -- divides Column 1 by 2; one average worker was equal to the income for x average citizens. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #d0e0e3;">Column 4</b> -- is the inflation adjusted national income for each year, in billions:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Column 1<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Column 2<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Column 3 <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Column 4</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1964 — $39,519<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>$13,485<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2.9<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> $4,212 billions </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1971 — $43,742<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>$17,191<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2.5<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> $5,772<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1981 — $41,808<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>$20,485<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2.0<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> $7,356<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1991 — $35,516<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>$25,396<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1.4<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> $9,291</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2001 — $37,024<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>$32,075<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1.2<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>$12,658</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2011 — $37,554<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>$36,307<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1.0<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>$14,836</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2018 — $39,000<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>$39,148<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>0.99<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>$16,416</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The column 4 numbers quadruple; the column 3 numbers triple, the column 1 numbers do not move much, the column 2 numbers steadily decrease. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">One average worker’s income in 1964 equaled the post-tax income of almost 3 citizens. </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">In 2018 one worker’s income equaled less than 1 citizen. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">In Column 1 income is rising, then falling and then rising over the years -- <b><span style="background-color: blue; color: yellow;"> no change after 54 years </span></b>. Here's <a href="https://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet">the BLS graph</a> for "average weekly earnings, nonsupervisory workers" </span></span><br />
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<pre style="font-size: 11.960000038146973px; line-height: 1.22em; padding: 0px;"><strong style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Data Type: </strong>AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS OF PRODUCTION AND NONSUPERVISORY EMPLOYEES, 1982-84 DOLLARS</pre>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Data Type: </strong>AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS OF PRODUCTION AND NONSUPERVISORY EMPLOYEES, 1982-84 DOLLARS</pre>
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img src="https://data.bls.gov/generated_files/graphics/latest_numbers_CES0500000031_1964_2018_all_period_M05_data.gif" style="font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 11.960000038146973px; line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The 2018 wage is 11% lower than the 1973 wage! </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here's <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CES0500000030">the Fed graph</a> of same data, without adjusting for inflation (inflation calculator <a href="https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm">here</a>).</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">And here is the employees in the <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CES5500000030">"financial activities" sector</a>: up 46%, while for all employees wages are down 11%. --- ????</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">We see an income high in 1973, and then it falls by about 5% in the 1970s, and then falls by 15% in the 1980s -- the Reagan years were not so hot in terms of wage drops, but were pretty good in terms of employment to population (see the <a href="https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS12300000">BLS data</a>). , and then rising little by little, but still in 2018 it remains 11% or $4,742 below the 1971 level. The chart by Giovannoni at my blog’s most recent essay shows the decreasing “income share” received by the lower-earning 90% of U.S. laborers, falling from 55% to 37%, a drop of 18% of national income. This is equivalent to an income loss of $21,000 for every one of the 138 million nonsupervisory workers in 2018 (in the lower-earning 90%), if the income ratios of 1970 had been maintained. Or, it shows a loss of $2.9 trillion in 2018 terms. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Data source: BEA Table 2.1. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t24.htm">https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t24.htm</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">And look here: <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CES0500000030">https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CES0500000030</a> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The problem is not Trump or the Republicans, it is us not paying attention, not watching our neighbors slip into poverty and low income. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">What does that tell you? As I said, this is the wage history of 80% of U.S. workers. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Since 1964 the per capita GDP (output) of the economy has increased by 165%, which is double but not triple per person. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The economy grew, the wages did not. Who gets angry? Who gets the extra money not going to employees? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">What do the Democrats say, if anything? Who does Trump try to address when he says “you are getting a raw deal”?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Is he talking to the rich people? No, he’s talking to Democrats who vote for him and Republicans. What should the Dems do? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s obvious. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">See another table at <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-wages-table-4-3-hourly-weekly-earnings/">State of Working America.</a></span><br />
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<figure class="chart-28539 chart-narrow" style="border: 0px; break-before: page; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h1 style="background-image: url(http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/wp-content/themes/swa-clone/img/sprite/originals/chart-icon-white.png); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; font-family: myriad-pro, 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Sans', Geneva, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 3px 24px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Hourly and weekly earnings of private production and nonsupervisory workers, 1947–2011 (2011 dollars)</h1>
<div class="chart-body clearfix" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;">
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: myriad-pro; font-size: 8pt; margin: 1.2em auto 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 3in;"><colgroup><col width="3%"></col><col width="2%"></col><col width="2%"></col></colgroup><thead style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 0.2em; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="col" style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: bottom;"></th><th colspan="2" scope="colgroup" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Real average earnings</th></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="col" style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: bottom;"></th><th scope="col" style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Hourly</th><th scope="col" style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Weekly</th></tr>
</thead><tbody style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">1947</th><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">$10.67</td><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">$428.98</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">1967</th><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">16.79</td><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">636.48</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">1973</th><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.74</td><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">690.63</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">1979</th><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.31</td><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">651.82</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">1989</th><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.17</td><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">592.72</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">1995</th><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.08</td><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">586.44</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">2000</th><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.32</td><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">628.57</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">2007</th><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.91</td><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">640.23</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">2011</th><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">19.47</td><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">654.87</td></tr>
</tbody><tbody style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th colspan="3" scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 1em 0.5em 0.2em; vertical-align: baseline;">Annual percent change</th></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">1947–1967</th><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2.3%</td><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2.0%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">1967–1973</th><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.9</td><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.4</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">1973–1979</th><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-0.4</td><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-1.0</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">1979–1989</th><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-0.6</td><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-0.9</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">1989–2000</th><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.6</td><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.5</td></tr>
<tr class="row-level2" style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em 0.2em 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">1989–1995</th><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-0.1</td><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-0.2</td></tr>
<tr class="row-level2" style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em 0.2em 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">1995–2000</th><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.4</td><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.4</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">2000–2007</th><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.5</td><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.3</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">2007–2011</th><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.7</td><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.6</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">1979–2011</th><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.2</td><td style="border: 0px; font-size: 10.666667938232422px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-0.1</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Note: Private production and nonsupervisory workers account for more than 80 percent of wage and salary employment.</div>
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Source: Authors' analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Employment Statistics</div>
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</figure><br />
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<img src="http://www.epi.org/files/2012/logo-epi-wide-right-trans-v2.png.140" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></div>
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<div class="source" style="border: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: myriad-pro, 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Sans', Geneva, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; line-height: 15px; margin: 22px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Updated May 14, 2012 </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">See how little the income gain is for the lower-earning 80% since 1973, at <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-wages-table-4-4-hourly-wages-workers/">State of Working America</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Bureau of Labor Statistics' <a href="https://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet">graph and table</a> on </span><span style="font-size: large;"><strong style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"> "</strong><span style="background-color: white; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS OF PRODUCTION AND NONSUPERVISORY EMPLOYEES, 1982-84 DOLLARS"</span> shows that real wages in April, 1964 were higher than those in December, 2017, 53 years prior. Since 1964 the population has increased by 70%, the total national income has nearly quadrupled (up 289%), the per capita disposable income has nearly tripled (up 190%), and wages for 80% have dropped by 0.5%. (These % come from <a href="http://bea.gov/">BEA.gov</a>, Personal Income, Table 2.1) They took a brief upward swing until 1973, dropped some and recovered by 1980, then plunged and never recovered. But they are up by 5% over the past 4 years! If per capita income tripled (nearly), what prevented wages from growing? Where did the extra money go, or to whom? Why? Good choice? What can be done? See my essay "<a href="http://benl8.blogspot.com/2016/12/solutions-accentuate-positive.html">Solutions</a>" and the most recent one on a "<a href="http://benl8.blogspot.com/2017/10/a-radical-populist-budget.html">Radical Populist Budget</a>." </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Since December 2014 real wages have grown by 5%. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><img src="https://data.bls.gov/generated_files/graphics/latest_numbers_CES0500000031_1964_2017_all_period_M12_data.gif" style="background-color: white; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 11.96px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;" /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Here is the last graph, showing the income drop suffered by male workers age 18 to 34 from 1960 to 2014. After a spectacular increase from 1940, their incomes have slipped from $27,300 in 1960 to $15,000 in 2014. (From the <a href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2016/05/24/4-the-job-market-and-young-adult-living-arrangements/">Pew Research Center</a>) What caused this income paralysis is a question everyone should be asking. In France during these years the incomes of the lower 50% matched the rate of growth of the entire economy. (See this excellent <a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/research-analysis/economic-growth-in-the-united-states-a-tale-of-two-countries/">article at equitablegrowth.org</a>.) The drop that occurred in the U.S. was not unavoidable. </span><br />
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<a href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2016/05/24/for-first-time-in-modern-era-living-with-parents-edges-out-other-living-arrangements-for-18-to-34-year-olds/st_2016-05-24_young-adults-living-12/" rel="attachment wp-att-21659" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #bc7b2b; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="For male 18- to 34-year-olds, wages peaked around 1970 and the share living with parent(s) started its ascent" class="alignright size-full wp-image-21659" src="http://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2016/05/ST_2016.05.24_young-adults-living-12.png" height="487" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; clear: right; float: right; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 5px 0px 15px 15px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="421" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Democratic Party needs a unified voice — The Dems have two voices. One sounds a lot like Republican-soft. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">They need a stronger, more assertive progressive voice. They should call for higher earnings and income for the 80% </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">who work as employees, who have seen the growth of their incomes stop since 1964. Senator Sherrod Brown, Ohio Dem, </span><span style="font-size: large;">has called to double the size of the Earned Income Tax Credit, from $70 billion to $140 billion. That is a real change. </span><span style="font-size: large;">They should call for a $12 or $15 minimum wage, for a New Deal of public job creation, and advance ways to rein in </span><span style="font-size: large;">corporate power and increase earnings of employees. The Center for America's Future proposes <a href="https://ourfuture.org/20180221/a-pledge-to-transform-the-resistance-and-america">an eleven-point agenda</a> that expands on this plan. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Dems need to be divisive. They mumble along, and the public dislikes them for not challenging the Republican corporatism. It's not exactly that, it's corporatism on an international scale driven by short-term financial speculation that is eroding our future prospects. The political system is swamped by the excesses of great wealth that over-shadow ever election and control the major media institutions. The Dems as yet do not project a real change; Trump presents himself as Mr. "marvelous", "tremendous", and "really great" to make people believe he has all the answers to stagnant income and disappearing jobs. He understands the psychological malaise. Sanders alone has drawn a plausible assertive plan. Remember one analyst claimed that under a Bernie Sanders presidency the economy would grow at a rate of 5% a year? <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/bernie-sanders-will-make-the-economy-great-again/">Gerald Friedman made a strong case</a> (and see <a href="http://www.dollarsandsense.org/What-would-Sanders-do-013016.pdf">here</a>) for Sander's overall plan which included Medical for All; Friedman claimed it would spark lasting added output. Here in part is what Friedman claimed: </span></span></div>
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Sanders economic policy will achieve broad-based and sustained prosperity with the following:
The growth rate of the real gross domestic product will rise from 2.1% per annum to 5.3% so
that real GDP per capita will be over $20,000 higher in 2026 than is projected under the current
policy
Faster economic growth and redistributive taxation will raise the growth rate of median income
from 0.8% per annum to 3.5%, adding nearly $22,000 to median household income in 2026
Higher GDP comes with increased employment, specifically nearly 26 million additional jobs in
2026 </span></span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Is it plausible to increase median income by $22,000 in ten years, from about $60,000 to about $80,000? Frankly I doubt it's possible. Such a gain would require a type of price control that takes the form of government provided health care, free higher education, <a href="http://inthesetimes.com/">subsidized housing</a>, wide-spread rent control, and child care and pre-K education -- all of which would suppress household expenses which would drive up real income. But we should aim for this vision. If the "real disposable income" per citizen is as the BEA states, $44,501 (<a href="https://bea.gov/iTable/iTable.cfm?reqid=19&step=2#reqid=19&step=3&isuri=1&1921=survey&1903=58">see Table 2.1</a>), then a household of four should have a post-tax income on average of around $178,000, not today's current pre-tax income of $91,000 (see <a href="https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/cps-hinc/hinc-01.html">USCensus data here</a>). The Dems need to sell a vision. We could theoretically double the median income of all household sizes. The "disposable income" officially is there, we just do not share it. </span></span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">This may come as a shock to many readers. Are the BEA, the Census and the Social Security Administration publishing false data? Why are the actual incomes of all households so low in comparison with the official data from the BEA? Reader, can you answer that question? The answer, I believe, is that "we just do not share it." </span></span><br />
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Why is this blog's title what it is? </span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">I read the book The Great Financial Crisis by John Bellamy Foster and Fred Magdoff. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjULtL1KTaw">Here is an hour YouTube talk</a> from November 2017 by Fred Magdoff, author of a new book,<a href="https://monthlyreview.org/product/creating_an_ecological_society/"> Creating an Ecological Society: Toward a Revolutionary Transformation</a>. </span></span><br />
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Ben Leethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14058357566482675649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047544383372645090.post-38619677418589813252016-03-11T19:05:00.001-08:002018-06-28T12:22:19.127-07:00The 1950s and Today <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="background-color: #990000; font-size: large; white-space: pre;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="background-color: #990000; font-size: x-large; white-space: pre;"><b><span style="color: white;">Comparing the 1950s and Today --</span></b> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #990000; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="color: white; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #990000;">Economics and Taxation</b></span><span style="background-color: #990000; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We remember the 1950s fondly because of 1957 Chevys, Elvis, President Eisenhower and sports stars like Willie Mays, Johnny Unitas, Rocky Marciano, Bob Cousy, Althea Gibson, Pancho Gonzalez, jockey Willie Shoemaker and Leo Nomellini who was a 6 time All NFL defensive and offensive tackle for the </span><span style="font-size: large;">San Francisco Forty-Niners. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "notonashkarabic" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 17px; text-align: -webkit-center;"> </span><a data-beacon="{"p":{"mnid":"entry_text","lnid":"citation","mpid":1}}" href="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2014-10-27-WillieMays.jpg" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #2e7061; font-family: NotoNashkArabic, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; text-align: -webkit-center;"><img alt="2014-10-27-WillieMays.jpg" src="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2014-10-27-WillieMays-thumb.jpg" height="225" style="box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="181" /></a> <a class="image" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bob_Cousy_(1).jpeg" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.319999694824219px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Bob Cousy (1).jpeg" data-file-height="1647" data-file-width="1164" height="311" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/Bob_Cousy_%281%29.jpeg/220px-Bob_Cousy_%281%29.jpeg" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/Bob_Cousy_%281%29.jpeg/330px-Bob_Cousy_%281%29.jpeg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/Bob_Cousy_%281%29.jpeg/440px-Bob_Cousy_%281%29.jpeg 2x" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" width="220" /></a></div>
<a class="image" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rocky_Marciano.jpg" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.319999694824219px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Rocky Marciano.jpg" data-file-height="256" data-file-width="291" height="194" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4d/Rocky_Marciano.jpg/220px-Rocky_Marciano.jpg" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4d/Rocky_Marciano.jpg 1.5x" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" width="220" /></a> <a class="image" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leo_Nomellini.jpg" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.300000190734863px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Leo Nomellini.jpg" data-file-height="220" data-file-width="180" height="220" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1e/Leo_Nomellini.jpg" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" width="180" /></a><a class="irc_mil i3597 id8xCqChkPhA-zixyDjKkw5M" data-noload="" data-ved="2ahUKEwj0p67JubjaAhXEzFQKHVlECPoQjRx6BAgAEAU" href="http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/02/sport/tennis/us-open-althea-gibson-tennis/index.html" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk" rel="noopener" style="border: 0px; color: #660099; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;" tabindex="0" target="_blank" wrc_done="true"><img alt="Image result for Althea Gibson" class="irc_mi" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/140829175752-gibson-wimbledon-horizontal-gallery.jpg" height="360" style="-webkit-background-size: 21px; background-color: white; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; margin-top: 18px;" width="640" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Also we remember that mothers could be “homemakers” instead of employees at work, and buying a family home cost the <a href="http://www.mybudget360.com/cost-of-living-2014-inflation-1950-vs-2014-data-housing-cars-college/">equivalent of 2 years’ income</a>, not today’s 3.5 years’ income with two earners in the family. Between 1947 and 1979 <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-income-table-2-1-average-family-income/">all income groups doubled their incomes</a>, in inflation adjusted dollars. Times were good, incomes were rising for most but not all Americans. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"> </span><a class="irc_mil i3597" data-noload="" data-ved="0ahUKEwiM8r3GlbrLAhUL-GMKHQupDTUQjRwIBw" href="http://social.rollins.edu/wpsites/thirdsight/2013/04/13/gender-roles-in-a-post-war-america/" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk" style="border: 0px; color: #660099; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;" target="_blank" wrc_done="true"><img class="irc_mi" src="http://social.rollins.edu/wpsites/thirdsight/files/2013/04/1950s-housewife1.jpg" height="450" style="-webkit-background-size: 21px; -webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; background-color: white; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; background-size: 21px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; margin-top: 14px;" width="277" /></a></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: large;">Our economy was much different, as was our federal taxation policy. In the 1950s society was </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: large;">comfortable with a top marginal </span><a href="http://taxfoundation.org/sites/default/files/docs/fed_individual_rate_history_adjusted.pdf" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica;">income tax rate of 90%</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: large;"> on all income above today’s $1.6 million. After $1.6 million, the next dollar was worth just ten cents to the earner, and 90 cents to the federal government and society. </span><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Historical_Marginal_Tax_Rate_for_Highest_and_Lowest_Income_Earners.jpg" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica;">For 20 years, 1943 to 1963</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: large;">, the top rate averaged over 90%.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Today the average pre-tax income of the top 1% of taxpayers, some 1.6 million filers, is $1.6 million. Their total combined income exceeds $2.2 trillion, and <a href="https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4763">amounted to 19% of all income</a> in 2014. If today’s annual millionaires had to pay 1950’s tax rates, that last $600,000 of income would be worth not much more than $60,000 to them and $540,000 to the U.S. Treasury. The 90 percent rate was regarded as nothing out of the norm. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Researchers find that in <a href="http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2013-01-02/1950s-tax-fantasy-is-a-republican-nightmare">the ‘50s the effective tax rate</a> for the one percent was 49% of all income. Today’s effective overall rate (state and local taxes included with federal) <a href="http://ctj.org/pdf/taxday2015.pdf">in 2014 is 33%.</a> Also <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_tax_in_the_United_States#/media/File:Corporate_Income_Tax_as_a_Share_of_GDP,_1946_-_2009.png">corporations paid on average 27%</a> of all federal taxes instead of today’s 10%, the <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/ib364-corporate-tax-rates-and-economic-growth/">effective corporate tax rate was 40% not 27%</a>. The ratio of CEO to worker compensation was an amazing 20 to 1, not <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-wages-table-4-43-ceo-compensation-ceo/">today’s frightening 231 to 1</a>. The income share going to the top 1% of incomes <a href="https://eml.berkeley.edu/~saez/saez-UStopincomes-2013.pdf">was 10% not today’s 20%</a>. Union membership would range <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_unions_in_the_United_States#/media/File:Union_membership_in_us_1930-2010.png">in the low 30 percent</a>, not <a href="http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2015/union-membership-rate-in-private-industry-and-public-sector-in-2014.htm">today’s 6.6%</a> in private enterprise. Wages and employment were stable and growing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><a class="irc_mil i3597" data-noload="" data-ved="0ahUKEwi02oTLlLrLAhUE-mMKHVtSCh4QjRwIBw" href="https://www.pinterest.com/augsept11/the-williams-and-others/" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk" style="border: 0px; color: #660099; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;" target="_blank" wrc_done="true"><img class="irc_mi" height="284" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/14/22/0f/14220f0bfe83c71e90f7560fc29f92e8.jpg" style="-webkit-background-size: 21px; -webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; background-color: white; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; background-size: 21px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; margin-top: 97px;" width="236" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">One very stark contrast with the 1950s is the <a href="http://toomuchonline.org/once-upon-a-time-corporations-paid-taxes/">story of America’s top-earning CEO</a> in 1950, Charles Wilson, head of General Motors, the largest automaker in the world. <a href="http://www.apple.com/">One writer reports</a>, </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“GM’s president “Engine Charlie” E. Wilson told Congress in 1953, ‘What’s good for America is good for General Motors, and vice versa.’ He took home $586,100 a year when the minimum wage was $0.75 an hour and gasoline was $0.27 a gallon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">During this time 80 percent of the world’s auto production and assembly was centered in Detroit. Back then <a href="http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/upfront/features/index.asp?article=f0313b"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(51, 102, 153); color: #336699;">GM was the world's largest corporation</span></a> and had 46 percent of the American auto market. At its peak, the company employed more than 600,000 Americans.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><img src="http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/storyimage/CA/20080914/OEM02/309149916/AR/0/AR-309149916.jpg&MaxW=200" style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; max-width: 100%; orphans: 2; outline: none; vertical-align: bottom; widows: 2;" /><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><a class="irc_mil i3597" data-noload="" data-ved="2ahUKEwiT8tH8iffbAhXEyVQKHdOkAaAQjRx6BAgBEAU" href="http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19530601,00.html" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk" rel="noopener" style="background-color: #222222; border: 0px; color: #660099; cursor: pointer; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: center; widows: 2;" tabindex="0" target="_blank" wrc_done="true"><img alt="Image result for "Charlie Wilson" "General Motors"" class="irc_mi" height="495" src="http://img.timeinc.net/time/magazine/archive/covers/1953/1101530601_400.jpg" style="background-color: white; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; background-size: 21px 21px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65) 0px 5px 35px; margin-top: 0px;" width="376" /></a> <span style="font-size: large;">and on Time's cover. </span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: large;">Adjusting for inflation Wilson’s income would be today $5.8 million. Today, a CEO earning “just” $5.8 million is less than mediocre. </span><a href="https://hbr.org/2014/09/profits-without-prosperity" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica;">William Lazonic reports</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: large;">, “In 2012 the 500 highest-paid executives named in proxy statements of U.S. public companies received, on average, $30.3 million each; 42% of their compensation came from stock options and 41% from stock awards.” What’s more remarkable about Wilson’s income is comparing the pre-tax, $5.8 million, with the post-tax income, $1.6 million. He paid an effective tax rate of 73%. Contrast that with today’s effective tax rate for the </span><a href="http://ctj.org/pdf/taxday2015.pdf" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica;">top one percent at 33%</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: large;">.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a class="irc_mil i3597" data-noload="" href="http://codegreenprep.com/2013/06/preppers-beware-our-hoarding-can-be-deemed-illegal/" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk" style="border: 0px; color: #660099; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;" target="_blank" wrc_done="true"><img class="irc_mi" src="http://codegreenprep.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/taxes.jpg" height="393" style="-webkit-background-size: 21px; -webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; background-color: white; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; background-size: 21px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; margin-top: 42px;" width="528" /></a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">About 1.6 million tax filers reported in 2014 a pre-tax income of $1.6 million, according to the <a href="https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4763">Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation</a> (CJCT), page 29. Wilson’s post-tax income was $1.6 million, and his salary was the highest in America. Now there are 1.6 million with that same amount, $1.6 million in pre-tax income, and their post-tax income is around $1.1 million. (Again, in 1950 1 taxpayer had a post-tax income of $1.6 million, today 1.6 million men or women taxpayers have a pre-tax income of $1.6 million.) The American economy is much more productive than the 1950s, but producing a million more annual millionaire-incomes is not an accurate gauge of its growth. Instead it indicates the growth of the millionaire class to the expense of all other earning groups. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The pre-tax income share for 0.9% of tax filers was 18.9% in 2014, according to the CJCT; one percent earned more than 55% who earned a 16.2% share. One percent earned 19%, five percent earned 34%, 20 percent earned 61%, and that leaves 39% for the lower eighty percent of tax filers to share among themselves. The group between the 50th and 80th percentiles earned 23%, and the lower 55 percent earned 16% — pre-tax income. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">See this <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-income-figure-2c-average-family-income/">revealing chart</a> comparing income growth by income sectors 1947 to 1979, 1979 to 2007, and 2007 to 2013. And see this <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/poverty-and-inequality/a-guide-to-statistics-on-historical-trends-in-income-inequality">report from the CBPP</a> with the "after-tax income" graph below --</span></div>
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<a class="jquery-once-1-processed" href="https://www.cbpp.org/income-gains-at-the-top-dwarf-those-of-low-and-middle-income-households-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0076bf; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Income Gains at the Top Dwarf Those of Low- and Middle-Income Households" height="455" src="https://www.cbpp.org/sites/default/files/styles/downsample150to92/public/atoms/files/incomegainstop_6-22-16-eh-rc-eb-2_450.png?itok=Gmn9Ipci" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: top;" title="Income Gains at the Top Dwarf Those of Low- and Middle-Income Households" width="580" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Post-tax income reflects government taxes and transfers which assist low-income workers, their children, the poor, the disabled, and elderly. The poverty rate in 2014 was cut from 31% of the U.S. population (pre-transfer) to 15.3% (post-transfer) according to the Supplemental Poverty Measure. Elderly above 65 years of age saw their poverty rate decreased from 50.0% to 14.4% through Social Security transfers. In all, about 6% of all income is transferred by Social Security, and another 8% in all the assistance programs. Researchers at <a href="http://www.gc.cuny.edu/CUNY_GC/media/LISCenter/Readings%20for%20workshop/Madrick2.pdf">Columbia University state</a> that poverty has been reduced since 1967 from 26% to 16% in 2012 and now to 15.3% in 2014. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/GiniLong2004.jpg" height="212" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; text-align: -webkit-center;" width="266" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<a class="irc_mil i3597 iR8HUgrxjphQ-zixyDjKkw5M" data-noload="" data-ved="2ahUKEwjal4iZvLjaAhUS-58KHQEHAZYQjRx6BAgAEAU" href="http://www.socalbeachmag.net/classiccarphotoshoots/57redchevyconvertible.html" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk" rel="noopener" style="border: 0px; color: #660099; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;" tabindex="0" target="_blank" wrc_done="true"><img alt="Image result for 1957 Chevy convertible" class="irc_mi" src="http://www.socalbeachmag.net/images/653_2007_3_09_57_Chevy_La_Jolla_Shores_Park_221-resize-logo.jpg" height="396" style="-webkit-background-size: 21px; background-color: white; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; margin-top: 0px;" width="528" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Today the ratio between the average income in the lower-earning 55 percent to the average in top 1 percent is 1 to 69. The average income of a tax filer in the lower 55 percent, with income below $50,000, on average, is 69 times lower than the average of the top 1 percent, with income above $500,000. An easier way to remember this is to say that total combined income of two workers after 35 year careers is equal to one year’s income of one top-earning “one percenter”. (Two times 35 years is 70 years, and the ratio between the average income of the lower-earning 55% of U.S. workers to the average top one percent income is 1 to 69.) </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Is the lifetime work-contribution of two low-earning workers equal to one year of work from a top-earner? How do you measure? What would Charlie the Engine Wilson be thinking? “If it’s good for GM it’s good for America.” Today’s CEO will have another response, “We deserve it.” I doubt there is a convincing argument that justifies the one percent income group tripling its income in 30 years while the large group, of nonsupervisory workers comprising 80% of all workers, sees their annual income <a href="https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CES0500000030">since 1962 decreasing by 5%</a> in 54 years. And that’s what the studies and government agencies report. <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/income-inequality-by-state-1917-to-2012/">One study</a> states, “Between 1979 and 2007, the top 1 percent took home well over half (53.9 percent) of the total increase in U.S. income. Over this period, the average income of the bottom 99 percent of U.S. taxpayers grew by 18.9 percent. Simultaneously, the average income of the top 1 percent grew over 10 times as much—by 200.5 percent.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a class="irc_mil i3597 ibvsIrMI4b3k-zixyDjKkw5M" data-noload="" data-ved="2ahUKEwi8or2svbjaAhWD_lQKHc14APsQjRx6BAgAEAU" href="http://corvettestory.com/1955-Corvette-C1-V8-Manual-Transmission-Ford-Thunderbird-Competition.php" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk" rel="noopener" style="border: 0px; color: #660099; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;" tabindex="0" target="_blank" wrc_done="true"><img alt="Image result for 1955 corvette" class="irc_mi" src="http://corvettestory.com/images/corvette-images/1955-three_spd-2_a_s.jpg" height="278" style="-webkit-background-size: 21px; background-color: white; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; margin-top: 59px;" width="450" /></a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In 2016 we are are in a different world. The Bureau of Economic Analysis, Dept. of Commerce, shows that 1955 per capita “Disposable Personal Income” was $11,172, while in 2015 it was $38,050, nearly 4 times more in inflation adjusted dollars. On the positive side “market” or pre-tax poverty was reduced in 2012 by government transfers from 27.8% to 16.0%, a drop of 12.7%, while in 1967, the first year of measurement, the poverty rate moved from 27.0% to 25.8%, a drop of 1.2%. But negatively, jobs for the coming generation will pay less. Of <a href="http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_table_104.htm">the fastest growing 15 occupations</a>, 11 pay between $18,410 and $31,200 a year. And labor union participation is a shadow of its former self; only 6.6% of private enterprise workers <a href="http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2015/union-membership-rate-in-private-industry-and-public-sector-in-2014.htm">belong to a union</a> instead of mid 30 percent in the 1950s. Oddly Canada to the north still has a labor union participation rate of 30 percent. The 1935 National Labor Relations Act has been stripped of its power by judicial amendment, and the chiefs of the unions have long <a href="http://inthesetimes.com/article/13181/american_workers_shackled_to_labor_law">called for scrapping the NLRA</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In 1956, at age 24, Floyd Patterson became the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, the youngest boxer to achieve that title. In 1959 he was knocked out by Ingemar Johansen in their first fight. He came back winning the second. But he lost their third and last fight. He said, "They said I was the fighter who got knocked down the most, but I also got up the most.” We should be so lucky and plucky that some day we all might say the same. Down, but not out. </span></div>
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<a class="irc_mil i3597" data-noload="" data-ved="0ahUKEwjSj7ykkLrLAhUBU2MKHYXiBDoQjRwIBw" href="http://blackkudos.tumblr.com/post/118697111217/floyd-patterson-floyd-patterson-january-4-1935" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk" style="border: 0px; color: #660099; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;" target="_blank" wrc_done="true"><img class="irc_mi" src="http://40.media.tumblr.com/d9ff679ac9f29e1bb9f9458e69fb79ad/tumblr_no6w0pkhEO1tuy8zto1_1280.jpg" height="477" style="-webkit-background-size: 21px; -webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; background-color: white; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; background-size: 21px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; margin-top: 0px;" width="472" /></a><br />
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As an after-thought I thought it useful to show <a href="https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4763">the income distribution page</a> from the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, Overview, 2015, page 28:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXkb1YOu_XHlV0Z086GlQg2evBDzI5FdFuJukfH1U453jxb2M-Y9BZL4UlowmPEWg8xzYij2sKiWgySsOYTvVe8Ncz8RpqFNQ47Q6HfP5t0YpGUpYFEOLlG1-KiTBhjXnvWjaEHLeo5ck/s1600/CJCTaxation%252C+2015%252C+Income+Dist.+.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXkb1YOu_XHlV0Z086GlQg2evBDzI5FdFuJukfH1U453jxb2M-Y9BZL4UlowmPEWg8xzYij2sKiWgySsOYTvVe8Ncz8RpqFNQ47Q6HfP5t0YpGUpYFEOLlG1-KiTBhjXnvWjaEHLeo5ck/s640/CJCTaxation%252C+2015%252C+Income+Dist.+.png" width="640" /></a><br />
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Ben Leethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14058357566482675649noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047544383372645090.post-64882496948128427372018-04-09T09:20:00.000-07:002018-05-31T14:15:25.503-07:00Stark Inequality<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: #990000;"> <span style="color: white;">Stark Inequality</span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Observing stark inequality is difficult. Yes, on the sidewalks of urban America the homeless and poor are often visible. When I walk Market Street in San Francisco the homeless are visible, and tent communities are popping up on urban sidewalks in Oakland, Berkeley, Fresno, Sacramento and I’d guess many other cities across the U.S. But most of the time, we Americans appear alike in dress, in the housing we live in, in the cars and trucks we drive, and we seem to be watching the same sports, television and Netflix, and addicted to the same computer fascinations — equal, more or less. But below these mass similarities there are substantial differences. For a view of the stark side, read the Guardian articles by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/profile/chris-arnade">Chris Arnade here</a>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here are four important facts about inequality in the U.S.: </span></span></div>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica"; line-height: normal;"></span><span style="font-kerning: none;">44% of <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/2016-report-economic-well-being-us-households-201705.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">American adults report</span></a> they would be unable to pay an emergency $400 expense within 30 days without borrowing or selling something. But, if all adults were "average" -- or even close to average -- it would be no problem. The average net worth per adult is <a href="https://www.credit-suisse.com/corporate/en/research/research-institute/global-wealth-report.html"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">almost $400,000</span></a>. I call this <b><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">stark</span></b> inequality. The Federal Reserve study also shows that 25% of adults report not seeing a doctor or a specialist or a dentist, or not purchasing a prescription drug in 2016 because of lack of money. And, one would not guess by looking, 42% report owing an unpaid medical debt, typically of around $1,000, and on average of about $1,500. </span></span></li>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">2. Half of all U.S. workers (81 million) in 2016 earned a collective <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2016"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">$1 trillion in wage income</span></a>; this is about 6.4% of the <a href="http://bea.gov/">national income</a>. Their average income per worker is under $13,000 a year. A full-time year-round worker earning minimum wage earns $15,080, which by the way is more than $13,000. Earning just one fifteenth of all income, half of American workers are <b><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">starkly</span></b> underpaid. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">3. Since 1960 the median (middle) income for <a href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2016/05/24/4-the-job-market-and-young-adult-living-arrangements/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">male workers age 18 to 34</span></a> has fallen from $27,300 a year to $15,000. The per capita “disposable income” increased by 86% between 1960 and today. In 1960 about 62% of young <a href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2016/05/24/for-first-time-in-modern-era-living-with-parents-edges-out-other-living-arrangements-for-18-to-34-year-olds/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">adults, age 18 to 35</span></a>, were married or cohabiting, today it’s 32%. The average age at marriage was 22 in 1960, now it’s about 28 years old. In 1960 only 5.3% of children were born to unmarried women, in 2016 <a href="https://www.childtrends.org/indicators/births-to-unmarried-women/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">it’s 40.2%</span></a>. And the average <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CES0500000030"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">weekly and yearly earnings</span></a> of a non-supervisory employee, 80% of the workforce, was 2% higher in 1964 than today, even though <a href="https://www.bea.gov/iTable/iTable.cfm?reqid=19&step=2#reqid=19&step=3&isuri=1&1921=survey&1903=58"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">real per capita “disposable income”</span></a> has increased by 86%. That is <b><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">stark</span></b> income stagnation. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2016/05/24/for-first-time-in-modern-era-living-with-parents-edges-out-other-living-arrangements-for-18-to-34-year-olds/st_2016-05-24_young-adults-living-03/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #bc7b2b; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Young men are now more likely to live with a parent than to live with a spouse or partner; not so for women" class="attachment-large size-large" src="http://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2016/05/ST_2016.05.24_young-adults-living-02.png" height="736" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="313" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">4. Since 1980 the lower-earning half of U.S. adults has seen its annual income virtually freeze, it <a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/research-analysis/economic-growth-in-the-united-states-a-tale-of-two-countries/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">increased by 1%</span></a>, from $16,000 a year to $16,200. Concurrently the highest earning 1% of adults tripled their incomes, from $420,000 a year to $1.3 trillion. The gap also tripled from 27 to 81. Two recent reports on income growth report a total growth of 60 or 61%, 1980 to 2014. This is <b><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">stark</span></b> inequity of growth. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">These documented facts emphasize the extreme condition of wages, income, wealth, and the shifting trends since 1960 and 1980. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Recently the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) weighed in with <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/53597"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">a new report</span></a>, “Income Distribution in the U.S. for 2014.” Reading it in conjunction with <a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/working-papers/distributional-national-accounts/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">a report</span></a> from the Washington Center for Equitable Growth (WCEG) brings up interesting comparisons and conclusions. Both reports cover the identical time period, 1980 to 2014. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Both studies show the top-earning 1% of households or adults tripling their incomes, as do other reports show (see <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/income-inequality-in-the-us/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">here</span></a>, <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/poverty-and-inequality/a-guide-to-statistics-on-historical-trends-in-income-inequality"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">here</span></a>, and <a href="http://apps.urban.org/features/wealth-inequality-charts/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">here</span></a>). Both studies show average economy-wide growth of 60 or 61% between 1980 and 2014. The WCEG states that while the lower-earning 50% of adults gained none of the added growth, the percentiles 50 to 90 received 32%, the percentiles 91 to 99 received 32%, <a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/research-analysis/economic-growth-in-the-united-states-a-tale-of-two-countries/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">and the top 1% received 36%</span></a>. The WCEG report states that the share of all income going to the lower earning 50% retracted from 20% in 1980 to 12.5% in 2014; and this is a mirror image of the share of income going to the top 1%, its share grew from 12% to 20%. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The CBO report shows income growth by household income level, not by per adult income level. The growth in social benefits lifted the incomes of the lowest-earning 20% of households. This group increased its 2014 “market” pre-tax and pre-transfer income from $19,100 to $31,100 a year, an increase of 64%. The driver of this increase was in-kind (non-cash) income in the form of Medicaid services and other benefits. The income gap between the average income of the lower 20% and the top 1% before taxes is 92 times ($19,100 vs. $1,770,000). It is reduced to 38 times by taxes and transfers ($31,300 vs. $1,180,000). </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">There are at the least two more important factors to consider in the big picture about inequality. The first is the fact that the share of yearly national income received by the lower-earning 90% has decreased from 55% to 37%, <a href="http://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/wp_805.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">a shift of 18%</span></a> that values today at about $2.9 trillion. (See the first graph in the essay <a href="https://benl8.blogspot.com/2018/05/table-of-contents-of-blog.html">"America's Economic Decline Simply Explained"</a>.) Dispersing that $2.9 trillion to 145 million workers would mean between a $15,000 to $20,000 a year income increase for all workers with wage income below $90,000, which is <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2016"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">also the 90th percentile</span></a>. In other words, restoring the former income distribution profile would change everything about our economy. It would re-align distribution to the contours of what it was between 1945 and 1980, and that would be a stark change. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The other important fact of inequality has to do with the spectacular doubling in the total net worth of all U.S. households over the past 9 years, from a total of $48 trillion in January of 2009, to a total of over <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/20180308/z1.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">$98 trillion in 2018</span></a>. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_United_States_federal_budget"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">federal government</span></a> will spend $4.1 trillion this year in comparison. Financial assets have surged in value, we have a bubble with no end in sight. This is the glowing growth center of the U.S. economy. The lower-saving 50% own perhaps <a href="https://www.epi.org/blog/confirming-redistribution-wealth-upward/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">1.1% of all assets</span></a>. The top one percent own <a href="https://inequality.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/Pathways-SOTU-2016-Wealth-Inequality-3.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">maybe 42%</span></a>. The wealth gap is an incredible 1 to 1,909, between the average wealth of a household in the top one percent and one in the lower 50%. Stark. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Society experiences tensions from the extreme imbalance of financial and monetary power expressed through income and wealth divisions. Harmonizing the needs of society while maintaining an efficient economic world is the challenge we face; the imperatives of each sphere, the social and economic, must be adapted to find a living, creative balance. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hope is brought to the fore in <a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/research-analysis/economic-growth-in-the-united-states-a-tale-of-two-countries/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">a WCEG report</span></a>, as it compares the different approaches between France and the U.S. between 1980 and 2014. The lower-earning 50% of French adults increased their incomes by 32%, which was the identical growth rate of the entire economy. In 1980 the lower 50% were earning an annual average income of $14,418, and now they earn almost $19,000. Now this low earning French group earns about $3,000 more than the American group. The French economy is less productive than the U.S. on a per capita basis, it produces an average income of about $42,000 per adult, in comparison with the U.S. $64,600 per year per adult. This shows that the spread in inequality is and was not inevitable. Policy made the difference. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Inequality is stark world-wide. <a href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases/2017-01-16/just-8-men-own-same-wealth-half-world"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Oxfam America</span></a> reports that the wealthiest 8 men in the world, if they were comfortably squeezed into a stretch limo, would collectively possess more wealth than half of the humanity, some 3.6 billion humans on our marvelous planet. What would the wealth gap be? It would be stark. And the Pew Research Center <a href="http://www.pewglobal.org/2015/07/08/a-global-middle-class-is-more-promise-than-reality/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">reports</span></a> that these low-income-and-low-wealth humans are existing day to day on an income of less than $5 a day, at most. In the U.S. at the median household income level, each person survives on $64 a day. The inequality problem stretches and stretches beyond the concerns of developing nations. To sum up, we once shared growth and prosperity, but now we have a lot of catch-up to do. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span>_______________________________________________________</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #990000; font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: x-large;"> A Tax on Wealth, OECD? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">A tax on wealth? The OECD report promotes a wealth tax? The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development published <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/9789264290303-en.pdf?expires=1523846838&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=FBAC9009586B48BFA49CE186D8823106">a report</a>, "The Role and Development of Net Wealth Taxes in the OECD". The <a href="http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=21570">Real News Network</a> reports on this report by interviewing economist Michael Roberts, a Marxist. As I shared before, a tax on financial assets equivalent to the rate of tax on "immovable property" (OECD language) or "tangible assets" (FRB Flow of Funds language) would yield about $1.2 trillion a year to the federal government. Figure 1.7 in the OECD report shows how governments tax property. </span><br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6047544383372645090" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6047544383372645090" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6047544383372645090" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXQ0FjZO_NTVaQPhxBWZ_CWD57mHe8dMhjsN1bRa9k7dOzeJaGt7PhzaYovd-4gu8uTVvl7az1M-olCVFBR8VewpaCCPGLNza4Vzfjy6u0wzZlbdh1aWfAYove8LjJ3d9j6EKgM3hTD2E/s1600/OECD+comparsion+on+taxes+wealth+tax.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXQ0FjZO_NTVaQPhxBWZ_CWD57mHe8dMhjsN1bRa9k7dOzeJaGt7PhzaYovd-4gu8uTVvl7az1M-olCVFBR8VewpaCCPGLNza4Vzfjy6u0wzZlbdh1aWfAYove8LjJ3d9j6EKgM3hTD2E/s640/OECD+comparsion+on+taxes+wealth+tax.png" width="640" /></a></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The U.S. receives, in state and local taxes, around $458 billion in property taxes, about 2.5% of GDP, as the graph indicates. Financial assets comprise 70% of all assets, non-financial about 30% (see Flow of Funds report, Table 101.B, page 138). </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Here are two graphs that illustrate ideas I've brought up: </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/">Michael Roberts</a> writes a very interesting, nearly indispensable blog. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The OECD report does not advocate the radical position I take. It seeks to neutralize among OECD countries tax evasion and distortions as presented by imposition of taxes on wealth. This is hardly a remedy. But at least they are exploring. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The <a href="https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/working-papers/2013/demo/sehsd2013-28.pdf">report</a> from U.S. Census scholar, Kathleen Short, about poverty increasing from 13% to 30% bares repeating. Page 28 of her 2013 report states: </span><br />
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below 140 percent of the SPM threshold was not statistically significant. The percent of the population
below 200 percent of the SPM thresholds (48.1 percent) was 60 percent higher than the percent of the
population below the family budget threshold (30.0 percent). This suggests that families with resources
below approximately 140 percent of the SPM threshold, rather than 200 percent, may be characterized
as not able to meet their basic needs and achieve a safe and decent standard of living, or as families
with ‘low income’. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: large;">The "family budget poverty rate" that many researchers claimed to be about 200% of the the "federal poverty level" was refuted by Short. She claimed that 140% of poverty was actual poverty. The reports that claimed 200% of FPL brought almost half of the U.S. population into poverty status. She states that 29.9%, call it 30%, of the U.S. population are unable to "meet their basic needs and achieve a safe and decent standard of living". The average income per household is well over $100,000 a year. And 140% of poverty is about a third of $100,000 in all household sizes. This is stark inequality. Perhaps 48% are struggling to get by, but at least 30% are definitely unable to achieve a decent standard. The U.S. Census report,<a href="https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2017/demo/cps/hinc-01.html"> HINC-01</a> shows the breakdown in household size and median income. The median <i><b>pre-tax</b></i> income among four person households is over $91,000 a year, and <b><i>post-tax</i></b> it's about $64,000. The median pre-tax income for single person households is low, but for larger households it's somewhat high. The economy has improved since Kathleen Short's report, but the lower income households still comprise well over a quarter of all the population. And the household "average" and "median" for both income and wealth are hugely disparate, in separate worlds it seems -- income median: $60,000, income average $129,000, and wealth median $100,000, wealth average $789,000. (I'm using BEA.gov, Table 2.1 for income, and FRB Flow of Funds figures for net worth, with the US Census 125 million households, and doing simple division) The <a href="https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=5060">Congressional Joint Committee data</a> shows (page 34) that 35.4% of all pre-tax income goes to just 6.6% of tax payers who earn over $200,000 a year, which is about equal to the income of 75.5%, all with incomes below $100,000 a year. That means the average income for the lower 75% is 11% of the average for the top 6.6%, or it's $11,000 a year versus $100,000 a year -- get it? </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: yellow; font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Simplify: the total collective income of 75% is less than the total for the top 6.6% -- not a good ratio for a society. And wealth ratios are much worse. </b></span></span><br />
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Ben Leethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14058357566482675649noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047544383372645090.post-12315605111170675942017-07-23T12:26:00.001-07:002018-05-02T19:26:13.679-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: #351c75; color: white;">Inequality: A Tale of Two One Percents, </span> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="background-color: #351c75; color: white;"> The High and the Low </span> </span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">A shorter, improved version of this essay was published at <a href="https://inequality.org/research/tale-two-1-percents/">inequality (dot) org</a>, and the long version at <a href="http://therealnews.com/t2/component/content/category/472-ben-leet">The Real News Network.</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">It is instructive to view the entire spectrum of wealth and income, between individuals and nations. About half of humanity live on less than <a href="http://www.pewglobal.org/2015/07/08/a-global-middle-class-is-more-promise-than-reality/">$5 a day</a>, according to the Pew Research Center. (Check References at the end of this article.) In the U.S. the average income per day per capita is <a href="https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4989">$121</a>, but half of the population have daily incomes below <a href="https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2016/demo/acsbr15-02.pdf">$60</a>. The wealth disparities are much greater. It’s becoming quite obvious that our global and national societies experience extreme inequalities. On viewing the extremes the issue of moral unacceptability comes into focus along with the concern about social cohesion. Fairness is crucial to cohesion and well-being, we are moral beings. Extreme differences create a toxic atmosphere of distrust, and danger. I’ll try to explain conditions in the U.S. between the two extremes, the lower and upper one percents, and relate them to the medians and averages of wealth and income. </span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Wealth: <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1.pdf">$400,000</a> is approximately the average net worth of each adult citizen in the U.S.A. But “average” is very deceptive. Only about <a href="https://dqydj.com/net-worth-by-age-calculator-for-the-united-states/">12%</a> of adults are “average” or above. The wealthiest 1% of households own <a href="http://42.1%">42.1%</a> of all household net worth, states one report. The lower-saving half of households own only <a href="http://1.1%">1.1%</a></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">of net worth, states another report. The difference in savings between a 1% household and a lower-half household is almost <a href="http://publications.credit-suisse.com/tasks/render/file/index.cfm?fileid=AD6F2B43-B17B-345E-E20A1A254A3E24A5">2,000</a> times. The median adult owns <a href="http://publications.credit-suisse.com/tasks/render/file/index.cfm?fileid=AD6F2B43-B17B-345E-E20A1A254A3E24A5">$44,977</a>, or 11% of the average, states the Credit Suisse Bank report, Global Wealth Report. The Federal Reserve’s report on household well-being says that <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/2016-report-economic-well-being-us-households-201705.pdf">44%</a> of adults surveyed cannot pay an emergency $400 expense within a 30 day period. No savings. Since 2009 total household net worth has increased by 71%, from a nominal <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/20091210/z1.pdf">$48.4</a> trillion to <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/Current/z1.pdf">$94.8</a> trillion. In other words, since the financial sector self-destructed in 2008, throwing millions out of work and causing millions to lose their homes, the wealthiest have amassed 71% more in net worth. This economic model is now facing rejection from populations in the U.S. and in Europe. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Income:<a href="https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4989"> $90,000</a> is the average (again average) income per worker if we divide the national income with the <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2015">number</a> of workers in 2015. But only <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-income-table-2-4-sources-pretax-comprehensive/">56%</a> of the yearly national income is derived from salary and wages. Workers of course earn “wage income”. The Social Security Administration <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2015">report</a> shows that the lower-earning half, or 80 million workers, had income below $30,000; their average income was under $13,000; and their collective wage income was less than <a href="https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4989">8%</a> of total national income. But since workers are often married, and perhaps they receive pension income, Social Security and other incomes, collectively the lower 50% of tax filers receive <a href="https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4989">16%</a> of all income, about a sixth of total income. The average annual income for <a href="http://2.0.0.3/">2.3</a> million adults in the top one percent is $1.3 million (and that doubles to $2.6 million in a married couple household). The yearly income for the lower 2.3 million adults: under $1,000 a year, $2 a day. One <a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/working-papers/distributional-national-accounts/">report</a> shows that in the 35 years from 1980 to 2015, the income of the lower half of U.S. adults increased by 1%, and for the top 1% it has tripled, and the gap is 81 times. This is a profile of an economic model facing rejection.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">A recent book, <i><span style="background-color: #351c75; color: white;">$2 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America,</span></i> <a href="http://www.twodollarsaday.com/">states</a>, “the number of American families living on $2.00 per person, per day, has skyrocketed to one and a half million American households, including about three million children.” This is one percent of all households, the lower one percent. The authors published an article in <a href="http://inequality.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/Pathways_Summer_2014.pdf">Pathways</a>, the magazine from Stanford University’s Center on Poverty and Inequality, and it states, “This figure shows that the number of households living on $2 or less in cash income per person per day in a given month increased from about 636,000 in 1996 to about 1.65 million in mid-2011 . . . In mid-2011 about 3.55 million children lived in extreme poverty in a given month.” The authors chose 1996 because it marks the date when "welfare as we know it" was dismantled. This resulted in creating perhaps 5 million citizens living in extreme poverty, cashless. The total in 2011 of 3.55 million extremely poor children is just under 5% of all children, one of every 20, a horrifying American distinction.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><a href="http://bilalr.tumblr.com/image/33154516652" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 12px;"><img alt="Powerful image to go with this story - Ignoring America’s poor | With 46 million people living in poverty, why are the presidential candidates so quiet on issues affecting the poor - http://aje.me/T0H8tV" class="the_photo" src="http://68.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mbkos1oPGs1qccsavo1_500.jpg" style="border: 0px;" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #b45f06; color: white; font-size: x-large;"> The Daily Incomes of American Income Stratas </span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">A line-up of the spectrum of daily incomes shows the enormous range our society has created. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The top one percent earn far more than other earners. </span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/working-papers/distributional-national-accounts/">1%</a> at the top — <span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;">$3,561</span> per day per adult, ($1.3 million </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> per year) and double if a married </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">1% at the bottom — <span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;">$2</span> a day, perhaps as high as $6 a</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span> day with children</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://bea.gov/">BEA</a> average income — <span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;">$184</span> a day per adult, derived from</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> BEA total income of $16.2 trillion</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Median family income — <span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;">$120</span> a day per adult in a typical four </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <a href="https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/cps-hinc/hinc-01.html">person family</a> in 2015, $87,739</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Median household income - <b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;"> $77</span></b> a day per adult</span></span></div>
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The median adult income is not a four person family, only 24% of the nation's households are four persons, five, six or more persons. Some 62% of households are 1 person and 2 person households (See the link, <a href="https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/cps-hinc/hinc-01.html">U.S. Census, hinc-01</a>). The average household is comprised of 2.6 persons. The actual income per adult for the <i><b>median</b> <b>household</b></i> is <span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;">$77 </span> per day. Some 28% of households are single person, with a median daily income of <b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;">$79</span></b>, yearly median of $28,800. Another 34% are 2 person (mostly 2 adults in household, I presume) with median daily incomes of <b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;">$87</span></b>, and yearly median income of $63,850. I find this complex, reader. But above all, the average is about <b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;">$180</span></b> per day per adult, using BEA figures.<br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Nonsupervisory employees -- <span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;">$106</span> a day. <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t24.htm">$38,728</a> per year. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> average About 80% of workers in this </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> category. Since 1980 this wage </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> income has increased by 5% while</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> per capita GDP has increased by </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CES0500000030">82%</a>. See the very last reference. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Median cost of living — <span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;">$87</span> a day per adult in a four person </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> family living in the median cost </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> U.S. location, Des Moines, Iowa, </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <a href="http://www.epi.org/resources/budget/">$31,755</a> annual income per adult</span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The median income is 31% above </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> median expenses, a good sign.</span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty-guidelines">Official</a> Poverty level — <span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;">$34</span> a day per adult in a four person </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> household, under half the median </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> expenses. <a href="https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2016/demo/p60-258.pdf">SPM</a> records 14% of </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> U.S. population in poverty. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">140% of poverty — <span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;">$47</span> a day per adult in a four person </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> household, about 25% of the BEA</span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> average adult income. In 2011 </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> some 30% of Americans lived </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> below 140% of Poverty.</span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: large;"> The <a href="https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/working-papers/2013/demo/sehsd2013-28.pdf">author</a> of the</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">Supplemental</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> Poverty Measure, U.S. Census, </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> stated that this was insufficient to </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> achieve a “safe and decent” </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> standard of living. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">We are not without solutions to inequality, but we are bereft of conversation, information and political will. We have abundant prosperity, it is time we shared it. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: x-large;">References</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">$5 a day: "A Global Middle Class Is More Promise than Reality, </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.pewglobal.org/2015/07/08/a-global-middle-class-is-more-promise-than-reality/">Pew Research Center</a>, chart “How Many Live on How Much” </span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;">average income is $121 a day: <a href="https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4989">Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation,</a> 2017, page 31. Divide total income by 325 million citizens and by 365 days. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">$60 a day: $56,516, median household income, divided by 2.6 people, average household size, divided by 365. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">$400,000: 237.9 million adults 20 years and above in 2017, see <a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/working-papers/distributional-national-accounts/">here</a>, p. 37, adjust for 2017 population growth to 239 million, results in $396,600 average net worth per adult. $94.8 trillion private household net worth, <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1.pdf">see here</a>, page 2, and 138. Number of U.S. households, <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/183635/number-of-households-in-the-us/">here</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">12% of adults: see U.S. Census <a href="https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2013/demo/wealth/wealth-asset-ownership.html">here</a>, Table 4. And see </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://dqydj.com/net-worth-by-age-calculator-for-the-united-states/https://dqydj.com/net-worth-by-age-calculator-for-the-united-states/">Net Worth percentile calculator</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">42.1% of all savings: see <a href="http://inequality.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/Pathways-SOTU-2016.pdf">here</a>, page 39</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">1.1% of all savings: see <a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/confirming-redistribution-wealth-upward/">Economic Policy Institute</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">2,000 times: see Credit Suisse Bank, <a href="http://publications.credit-suisse.com/tasks/render/file/index.cfm?fileid=AD6F2B43-B17B-345E-E20A1A254A3E24A5">Databook</a>, Table 2-4, 6-5</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Credit Suisse Bank: see <a href="http://publications.credit-suisse.com/tasks/render/file/index.cfm?fileid=AD6F2B43-B17B-345E-E20A1A254A3E24A5">here</a>, Table 6-1, 6-5, 6-6.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">44% of adults: see <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/2016-report-economic-well-being-us-households-201705.pdf">here</a>, page 26</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">71% increase — Federal Reserve, Flow of Funds, 2009, Q4, Table </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: large;"> B.101, and Flow of Funds, 2017, Q1, Table B.101.e, adjust the 2008 figures for inflation at BLS <a href="https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl">inflation calculator</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">$16,000 per adult, <a href="http://publications.credit-suisse.com/tasks/render/file/index.cfm?fileid=AD6F2B43-B17B-345E-E20A1A254A3E24A5">Credit Suisse</a>, Table 6-5, page 148</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">$90,000 is the average: see <a href="https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4989">here</a>, page 31</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">$56% of annual income: see <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-income-table-2-4-sources-pretax-comprehensive/">here</a>, Table 2.4</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Social Security Administration: <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2015">here</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">$1.3 million, see <a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/working-papers/distributional-national-accounts/">here</a> p. 37</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">1% at Top - $3,561 -- same as $400,000 and $1.3 million above</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Median family income, $94 - see <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-income-figure-2a-real-median-family/">here</a> - U.S. Census, HINC -01. This is for all families, and for a four person family, the median is $87,739, U.S. Census. Daily income per adult is $120. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Median cost of living, $87 a day - see <a href="http://www.epi.org/resources/budget/">here</a> and <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/what-families-need-to-get-by-epis-2015-family-budget-calculator/">here</a>. Annual cost</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> is $63,741 in Des Moines, Iowa. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">BEA average, $156 - see <a href="http://bea.gov/">BEA.gov</a>, Table 2.1, "disposable income </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> per capita", meaning after federal taxes income. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">$106 per day - see <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t24.htm">Bureau of Labor Statistics</a>, and <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CES0500000030">St. Louis Fed</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> and see <a href="https://www.measuringworth.com/">Measuring Worth</a> and the BLS inflation</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> calculator</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Kathleen Short -- from the U.S. Census, November 2013, see <a href="https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/working-papers/2013/demo/sehsd2013-28.pdf">here</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">p.23 </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Pew Research posted a report stating that 56% of Americans have incomes exceeding $50 a day, see <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/07/09/how-americans-compare-with-the-global-middle-class/">here</a>. Only 7% of humans enjoy this high income. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">See the BLS data on median and average incomes. BLS "average hourly and weekly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers" from the BLS <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t24.htm">here</a>: $747 a week, and $38,688 a year. This is the source of my $106 a day figure. The <a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2017/median-weekly-earnings-increase-4-point-2-percent-for-full-time-workers-over-the-year.htm">BLS reports</a> median earnings for 110.7 million full-time workers, 72% of the workers, was $865 a week, $44,900 a year. Some 12% of workers work full-time but less than year-round (less than 50 weeks a year). Median is higher than average by 16%, indicating a large core of low-income workers. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The SSA wage report shows only 34% earning over $45,000, and that is 55 million workers, half of the 110 million who work full-time. The two reports coincide or match. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Dan Alpert <a href="http://www.economonitor.com/danalperts2cents/2014/01/13/2013-u-s-jobs-report-card-after-all-is-said-and-done-more-was-said-than-done/">at Economonitor</a> describes this bifurcation of worker incomes, in a 2013 article, where 33% earn $15.38 an hour on average, and 67% earn $27.34 an hour. That averages to $23.54 an hour in 2013 in Alpert's report, which is considerably higher than the BLS 2017 report stating $22.10 an hour, for reasons I do not understand. The nature of the large lower-paid section is clear, and Alpert's and the BLS match if they are not the same exactly. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">This indicates that raising the minimum wage (along with a hike in the EITC) would go a long ways to improving the living conditions for those low paid workers. In previous articles here -- see <a href="https://benl8.blogspot.com/2016/12/solutions-accentuate-positive.html">this article</a>, the very end part -- I've often used the info from the EPI.org site, <a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/your-pay/">What Should You Be Earning?</a> "if wages had kept pace with productivity". For instance in 2015, the SSA wage report shows, 48 million workers, or 30% of all workers, were surviving on less than $15,000 a year. They would be earning $26,768 a year and less -- that's a 78% boost in income -- if wages and productivity had matched in the last 30 years, and they DID match between 1946 and 1976. Why not now? With $94 trillion in private savings, about $400,000 per adult, one would easily conclude that taxing a fraction of that would be sufficient to fund the jobs programs and the wage and EITC increases that I prescribe. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The chief author of the U.S. Census report, the Supplemental Poverty Measure, Kathleen Short, <a href="https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/working-papers/2013/demo/sehsd2013-28.pdf">has written</a> that the poverty level is about double the official rate: “The overall [SPM] poverty rate using the updated modified family budget thresholds [140% of poverty] was 30.0 percent, about 13.9 percentage points higher than the 16.1 percent SPM rate. . . . approximately 140 percent of the SPM threshold, rather than 200 percent, may be characterized as </span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">not able to meet their basic needs and achieve a safe and decent standard of living,</span></b><span style="font-size: large;"> or as families with ‘low income’.” The key fact here is that the author of the SPM is saying poverty stands at 30%. Not the SPM rate of 16.1%, or the Official rate of 15.1% in 2011. </span></div>
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<img alt="Wealth Gap" class="size-full wp-image-1233 disappear mom_appear" src="http://www.josephnatoli.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/111109_wealth_gap_ap_328.jpg" height="328" sizes="(max-width: 605px) 100vw, 605px" srcset="http://www.josephnatoli.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/111109_wealth_gap_ap_328.jpg 605w, http://www.josephnatoli.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/111109_wealth_gap_ap_328-300x163.jpg 300w" style="background-color: #f8f8f8; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; height: auto; margin-bottom: 20px; max-width: 100%; opacity: 1; text-align: center; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out; vertical-align: middle;" width="605" /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">A List of Needed Reforms </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">I'm adding a short list of some of the changes and solutions needed. Elect a Congress that will </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">1) eliminate private money from all public elections,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">2) restore the right of workers to form unions and to strike without fear of losing their jobs,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">3) provide tax incentives to corporations to pay higher wages to employees,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">4) create public jobs and government subsidized private employment in order to tighten the job market and raise the norm for wage income. About 20 million workers are without full-time year-round employment, and another 17 million are earning below poverty on full-time jobs. Combined, that affects 22% of the U.S. workforce, almost 1 of every 4 workers. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">5) mandate paid vacation and holidays comparable to the European Union standard,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">6) provide childcare subsidies for low-income mothers with children, </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">7) raise the Earned Income Tax Credit, </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">8) increase public housing funding. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">This will put the “demos” back in democracy and the economy. The nation can afford all these changes, we have a savings of nearly $100 Trillion. We have abundant prosperity, it is time we shared it. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">See the <a href="http://www.twodollarsaday.com/">web page</a> for <i>$2 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America</i>.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Bernie Sanders gave a speech on poverty in May of 2016, see <a href="http://www.defenddemocracy.press/bernie-sanders-poverty/">here</a>, and read his list of improvements. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #990000;">An Odd Coincidence:</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">If all 80,397,000 workers in the lower-earning half of U.S. workers earned $7.25 an hour, the minimum wage, and worked the average number of hours per week, 34.5 hours, and worked full-time and year-round, 1,716 hours, their average yearly income would be $13,006. This would be $220 higher than their actual average income of $12,786. <b>We are a minimum wage nation, at least half of us.</b> Half do not work at minimum wage and full-time year-round, rather that half includes most part-time and partial year workers. 68% of all workers are full-time and year-round, 12% partial year, and 20% part-time. (See U.S. Census, <a href="https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/cps-pinc/pinc-05.html">here</a>) (And see the related note in the References section.)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;">Another odd coincidence</span></b>: The SSA report states 44% of workers earned less than $25,000 in 2015. I found that 41% of workers fall into 3 categories. Adding the 1) "augmented" unemployed (12%) with 2) the group working full-time but less than 50 weeks (12%) (see USCensus <a href="https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/cps-pinc/pinc-05.html">here</a>), and 3) those who are working full-time year-round with income below the poverty level of $24,250 for a four-person family (17%); the total is 41% of an augmented work force. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;">Unemployment</span></b></span><span style="font-size: large;">The essay by L. Randall Wray, <a href="http://www.levyinstitute.org/publications/full-employment-are-we-there-yet">"Full Employment: Are We There Yet?"</a>, </span><span style="font-size: large;">page 7, </span><span style="font-size: large;">at the Levy Economics Institute, Feb. 2017, provides the "augmented" unemployment figure of 12%. He states that about 20million workers are "at least partially idled" in 2017; I added his figures and got 18.8 million. The National Jobs for All Coalition has similar figures, see </span><a href="http://njfac.org/index.php/2017/07/07/unemployment-data-june-2017/"><span style="font-size: large;">here</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">. My conclusion: Many of those whose incomes fall below $25,000 (44% in the SSA report), are those who are 1) unemployed (augmented including part-time involuntarily workers and discouraged workers), or 2) working partial year, or 3) full-time year-round at low wages. This group comprises 67 million workers, and their collective income is less than 7% of national income. And by the way, we are not at Full Employment argues professor Wray, far from it. He promotes a permanent government job program, an "employer of last resort" policy. An excellent paper cogently argued. </span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #990000;">Participatiory Economics </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">And if you prefer radical departure from capitalism to a democratically inspired system: </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Robin Hahnel's essay on "Participatory Economics and the Next System", </span><a href="https://zcomm.org/znetarticle/participatory-economics-and-the-next-system/"><span style="font-size: large;">here</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">, at Z Communications explains an economy owned by the workers and consumers. The corporation is eliminated and replaced by </span><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: blue; font-size: large;">"<em style="font-family: OpenSansRegular, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">social ownership</em><span style="font-family: "opensansregular" , "tahoma" , sans-serif;"> of the productive “commons,” </span><em style="font-family: OpenSansRegular, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">democratic worker councils and federations,</em><span style="font-family: "opensansregular" , "tahoma" , sans-serif;"> </span><em style="font-family: OpenSansRegular, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">neighborhood consumer councils and federations</em><span style="font-family: "opensansregular" , "tahoma" , sans-serif;">, and a very carefully constructed procedure we call </span><em style="font-family: OpenSansRegular, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">participatory planning </em><span style="font-family: "opensansregular" , "tahoma" , sans-serif;">that these councils and federations use to coordinate, or plan, their interrelated activities themselves."</span> </span><span style="font-size: large;">There is an alternative to capitalism as we know it. Like universal health care replacing the current for profit model, this change will require a revolution. </span><a href="http://benl8.blogspot.com/2008/03/economic-justice-and-democracy-by-robin.html">I <span style="font-size: large;">wrote an essay</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> at this blog about Hahnel's book </span><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Economic Justice and Democracy</i>,</span><span style="font-size: large;"> see here. That was 9 years ago. </span><br />
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<img alt="Giving Every Child a Monthly Check for an Even Start" class="summary-thumbnail-image loaded" data-image-dimensions="649x541" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" data-image-resolution="500w" data-image="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/551caca4e4b0a26ceeee87c5/55bfa728e4b0097b25001286/5807ab03be6594d9f606aa48/1476897677651/Living+in+Poverty.png" data-load="false" data-parent-ratio="1.5" data-position-mode="standard" data-src="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/551caca4e4b0a26ceeee87c5/55bfa728e4b0097b25001286/5807ab03be6594d9f606aa48/1476897677651/Living+in+Poverty.png" data-version="module" src="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/551caca4e4b0a26ceeee87c5/55bfa728e4b0097b25001286/5807ab03be6594d9f606aa48/1476897677651/Living+in+Poverty.png?format=500w" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-size: 13px; height: 376.78274268104775px; left: 0px; line-height: normal; opacity: 1; position: absolute; top: -37.891371340523875px; transition: opacity 0.6s; vertical-align: middle; width: 452px;" /></div>
The adult income (if a two adult family) would be $38 a day, just above the $34 a day of official poverty. </div>
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Ben Leethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14058357566482675649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047544383372645090.post-29948377191755738622017-09-19T15:33:00.002-07:002018-04-27T14:11:57.879-07:00Growth and the Federal Budget <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-size: large; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: x-large;">Growth and the Federal Budget:</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-size: large; white-space: pre;"> </span> <span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: x-large;">A Sixty-Six Year Historical Analysis</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">I address in this essay the question of whether and by how much the federal budget was in deficit, and what the performance of the economy was during the terms of presidents beginning with Truman through Barack Obama. It is a long essay, and it has tedious numerical comparisons. Past the half-way point I insert some tables which allow for comparison between presidencies, and they may be a short-cut through the details of the essay. In short, I think most will find it very boring and long-winded. So only those who have a burning curiosity about the topic should proceed.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Readers who wish a quick overview of my thinking should read the essay <a href="http://benl8.blogspot.com/2016/12/solutions-accentuate-positive.html">Solutions</a>, December 2016.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I offer a list, another list, of 14 reforms. It's a utopian vision.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">On October 12, 2017, I finished reading <i><b><span style="background-color: #ffd966; color: blue;">Debtors' Prison</span></b></i> by Robert Kuttner, written in 2013. I highly recommend it. It is challenging, complex, and thorough. It is a slow, involved read. Better than any other volume, it summarizes the current fragile condition we live in. Kuttner writes for the American Prospect. Here's my summation: Bad debt is, more often than not, the fault of bad creditors creating loans in a speculative market that inflate an asset-market bubble. A cascade of bad loans can and does destroy economies. Debt forgiveness and restructuring is far more productive than crushing strict repayments. Bankers need to be held jointly responsible. Their moral hazard is as great as the borrowers. Bad debt caused by financial speculation can destroy a national or global economy. Page 282: <span style="background-color: #ffd966; color: blue;">"What can the experience of the war (WWII) and immediate postwar era teach us as we confront today's high debt levels and austerity programs? Above all, the lesson seems to be that to attain reliable prosperity, we need to relieve debts, constrain speculative finance, and reinvest in the real economy." </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Recently I read a speech delivered by my anarchist-libertarian congressman, <a href="https://mcclintock.house.gov/newsroom/speeches/ntlf-tax-colloquium-0">Tom McClintock</a>, and it riled me because of its erroneous claim that Reagan cut federal spending. In fact, Reagan increased federal spending, let me make it clear. McClintock is blinded by his reverence for Reagan to the extent that he is willing to alter history. He gave another short speech in Congress that I admire, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw9mlVCx-yU">see here</a>, but it also lacks a critical analysis of the causes of budget imbalance. The trajectory of today’s budget is dangerous and needs rectifying, but the main cause is a medical and health care system with out-of-control pricing and costs. I have dealt with that in another essay, <a href="http://benl8.blogspot.com/2017/03/healthcare-one-aspect-of-failing-system.html">see here</a>, and it receives much ado in public discussion. This question of the influence of the budget’s deficits, surpluses, national debt, and growth, and shared growth — it’s fascinating. Proceed if you agree. </span></span></div>
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Revenue and Expense as % GDP.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica"; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica"; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-kerning: none;">Congressman McClintock’s Talk on Tax Reform, </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>August, 2017</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">I annotate the speech with notes in blue, September, 2017. </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span>The graph at the right </b></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><b>(click for enlargement) shows that from 1982 to 1989, Reagan's budget years, the expenditures increased while the revenues decreased, and the budget was in deficit by 4.15% of GDP on average for eight years (see Table 1.2, <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2017/assets/hist.pdf">Historical Tables</a>). The source is <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/115th-congress-2017-2018/reports/52370-outlook_0.pdf">this CBO report, page 9. </a> (click "Print Friendly")</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">NTLF Tax Colloquium</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">August 18, 2017 Speeches</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://mcclintock.house.gov/newsroom/speeches/ntlf-tax-colloquium-0"><span style="font-size: large;">NTLF Tax Colloquium</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thank you for organizing this discussion on tax reform. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: large;">I believe the most important mandate given to this administration and this Congress is to revive our economy.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: large;">Our success or failure will largely be determined on achieving this objective and will be judged by the answer every American gives to Ronald Reagan’s question in both 1980 and 1984: “Are you better off than you were four years ago?</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">In order for this answer to be a resounding “YES,” our economic reforms have to be enacted this year for them to have time to improve the economy and most importantly, the daily lives of individuals, by next year.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The good news is that we know how to do this because we’ve done so many times before. When Ronald Reagan took office in January of 1981, we suffered double digit unemployment, </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Fact check: 7.5% unemployment for January, 1981: </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>see <a href="https://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">https://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet</span></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">double digit inflation </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">(10.3%)</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"> and double digit interest rates </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">(19.08)</span><span style="font-kerning: none;">. Reagan diagnosed the challenge with these words: “In this great economic crisis, government is not the solution to our problems – government IS the problem.” He rolled back the tax and regulatory burdens that were crushing the economy. He slashed the top federal income tax rate from 70 percent to 28 percent and cut federal spending by one percent of GDP. </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">(Fact check, wrong, he increased spending, see below)</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"> He produced one of the most prolonged economic expansions in our nation’s history and because of that growth, our revenues nearly doubled.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Fact check: In constant dollars (2009 chained dollars) revenues increased by 25%, 1982 to 1989 inclusive, they did not double. And outlays increased by 19%. But his average yearly deficit was 4.1% of GDP, only surpassed by Obama whose yearly average deficit ran at 4.6% of GDP. The federal debt under Reagan increased from 32% of GDP to almost 50%. (See <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Historical Tables,</span></a> Table 1.2 and 1.3. And see Federal Reserve FRED, <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GFDEGDQ188S"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">here</span></a>.) From 1982 to 1994, the twelve years of Republican presidents, the federal debt increased from 32% of GDP to 64%. (Each president operates the first year on the budget of his predecessor. Therefore I ascribe the years 1982 to 1989 to Reagan, and continue post-dating for all presidents.) </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;">This wasn’t a uniquely Republican policy. John F. Kennedy did the same thing in the early 1960’s with the same result. Harry Truman abolished the excess profits tax in 1945, reduced income tax rates and slashed federal spending from $85 billion down to $30 billion in FY 1946. </span><span style="font-kerning: none;">Fact check: World War II ended in victory, and the special taxation and spending for the war ended. The increase was needed solely for the war.</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"> The result was the post-war economic boom. </span><span style="font-kerning: none;">To credit tax policy with the economic boom is a wild stretch of the economic facts. Economic growth during the WWII war years exceeded growth of any other period in American history, a direct result of high taxes, borrowing and high spending. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;">After his drubbing in 1994, Bill Clinton announced that the era of big government was over. He approved what amounted to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Federal_Capital_Gains_Tax_Collections_1954-2009_history_chart.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; color: black;">the biggest capital gains tax cut</span></a> in American history (</span><span style="font-kerning: none;">Fact check: not accurate, see the graph, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Reform_Act_of_1976"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">1976 Tax Reform</span></a> bill passed under President Ford holds that distinction</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;">), overhauled entitlement spending – in his words, ending welfare as we know it – </span><span style="font-kerning: none;">(Welfare is only one aspect of so-called entitlement spending. Social Security and Medicare are far larger, and Clinton did not cut them.)</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"> and cut federal spending by 4 percent of GDP. </span><span style="font-kerning: none;">By 3.1% of GDP. He also raised taxes by 3.0% of GDP. The fact that Clinton raised taxes is carefully avoided by Mr. McClintock, it does not fit into his always-cut-taxes proposal. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">The efficacy of these policies should be beyond reproach. But I would like to offer a few caveats. </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;">(McClintock cannot acknowledge that Clinton raised taxes. That’s a caveat for the reader to offer.)</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;">FIRST, we DO need to worry about debt. Tax reductions without spending restraint simply shifts taxes to the future and crowds out investment capital that would otherwise be available for economic expansion as government borrows to cover the difference. Reagan’s one percent cut in spending relative to GDP — </span><span style="font-kerning: none;">the</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"> </span><span style="font-kerning: none;">basic error of McClintock’s speech</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"> — still increased debt relative to GDP -- but our debt was less than $1 trillion. Today it is over $20 trillion. </span><span style="font-kerning: none;">(Debt is properly measured as a percentage of GDP, not as a nominal money amount. This comparison, $1 trillion to $20 trillion is meaningless and misleading. See the table below for the range of Debt to GDP over the years. The idea that government borrowing “crowds out investment capital” is wrong. Keynes dealt with idea in his <a href="http://newdeal.feri.org/misc/keynes2.htm"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">open letter to Roosevelt </span></a>published in the New York Times in January, 1933. See paragraph 5.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0433ff;">Fact check: Wrong. Reagan did not cut “spending relative to GDP”. Just the opposite. Federal outlays before Reagan, between 1975 and 1981 (inclusive 8 years), averaged 20.2% of GDP (</span><a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals" style="color: #0433ff;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Historical Tables</span></a><span style="color: #0433ff;">, U.S. Budget, Table 1.3). Reagan increased spending by 1.4% of GDP, from 20.2% to 21.6% of GDP as an average for the 8 years in office. This was a record high in federal spending since World War II, only to be exceeded by Obama’s 8 years, who’s spending averaged 21.7%, or just 0.1% higher than Reagan’s average spending.<span style="background-color: black;"> </span></span><b><span style="background-color: black; color: yellow;">McClintock will never admit that Reagan almost outspent Obama, just missing by 0.1% of GDP. </span></b><span style="color: #0433ff;">Reagan also cut revenues (from 17.8% of GDP to 17.5%) while raising expenditures (from 20.2% of GDP to 21.6%). That’s a swing of 1.7% of GDP, equal to $323 billion per year in today’s dollars, or $2.6 trillion over 8 years. National debt increased from 32% of GDP to almost 50.0% of GDP under Reagan. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Keynes in the 1930s urged Roosevelt to run a deficit, to spend, to go into debt, which Roosevelt did. Between 1933 and 1941 the deficit averaged <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FYFSGDA188S"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">3.5% of GDP per year</span></a>. (See note at end of essay.) There was no alternative but to inject capital into the economy, Keynes explained. Private investors saw no positive outcome, and purchasers had lost their incomes and savings. Only government had the means to create employment and inject purchasing power into the economy. This Keynesian policy is what Reagan did in the 1980s, although what he did is referred to as “military Keynesianism” because predominantly he invested in the military. Roosevelt invested in public works and direct public employment. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Reagan while cutting taxes increased spending — the perfect recipe for creating debt — and his average deficit was 4.2% of GDP for his 8 year term, and the national debt grew from 31.3% to 50.0% of GDP. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">See <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/budget/fy2018/hist.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Historical Tables of the U.S. Budget,</span></a> 2017, pages 29 and 30, and 35 and 36. After cutting taxes in his first year, Reagan raised taxes eleven different times, see <a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/02/04/133489113/Reagan-Legacy-Clouds-Tax-Record"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">this article</span></a> that quotes Reagan’s biographer who says, “And so there's a false mythology out there about Reagan as this conservative president who came in and just cut taxes and trimmed federal spending in a dramatic way. It didn't happen that way. It's false.” In the interview David Stockman, Reagan's budget chief comments about Reagan raising taxes subsequent to the early tax cut, "</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>He wasn't very happy about it. He did it reluctantly. But at the end of the day, the math was overwhelming.</b></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 17px;">" </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">And <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/10-things-conservatives-dont-want-you-to-know-about-ronald-reagan-7a87723a4f68/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">according to this article</span></a> he raised taxes and took the wrong side on many issues. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> average revenues<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> outlays<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> deficit<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> national debt as % GDP</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> 32.0% in 1973</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Eight years before Reagan:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>17.8%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> 20.2%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> 3.3% of GDP<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>31.3% in 1981</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"> 1974 to 1981<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Eight Reagan years<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> 17.5%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> 21.6%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> 4.2%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>50.0% in 1989<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"> </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">1982 to 1989</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">G. H. W. Bush,</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"> </span><span style="font-kerning: none;">Bush I, ran into a recession in 1990. His job growth creation and his GDP growth per capita were both one quarter the rates of Reagan’s years, but his imbalanced spending and taxing ratios were the same. Bush I grew the national debt by 12.8% of GDP in only 4 years, rivaling Reagan’s 8 year growth of 14.1%. The median household income also fell during Bush I’s term.</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">In Clinton’s first budget year, 1993, revenues came in at 17.0%, and outlays were 20.7%, the deficit was 3.8%. By year 2000, Clinton had reversed this so that budget revenues were 20.0%, and outlays 17.6%. Instead of being in deficit by 3.8% he ran a surplus of 2.3%, a swing of 6.1% of GDP, which today would equal $1.17 trillion . In other words, Clinton raised taxes by 3.0%, while cutting spending by 3.1%. Representative Tom McClintock studiously avoids mentioning Bill Clinton’s tax increases, and ignores Reagan's very high spending.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Clinton cut spending by 4 percent of GDP </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Fact check: Clinton cut spending by 3.1% of GDP (U.S. Budget, <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Historical Tables</span></a>, Table 1.2). </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;"> </span><span style="font-kerning: none;">and was successful in reducing debt relative to GDP.</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;"> (Clinton also raised tax revenues from 17.1% under G. H. W. Bush, to 18.7%. See the table below) </span><span style="font-kerning: none;">The budget pending before the House starts that process, but we have a long way to go, and we can’t safely count on economic growth to fully offset lost revenue. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Trump projects <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/gap-between-trump-cbo-predictions-on-economic-growth-the-largest-on-record"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">a growth rate of 2.9% per year</span></a> for ten years, a rate 1.1% above the CBO projection and ridiculed as fantasy thinking. The CBPP states, “Unrealistic growth projections not only make deficit-increasing tax cuts appear more affordable than they actually are, but could also add to pressure for cuts in programs for low- and middle-income families if the promised growth fails to materialize.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">G.W. Bush’s presidency was marked by large tax cuts in 2001 and 2003, and large expenditures for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and by a policy of regulatory laxity that resulted in the self-destruction of the financial system, and the collapse of an enormous asset bubble in the price of housing. As the banks began failing, the greatest recession in 75 years was instigated. During G.W. Bush’s last 14 months the economy slid into a deepening recession, and Obama ended the recession 4 months into his term of office. Obama’s revenues fell to 14.6% of GDP for two years, in 2009 and 2010, a drop of 5.4% from Clinton’s highest revenue total of 20.0% in year 2000. The recession pushed Obama’s revenues to 27% less revenue than Clinton’s revenues. A drop of 5.4% of GDP in today’s economy is $1.03 trillion. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Revenues during the Bush II presidency averaged 16.5% of GDP, this is 2.2% lower than the Clinton 8 year average. That would equal $442 billion in today’s money, and continued over 8 years would reach a $3.5 trillion shortfall. Bush II failed to raise adequate revenues, and he ran the economy into the ground. Obama later in his second term managed to revive the economy, <a href="https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS12000000"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">14 million</span></a> jobs were created, but revenue totals for his entire presidency averaged just 16.8% of GDP, slightly higher than the Bush II average, and lower than Reagan’s revenue average of 17.5% of GDP. G.W. Bush average revenue total of 16.5% of GDP are the lowest of all presidents <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/budget/fy2018/hist.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">since Truman in 1950</span></a>. (see page 29)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">If lower taxes make for a good economy, then Bush II’s term definitely refutes this argument. The decade 2000 to 2010 witnessed the slowest growth since the 1930s, slower than any decade by half. Professor <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ringing-out-the-old-year-_b_802711.html"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Andrew Sum</span></a> summarized this decade: “<span style="background-color: #ead1dc;">First, the nation’s real Gross Domestic Product, a measure of the aggregate output of final goods and services, grew by only 17% over the past decade, the worst economic performance in 70 years. In the 1990s, the US economy grew by 40%, and we never experienced a GDP growth rate below 37% since the 1930s. Adjusted for population growth, real GDP per capita increased by only a little over 7%, again a 70 year record low.</span>”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Obama had the misfortune of serving during the worst depression in 75 years. As Robert Kuttner argues in his book Debtors’ Prison, Obama presided over a debt-deflation depression caused by a financial crisis. Obama’s deficit spending reflected increases to pay for the crisis in employment: unemployment insurance, food stamps, and added social aid for families and households thrown out of work, and bailing out the banks, but not the home owners. Almost <a href="https://www.bls.gov/mlr/2011/04/art1full.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">9 million workers</span></a> (6% of all workers <a href="https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS12000000"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">see here</span></a>) were permanently laid off from their jobs, and <a href="https://bobsullivan.net/restless/7-million-americans-lost-their-homes-during-the-recession-are-they-ready-to-buy-again/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">7.2 million</span></a> (or one in every eight mortgage holders) lost their homes. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">SECOND, (with apologies to the Bill Clinton campaign) IT’S THE SPENDING, STUPID. The European experience with austerity programs in the 1990’s illustrates this nicely. Austerity was a combination of tax increases and spending cuts. Those countries, such as Spain, Italy and Portugal that relied on tax increases did poorly. Those countries, such as Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway, which relied on spending cuts did very well. Between 1993 and 1997, Sweden reduced spending from 71.5 percent of GDP to 51 percent and its economic growth rate doubled relative to the prior decade. </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255); color: #0433ff;"><span style="color: #0433ff;">(See the comparison of government spending from an </span><a href="https://data.oecd.org/gga/general-government-spending.htm" style="color: #0433ff;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">OECD study</span></a><span style="color: #0433ff;">. The U.S. total is 37.6% of GDP. The U.S. ranks sixth lowest out of 30 other advanced nations. And see Chart 9 </span><a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/the-top-charts-of-2016-13-charts-that-show-the-difference-between-the-economy-we-have-now-and-the-economy-we-could-have/" style="color: #0433ff;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">here</span></a><span style="color: #0433ff;">, describing the austere spending since 2009 compared to all other U.S. recessions. In </span><a href="https://mcclintock.house.gov/newsroom/speeches/budget-for-fiscal-year-2018-house-budget-committee"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: #351c75;">another speech</span></a><span style="color: #0433ff;">, this one in the House, Representative McClintock argues that our tax rate is now verging on the highest possible “natural” amount, after which tax evasion and moving citizenship to other lower tax nations will occur. This is patently false. Twenty-four other nations have higher rates.)</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;">THIRD, flattening and broadening the tax base is just as important as lowering rates. The Mercatus Center at George Mason University estimates that tax compliance costs the economy $1 trillion annually including capital misallocation caused by political preferences littering the tax code. The more we flatten and broaden that code, the fewer distortions in the flow of capital and the greater the productivity of capital allocations. </span><span style="font-kerning: none;">(The $1 trillion figure is meaningless, it probably just reflects normal accounting activity. By “flatten” he must mean tax all incomes at the same “flat tax” rate, and “broaden” must mean eliminate tax deductions which are also called tax expenditures. Since 2011 the Republican budget plan has advocated cutting tax expenditures, but never have they presented specific cuts, leaving one to conclude that they won’t risk offending anyone, or that they really do not have a plan whatsoever.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;">FOURTH, lowering rates does matter. In the last sixty years, the top income tax rate has been as high as 92 percent and as low as 28 percent, but income tax revenues have stayed remarkably steady at between 13 and 20 percent of GDP. </span><span style="font-kerning: none;">(The economy grew faster and shared its prosperity with all income levels when the top marginal income tax rates were 90% on income in excess of $1 million. This is indisputable. See <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">here</span></a>— State of Working America. (And see <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-income-figure-2n-change-share-market/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">here</span></a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/12/12/it-will-take-more-than-faster-growth-to-reverse-inequality/?hpid=hp_regional-hp-cards_rhp-card-posteverything%3Ahomepage%2Fcard&utm_term=.177134f90dfc#comments"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">here</span></a> and <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-income-figure-2m-change-real-annual/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">here</span></a> and <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/who-gains/#/?start=1976&end=2008"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">here</span></a> — compare years 1946 to 1976 (when the lower 90% of earners received about 72% of all growth), and then compare years 1976 to 2008 (when the lower 90% received 1% of all growth). Also the <a href="http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/amount-revenue-source"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">corporate tax</span></a> was much greater. For instance, in 1949 corporate taxes equaled 72% of the income tax, and in 2015 they equaled 22%.)</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"> Indeed, some of the lowest income tax revenues came when the top tax rate was at its highest. Some of the highest revenues came when the top rate was quite low. But although the tax rate within this envelope has remarkably little effect on revenues relative to GDP, it has a huge impact on the growth of GDP, and thus the growth of total revenues. </span><span style="font-kerning: none;">(He offers no example of this claim. The tables I present below investigate the relationship between growth and deficits. The economy grew at its fastest during the period 1946 to 1976, a fact. The highest income tax rate varied from 91% to 70% on incomes over $1 million. In the 30 year period, 1947 to 1976 inclusive, the federal government ran a deficit of 0.6% of GDP per year, on average. In the same 30 year period personal income increased at a rate of 3.3% per year and all income groups saw their incomes double in inflation adjusted dollars. This was the greatest era of shared prosperity in American history. The highest tax rates were between 70% to 91% on income above $1 million. The effective tax rate on high incomes was between 45% and 55%.<a href="http://cdn.equitablegrowth.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/24163023/120716-WP-distributional-national-accounts.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;"> Saez, Piketty and Zucman</span></a>.)</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Finally, what are the prospects of getting this done? The good news is that past performance is not (necessarily) an indicator of future results. I am still optimistic that we will be able to get the tax bill done this fall for three reasons. First, reconciliation was poorly adapted for policy reform like health care but is very well adapted for tax reform. Second, the thorniest matter, the Border Adjustment Tax, has been dropped from the discussion. And third, this HAS to be done and every one of my colleagues fully understands this.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here is a quote from the Piketty, Saez, and Zucman paper, page 18. It capsulizes the growth imbalances of the past 34 years:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: #ffd966; font-size: large;">“Table 2 decomposes growth by income groups since World War II in two 34 year long subperiods.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: #ffd966; font-size: large;">From 1946 to 1980, real macroeconomic growth per adult was strong (+95%) and</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: #ffd966; font-size: large;">equally distributed—in fact, it was slightly equalizing, as bottom 90% grew faster than top</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: #ffd966; font-size: large;">10% incomes.33 In the next 34 years period, from 1980 to 2014, aggregate growth slowed down</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: #ffd966; font-size: large;">(+60%) and became extremely uneven. Looking first at income before taxes and transfers,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: #ffd966; font-size: large;">income stagnated for bottom 50% earners: for this group, average pre-tax income was $16,000</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: #ffd966; font-size: large;">in 1980—expressed in 2014 dollars, using the national income deflator—and still is $16,200 in</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: #ffd966; font-size: large;">2014. Growth for the middle 40% was weak, with a pre-tax increase of 42% since 1980 (0.8% a</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: #ffd966; font-size: large;">year). At the top, by contrast, average income more than doubled for the top 10%; it tripled</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: #ffd966; font-size: large;">for the top 1%. The further one moves up the ladder, the higher the growth rates, culminating</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: #ffd966; font-size: large;">in an increase of over 600% for the top 0.001%—ten times the macroeconomic growth rate.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: #ffd966; font-size: large;">Such sharply divergent growth experiences over decades highlight the need for growth statistics</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: #ffd966; font-size: large;">disaggregated by income groups.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here’s Warren Buffett’s advice in a New York Times op-ed in 2011: <span style="background-color: #ea9999;">“I have worked with investors for 60 years and I have yet to see anyone — not even when capital gains rates were 39.9 percent in 1976-77 — shy away from a sensible investment because of the tax rate on the potential gain. People invest to make money, and potential taxes have never scared them off. And to those who argue that higher rates hurt job creation, I would note that a net of nearly 40 million jobs were added between 1980 and 2000. You know what’s happened since then: lower tax rates and far lower job creation.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: #ea9999; font-size: large;">Since 1992, the I.R.S. has compiled data from the returns of the 400 Americans reporting the largest income. In 1992, the top 400 had aggregate taxable income of $16.9 billion and paid federal taxes of 29.2 percent on that sum. In 2008, the aggregate income of the highest 400 had soared to $90.9 billion — a staggering $227.4 million on average — but the rate paid had fallen to 21.5 percent.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span>For a little perspective, between 1992 and 2008, 16 years, the economy's output per person grew by 35%, by about a third (from $36,064 to $48,697 -- see <a href="https://www.measuringworth.com/usgdp/">Measuring Worth</a>). The median household's income grew by 9% (from $51,390 to $56,076). The top earning 400 saw their incomes increase by a 750% -- not 35%. Their tax rate dropped by 26%. Makes you feel good? </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Between 1972 and 2008, a 36 year period, <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2017/demo/p60-259.html">median household income</a> (Table A-1) has grown by 12.7%. The economy's output per person has grown by 99.1%, just about doubled. The <a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/76-81pwt.pdf">wealth of the top 2%</a> grew by a 122% (1972 to 2007); and from 1972 to 2017 it has grown by 222%, tripling -- a conservative estimate. Makes you feel good? </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">From 1981 to 2017, <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/budget/fy2018/hist.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">The Federal Budget</span></a>, Growth of U.S. Debt, U.S. Job Growth, and More </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> <b> </b></span><b>Receipts<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Outlays<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Deficit<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> </b></span><b>Growth of National Debt<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">as % of GDP</span></b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; white-space: pre;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Reagan <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>17.5%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>21.6%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> 4.1% / yr<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>35.8% to 49.9%</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>8 year average<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <b>+14.1%</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> 1982 to 1989<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">G.H.W.Bush <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>17.1%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>21.3%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> 4.1% / yr<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>49.9% to 62.7%</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>4 years<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <b>+12.8%</b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> 1990 to 1993</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Clinton<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>18.7%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>18.8%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> 0.3% / yr<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>62.7% to 54.9%</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>8 year average<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <b> - 7.8%</b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> 1994 to 2001</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">G.W. Bush<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>16.5%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>19.9%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> 3.3% / yr<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>54.9% to 77.4%</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>8 year average<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <b>+ 22.5%</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> 2002 to 2009</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Obama <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>16.8%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>21.7%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> 4.6% / yr<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>77.4% to 104.1%</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-kerning: none;">8 year average<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <b>+ 26.7%</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> 2010 to 2017 </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <b>Job Growth <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> GDP per capita <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Real Median Household Income</b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Reagan<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>16.753 mn <b>+2.0% / yr</b> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>+2.8% / yr</b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>$48,096 to $53,367</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <b>+ 1.4% / yr</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">G. H. W. 2.367 mn <b>+0.5% / yr</b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> <b> </b></span><b>+0.7% / yr</b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"><b> </b> </span>$53,367<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> to $50,478<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> Bush </span> <b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> - 1.4% / yr</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Clinton<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>18.703 mn <b>+ 2.0% / yr</b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> <b> </b></span><b>+2.9% /yr</b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>$50,478 to $56,531<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> + 1.5% / yr</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">G. W. Bush <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>4.374 mn <b>+ 0.4% / yr</b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> <b> </b></span><b>+0.6% / yr</b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>$56,531 to $54,988<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> - 0.4% / yr</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Obama <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>9.929 mn <b> + 0.9 / yr</b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <b>+1.5% / yr</b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"><b> </b> </span>$54,988 to $56,516<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <b>+0.3% / yr</b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b> </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>from Dec. 2009 to Jan. 2017 jobs grew by 1.4% / yr, some 14.1 million new jobs<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Obama years <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSA672N"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">median household income</span></a>: began at $54,988 in 2009, dropped to $52,666 in 2012</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>rose to $56,516 in 2015 —- between 2012 and 2015 it rose at a rate of <b>+ 2.4% / yr</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> </b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> </span>see <span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;"><a href="http://multpl.com/">multpl.com</a></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-kerning: none;">Fed. Debt as % of GDP — <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GFDEGDQ188S"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GFDEGDQ188S</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>see FRED for median Hh Income</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSA672N"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSA672N</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Productivity Growth since 1950s see <a href="https://www.bls.gov/lpc/prodybar.htm"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">https://www.bls.gov/lpc/prodybar.htm</span></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">*************************************************************************<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Tedious calculations go into this analysis. My last tedium is to compare the revenue shortfall of three presidents over their first 8 years of office, Roosevelt, Reagan, and Obama. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Unemployment rate dropped from 25% to 9.6%, 1933 to 1937 (see here, article by <a href="http://rooseveltinstitute.org/real-lesson-great-depression-fiscal-policy-works/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Marshall Auerbach at Roosevelt Institute</span></a>). Roosevelt was re-elected in 1937 by a landslide mostly because of the reduction in unemployment. He achieved this by over-spending, going into debt. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">During those first four years, 1933 to 1937 (5 years inclusive), average revenues averaged 6.7% of GDP, but his outlays averaged 13.3% of GDP, and the deficit averaged 7.4% of GDP. He really overspent!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">(This comes from Table 1.2, Office of Management and Budget, Historical Tables— <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals</span></a>) </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Between 1933 and 1941 the economic output doubles, and between 1941 and 1945 it increases by 77%, the legacy of the WWII years. The number of citizens employed increased by 40% in the war years. The national debt expanded to 120% of GDP. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Also I discovered the following about disposable personal income, 1929 to 1944: </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">1929 to 1933 — down 26%, or down 6.5% per year</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">1933 to 1941 — up 67% in 8 years, or 8.3% per year</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">1941 to 1944 — up 18% in 3 years, or 6% per year </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This originates from <a href="http://bea.gov/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">BEA.gov</span></a>, Table 2.1, my own calculations</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">I questioned the results and checked with Measuring Worth, GDP per capita figures. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Measuring Worth, and a graph at Visualizing Economics </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><a href="http://visualizingeconomics.com/blog/2011/03/08/long-"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">http://visualizingeconomics.com/blog/2011/03/08/long-</span></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>term-real-growth-in-us-gdp-per-capita-1871-2009</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">1929 to 1933 — down 28.5%, or 7.1% per year</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">1933 to 1941 — up 80%, or 10% per year</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">1941 to 1944 — up 44.8%, or 14.9% per year</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Deficit hawks may object, they may claim that deficits cause runaway inflation, a sovereign debt crisis that forces high interest rates, and a crowding out of investment — all of this did not happen. The economy revived. With high taxation rates on corporations and high earners, along with strong union rights, the golden years of capitalism brought broadly shared prosperity. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">During the Roosevelt era, his Federal Reserve Chair was <a href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/02/john-kenneth-galbraith-and-marriner-eccles-explained-50-years-ago-that-inequality-causes-crashes.html"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Marriner Eccles</span></a>, serving from 1936 to 1948. About the causes of the Great Depression, Eccles observed in his 1951 memoir, <span style="background-color: #ffe599;">“As mass production has to be accompanied by mass consumption, mass consumption, in turn, implies a distribution of wealth — not of existing wealth, but of wealth as it is currently produced — to provide men with buying power equal to the amount of goods and services offered by the nation’s economic machinery. Instead of achieving that kind of distribution, a giant suction pump had by 1929-30 drawn into a few hands an increasing portion of currently produced wealth. This served them as capital accumulations. But by taking purchasing power out of the hands of mass consumers, the savers denied to themselves the kind of effective demand for their products that would justify a reinvestment of their capital accumulations in new plants. In consequence, as in a poker game where the chips were concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, the other fellows could stay in the game only by borrowing. When their credit ran out, the game stopped.” </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The greedy giant suction pump, sucking since 1980 until 2016, has sucked prosperity from half of the U.S. population since 1980. See the <a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/research-analysis/economic-growth-in-the-united-states-a-tale-of-two-countries/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">article</span></a> by the Washington Center for Equitable Growth for a definitive analysis of the unequal growth over the past 36 years. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">See the following two articles: </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Article at “The Balance” on the deficit and debt over historical time. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><a href="https://www.thebalance.com/us-debt-by-president-by-dollar-and-percent-3306296"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">https://www.thebalance.com/us-debt-by-president-by-dollar-and-percent-3306296</span></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">And this article from the Economic Policy Institute about the danger of targeting deficit reduction too rapidly: “<a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/ib355-deficit-reduction-targets/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Dangerous targets</span></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Why setting a specific deficit reduction target would worsen the economic and fiscal situation”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Why should this be important to Mr. and Mrs. Citizen? Because when Republicans assert flatly that tax cuts and low taxes in general create shared prosperity — this is clearly false. Tax increases on the wealthiest and their wealth, now valued at $94.8 trillion, which is also 6 times the size of the annual national income (see Federal Reserve report, Flow of Funds, page 2, and Bureau of Economic Analysis (<a href="http://bea.gov/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">BEA.gov</span></a>) Table 2.1) are necessary. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>revenue<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>outlays<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>deficit<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Growth in Nat. Debt </span></span>as % GDP</div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Truman<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>16.7%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>17.0%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>-1.3%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>from 85.6% to 69.2%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>down 16.4%</b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Eisenhower<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>16.9%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>17.3%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>-3.0%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>from 69.2% to 50.6%</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>down 13.6%</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Kennedy - Johnson<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> 17.3%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>18.2%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>-0.8%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>from 50.6% to 35.4%</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>down 15.2%</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Nixon - Ford<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>17.3%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>19.3%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>-2.0%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>from 35.4% to 33%</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>down 1.4%</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Carter<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>18.3%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>20.6%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>-2.3%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>from 33% to 34.0%</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>up 1.0%</b> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">_______________________________________________________________________________</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>job growth <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Real GDP/capita<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Real Median Family Income</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Truman<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>+13.6%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>9.3% — <b>2.3% / year<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>+3.1% / year</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Eisenhower<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>+11.0%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>15.2% — <b>1.9% / year<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>+3.4% / year</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Kennedy - Johnson<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>+30.0%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>27.0% — <b>3.4% / year<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>+3.9% / year</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Nixon - Ford<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>+18.9%<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>22.2% — <b> 2.8% / year <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1.2% / year</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Carter <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>+7.0% <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>- 0.7% —<b> - 0.2% / year <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>- 1.5% / year</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">I retrieved the data on Real Median Family Income for these years from <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-income-figure-2b-real-median-income/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">State of Working America</span></a>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The data on Real median Household income is not available from any source for years before 1980.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">There are thousands of mitigating factors determining economic growth and its balanced distribution. The U.S. government, at all levels — local, state and federal — spend about 37% of GDP. This is a very large portion of all spending. But the private economy has a far greater effect on the economy than the government’s budget.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The relationship of the deficits, debt and household growth should shed a little light on how important the debt is. The government should attempt to direct the economy towards high efficiency, productivity, and widely-spread prosperity. Over the past 34 years we have not had balanced growth among income classes. Society should direct the economy to provide a floor of basic services and goods. Too often the mantra of free market punishes the many while rewarding the few. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">An <a href="https://tcf.org/content/commentary/fantasies-future-wage-growth/">article</a> at the Century Foundation, by Jeff Madrick and Amanda Novello, elaborates on the Reagan years in detail, drawing the same conclusions as this blog draws. Here's a graph about investment and tax cuts:</span><br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="650" scrolling="no" src="https://plot.ly/~thecenturyfoundation/297.embed" style="background-color: white; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Miller Text', Miller-Text, serif; font-size: 20px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 35px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" width="100%"></iframe><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The article skewers those Reagan worshippers. Here's <a href="https://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet">the best thing</a> about the Reagan years, the growth in Employment to Population ratio: </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><img height="320" src="https://data.bls.gov/generated_files/graphics/latest_numbers_LNS12300000_1950_2018_all_period_M03_data.gif" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 11.96px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;" width="640" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And ages 25 to 54:</span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #990000;"> After-thought, </b></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">an <a href="https://tcf.org/content/commentary/donald-trump-dont-use-reaganomics-model/">article</a> by economist Jeff Madrick, "Donald Trump, Don't Use Reaganomics as Your Model". </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #4c1130; color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "miller text" , , serif; font-size: 20px;">The true measure of economic progress is productivity, the output per hour of work, which is the source of prosperity. For all the tax cuts and deregulation, productivity grew at only </span><a href="http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc1/Reaganomics.html" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(230, 230, 230); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Miller Text', Miller-Text, serif; font-size: 20px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.3s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0, 0.2, 1); word-break: break-word;">1.4 percent a year under Reagan</a><span style="font-family: "miller text" , , serif; font-size: 20px;">, far slower than it had between 1950 and 1973 or than it would in the 1990s (after Clinton’s tax hike) into the early 2000s. Business investment as a percent of </span><a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/A006RE1Q156NBEA" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(230, 230, 230); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Miller Text', Miller-Text, serif; font-size: 20px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.3s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0, 0.2, 1); word-break: break-word;">GDP began to fall a few years into Reagan’s first term</a><span style="font-family: "miller text" , , serif; font-size: 20px;">, only to reach unusually low levels when he left office.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">and, about the Trump budget, </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I left this comment on an article at the Tax Policy Center: </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">Since 1980 the top-earning 1% of adults has seen its annual </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">income triple (adjusting for inflation), while the lower-earning </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">50% has seen a 1% increase, from $16,000 to $16,200 per </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">adult average. The gap between incomes has also tripled </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">from 27 times to 81 times. Per adult the income of the top </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">1% has gone from $433,000 to $1,300,000 in 2014, says the </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">research from Washington Center for Equitable Growth, </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">authors Saez, Piketty, and Zucman. The tax rate on the top </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">1% has shrunk since 1980 when the top-marginal rate was </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">70% on income that exceeded $1 million – (in the 1950s it </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">had been 90%). Also corporate taxes contributed more, they </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">equaled 77% of the amount brought in by personal income </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">taxes, now they equal 22%. I write the blog Economics </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">Without Greed (http://benL8.blogspot.com) with details of </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">this, but the Saez, Piketty, Zucman report can be found at </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">WCEG. Another thing, the net wealth has increased since </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">2009, Q1; from $48 trillion to $94.8 trillion, says the Flow of </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">Funds from the FRB, page 2. Adjusting for inflation </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">"household net worth" increased by 77%. These were the </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">aftermath years of the greatest recession (or depression) </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">since the 1930s. A FTT, financial transaction tax, or a direct </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">tax on financial assets? Property taxes levied by states and </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">local government brought in $452 billion in 2014, says the </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">taxpolicycenter.org -- that is this web page. Financial assets </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">are approximately double the value of tangible assets (Flow </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">of Funds, Table 101.b), so maybe a tax of $900 billion is </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">appropriate. That's about $100 billion more than Social </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">Security revenues. If we had corporate taxes equal to 77% </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">of income taxes, as they were in 1950s, then this $900 billion </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">financial assets tax would be less than the old corporate tax, </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">by $200 billion. This leads me to think a 100% tax rate on </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #0b5394; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6800003051758px;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">income over $5 million might be the way to go. Simpler. </span></span><br />
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Ben Leethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14058357566482675649noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047544383372645090.post-57602525503033800582017-10-30T16:21:00.000-07:002018-02-02T13:50:47.684-08:00A Radical Populist Budget<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">This budget increases total U.S. government revenue and spending to the level of the German government, equal to 43% of GDP, up from 37%. This increase of 6% equals about $1.2 trillion. In the U.S. we spend about 8% of GDP on social benefit programs, in Germany those programs consume 19%, in France 24%. The quality of living for the majority of French and German citizens is higher than the U.S., even though their per adult production is smaller. This budget will raise U.S. living standards. The burden of the tax increases fall on the top-earning 1% who earned 21.7% of the annual national income, and <a href="https://itep.org/wp-content/uploads/taxday2017.pdf">paid 23.8% of all taxes</a>. They also own about 40% of all assets, have seen their net worth double in the past 9 years, and enjoy a net worth on average of about $30 million, plus their incomes have tripled, from $420,000 to $1.3 million per adult over the last 34 years. In the same period the lower-half of U.S. adults have seen a 1% increase in income, from $16,000 to $16,200 per adult, with a slight decline in net worth. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6047544383372645090" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Trump budget, and the Ryan-Republican budgets in years before, are all terrible ideas. Read my critique at the end of this article. But <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/social-media-graphics-on-tax-reform">See this series of graphs for an overview of the damage</a>. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">(A very quick idea of this Radical Budget plan can be captured by looking at the 17 steps found by scrolling down to the tax table below. Or begin where it says Summary. At the end of the essay I include two "letters to the editor" critical of the Trump/Republican Budget.) </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here are the 17 steps that raise tax revenue, cut deductions, eliminate programs, and add programs:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #351c75; color: #ead1dc;">Tax Increases</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">1. Higher income taxes on the top-earning 1% -- $540 billion.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">2. A Wealth Tax -- $186 billion.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">3. Taxing Capital Gains and Dividends at the standard personal rate --------- $88 billion.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">4. A Financial Transaction Tax -- $250 billion.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">5. Estate Tax reform -- $45 billion.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">6. A Minimum Income Tax on corporate Earnings -- $35 billion.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">7. Corporate Foreign Income Tax -- $150 billion.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">8. Additional Funding to the IRS -- $20 billion.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">9. A Tax on Carbon -- $32 billion.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">10. Social Security Tax Increase -- $50 billion (not included in the </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> total tax increase sum). </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">11. Medicare for All funded by payroll taxes and other means (again not included in the total tax increase sum) </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #351c75; color: #ead1dc;">Eliminating or Reducing Deductions:</span> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">12. Corporate Interest Expense Deduction -- $77 billion.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">13. Capping total deductions on personal income </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> at 28% -- $64 billion. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">14. Executive Pay, etc. -- $46 billion.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #351c75; color: #ead1dc; font-size: large;">Reductions in Outlays:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">15. Reducing Military Expenditures -- $111 billion.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #351c75; color: #ead1dc;">Additional Outlays for Social Benefit:</span> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">16. Earned Income Tax Credit increase -- $140 billion.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">17. Public Jobs-Creation Program -- $200 billion.</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">A report (and <a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/research-analysis/economic-growth-in-the-united-states-a-tale-of-two-countries/">a shorter article</a>) from the <a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/working-papers/distributional-national-accounts/">Washington Center on Equitable Growth</a> shows that between 1980 and 2014 the wealthiest 1% increased their yearly incomes by 200%, a tripling of income, from $420,000 to $1.3 million per adult. In the same period the lower-earning half of U.S. adults saw their incomes creep upwards by 1%, from $16,000 to $16,200. There has never been a worse time to give away massive tax cuts to the wealthiest. And with <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/2016-report-economic-well-being-us-households-201705.pdf">at least 30%</a> of the population living in precarious economic conditions, it’s not a time to cut their support. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">This Radical Populist Budget (RPB) radically shifts the tax burden to the richest; it helps the poor, the middle-income, and the upper income households -- but not the ultra rich. The process is six-fold: </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">1) Raise revenues by taxing the income and wealth of the top 1%, </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">2) eliminate unneeded deductions, </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">3) cut certain unwanted programs such as excessive military spending, and </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">4) increase spending that has a high social payoff, such as enlarging the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and creating a public jobs program. (Recently even the former Secretary of the Treasury, <a href="http://prospect.org/blog/tapped/robert-rubin-speaks-forked-tongue">Robert Rubin proposed this program.</a>) </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">5) fund Medicare for All and an increase in Social Security. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">6) Lastly, step six, provide a large tax reduction to households whose incomes fall between $50,000 and $150,000 a year. That’s a progressive budget. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">We already have a progressive budget, it’s called <a href="https://cpc-grijalva.house.gov/uploads/FINAL%20FY18%20FULL%20CPC%20BUDGET%20DOCUMENT.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">the People’s Budget</span></a>, promoted by the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and it's well worth examining. But my plan goes beyond the CPC budget and points towards a more progressive agenda. My two main sources for this rumination are 1) <a href="https://schakowsky.house.gov/images/stories/Final__1116__Schakowsky_Deficit_Reduction_Plan.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">the budget</span></a> put forward by Representative Jan Schakowsky in 2011; and 2) two articles (<a href="http://prospect.org/article/were-going-need-more-tax-revenue-heres-how-raise-it"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">here</span></a> and <a href="http://prospect.org/article/real-tax-reform-what-it-and-what-it-isn%E2%80%99t"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">here</span></a>) by Jared Bernstein, who was chief economic advisor to former Vice President Biden. And I’ve added some support from the Bernie Sanders’ platform, from the Chicago Political Economy Group (CPEG), from the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), and from the Institute on Tax and Economic Policy (ITEP), and other sources. </span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: #990000;"><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: x-large;">Summary</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">I call this budget the Radical Populist Budget (RPB), and it raises </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">$1.644 trillion in new revenue and re-allocated spending --- </span><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">$1,346 billion in new taxes, $187 billion by eliminating loophole deductions, and $111 billion by reducing military spending — for a total of $1.644 trillion. It increases the federal on-budget budget by 32% (the off-budget portion of the budget deals with only Social Security). This year's budget taxed 85%, borrowed 15%, and spent 100%. The RPB would tax 132% and spend 132%. The budget pays off the deficit and adds more revenue for programs that have high social value, and adds enough for tax cuts to some middle to high incomes. It helps at least 90% of the population.</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The current <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2017/assets/hist.pdf">2017 U.S. budget</a> raised $2,911 billion in “on-budget” revenue, spent $3,364 billion, and was in in deficit by $453 billion (see Tables 1 and 2). It taxed 85%, borrowed 15%, and spent 100%. The RPB revenues adds $1.6 trillion to the already $2.9 trillion in revenues, for a total of 4.5 trillion. This increases federal spending to almost 27% of GDP, <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FYONGDA188S">which is high</a>. Additional expenditures I envisage include a $200 billion jobs creation program (for infrastructure improvement and human services provision) and a doubling of the Earned Income Tax Credit, an increase from $70 billion to $140 billion (see the <a href="https://khanna.house.gov/media/press-releases/release-sen-sherrod-brown-and-rep-ro-khanna-introduce-landmark-legislation">plan</a> by Senator Sherrod Brown and Representative Khanna). </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The proposal to create a single-payer Medicare for All program is not included in the RPB. Information for the budgeting effects of this proposal can be found at <a href="http://dollarsandsense.org/archives/2017/0917friedman.html"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Dollars and Sense magazine</span></a>. (A longer version of this article appeared at <a href="http://theconversation.com/medicare-for-all-could-be-cheaper-than-you-think-81883">The Conversation</a>. And the author's calculations appear at <a href="http://dollarsandsense.org/Funding-Medicare-for-All-explanation-170918.pdf">Dollars and Sense</a>.) </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: blue; color: white;">Social Security</span></span></span>
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Nor does the RPB include benefit increases to Social Security (S.S.) recipients, as these are called “off-budget” expenditures, which is a nomenclature for the self-funded Social Security program. A proposal to increase S.S. benefits can be found at the <a href="https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/legislation-introduced-to-expand-social-security"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Bernie Sanders’ site</span></a>. Basically he calls for an increase of 5% in Social Security benefits, about $50 billion, funded by increasing the S.S. payroll tax on wage earnings above $250,000. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Presently there is nothing similar to the RPB budget, it’s purely an imaginative exercise. But it is important to look forward, to dream. My main complaint about our economy is the utter waste of our surplus. The surplus or "economic growth" benefits only a small fraction of Americans and most of it is never used productively, which I explain below. The public federal debt is 14% of total private net worth, the budget is just 4% of net worth, and this past year’s deficit was 0.5%. If I had $1,000 in the bank, the debt would amount to $140, the annual budget $40, and the deficit $5. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: blue; color: white;">An Overview of the Macro Problem</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The nation has private net worth of $96.2 trillion, and only a third of it is taxed. (See <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Flow of Funds </span></a>report, page 2 and 138) The only asset we tax is “tangible property” such as homes and real estate, while the total value of financial assets, more than double that of “tangible property”, goes untaxed. The idea of taxing financial assets is off the table. <span style="color: blue;">“State and local governments collected a combined $488 billion in revenue from property taxes, or 17 percent of general revenue in 2015.”</span> states the <a href="https://www.urban.org/policy-centers/cross-center-initiatives/state-local-finance-initiative/projects/state-and-local-backgrounders/property-taxes"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Tax Policy Center</span></a>. A commensurate tax on financial assets would yield $1.1 trillion, equal to 39% of all “on-budget” revenue. The budget I propose taxes financial assets lightly, just $186 billion. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Rana Foroohar, former economics editor for Time magazine, in her book <i>Makers and Takers</i>, cites evidence that 15% <span style="color: blue;">“of all financial flows now go into projects in the real economy. The rest [85%] simply stays inside the financial system, enriching financiers, corporate titans, and the wealthiest fraction of the population . . .”</span> (page 7, and she cites Adair Turner's book <i>Between Debt and the Devil</i>, and this <a href="http://www.frbsf.org/economic-research/files/schularick_taylor.pdf">NBER report</a>) Since January 2009, when the total private "household net worth" stood at $48.8 trillion, net worth has doubled to its present size, $96.2 trillion. How much of this new wealth has gone into the actual work-a-day world of the productive economy? An enormous stock bubble effected this explosive gain in financial values, now at $78 trillion. (See Federal Reserve, <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/Current/z1.pdf">Flow of Funds, </a>Table B.101, page 138) </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">This article, "Why Stopping Tax Reform Won't Stop Inequality", by <a href="https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/why-stopping-tax-reform-wont-stop-inequality">Lance Taylor at INET</a> explains in detail the mess we've got ourselves into. He states, </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: orange; font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"</span></span><span style="font-family: , "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.21px;">Figure 1 shows clearly it took 30 or 40 years for the present distributional mess to emerge. It may well take a similar span of time to clean it up. Progressive tax changes of $100 billion here or $50 billion there are not going to impact overall inequality. The same is true of once-off interventions such as raising the minimum wage by a few dollars per hour."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the same vein, this article, "Inequality Is Slowing U.S. Economic Growth", by <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/secular-stagnation/">Josh Bivens at EPI.org</a> makes this case: </span></span></div>
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: black; color: orange; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">"<span style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"> In the longer run, we need to stop or reverse rising inequality by enacting policies that spur faster wage growth for low- and middle-wage workers. Raising these workers’ wages would not only raise living standards for American families, it would also ensure robust economic growth."</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: , "proxima nova" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">*______*_______*_______*______*______*______*_______*</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">To continue --- </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">This inefficient misuse of the surplus begins with corporate profits. William Lazonick documented the disposal of corporate profits in an award winning article at the Harvard Business Review, “<a href="https://hbr.org/2014/09/profits-without-prosperity"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Profits without Prosperity</span></a>”. Some 91% of profits over a 10 year span of the 500 largest companies in America went to either stock buybacks or dividends to shareholders, and that left little for wage increases or research expenses. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It's interesting to note the progress of <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/20091210/z1.pdf">U.S. household net worth</a> (see page 104). In 2006 it hit a high of $64.520 trillion, only to fall in 3 years to $48.475 trillion in Q1 of 2009, a drop of $16.0 trillion, or a drop of 25%. In 2017, Q2 it stands at $96.2 trillion. (see <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/Current/z1.pdf">here</a>, page 2 and 144). This almost doubles net worth in almost 9 years, from $48 trillion to $96 trillion. How, one should ask, is it possible to double the nation's private net worth in the middle of the agonizingly slow recovery, millions of home foreclosures, a plunge in employment rate, and the economic performance well below potential? How does private net worth surge in the environment of high government debt and deleveraging financial debt? Is it extraordinary savings? What could cause this explosion? The savings rate in the 9 years averaged 5.6% (see <a href="http://bea.gov/">BEA.gov</a>, Table 2.1). The annual national income averaged at $14.3 trillion over 9 years. The total savings amount sums to $7.2 trillion. The net worth grew by $47 trillion. Where did the other $40 trillion come from? Corporate buybacks added about $4 trillion (see <a href="http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2016/1216topeleven.html">here</a>, graph 11), but the rest? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This is, by the way, real money, not just marks on paper. It can be cashed-out to buy food, houses, time with your attorney or surgeon, </span><span style="font-size: large;">railroads, other corporations, </span><span style="font-size: large;">etc.. The total 9 year's worth of income amounted to $129 trillion, so the $47 trillion in new net worth is more than a third of the total income over 9 years. It's almost double the total expenditures of the federal government in these 9 years. It's almost 5 times the growth of the national debt. These are assets that have no productive or constructive purpose. They flowed into a financial bubble. They are hoarded. If they were squandered, then at least there would be a secondary effect in added employment and income to some workers who would be employed shining the chrome on limousines. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The <a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/research-analysis/economic-growth-in-the-united-states-a-tale-of-two-countries/">article mentioned above</a> from the WCEG states, <span style="background-color: white; color: #990000;">"<span style="font-family: , sans-serif;">From 1980 to 2014, for example, none of the growth in per-adult national income went to the bottom 50 percent, while 32 percent went to the middle class (defined as adults between the median and the 90</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: , sans-serif; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">th</span><span style="font-family: , sans-serif;"> percentile), 68 percent to the top 10 percent, and 36 percent to the top 1 percent. An economy that fails to deliver growth for half of its people for an entire generation is bound to generate discontent with the status quo and a rejection of establishment politics." </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;">To restate, 32% of growth went to percentiles 50 to 90, 32% went to percentiles 91 to 99, and 36% went to the top 1%. And much of the growth, since 2009, went into the financial markets, is my guess. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">When most of the economy's surplus resides in financial assets the result is elephantiasis of the financial system, distorting and injuring growth and prosperity. Thomas Palley, senior economic policy advisor for the AFL-CIo, wrote a chapter in the book <i>Restoring Shared Prosperity</i>, <a href="https://www.boeckler.de/pdf/p_restoring_shared_prosperity.pdf">"Making Finance Serve the Real Economy"</a>, (on page 73) that clearly outlines the destruction of shared prosperity. It traces the policies that severed "the link between wages and productivity growth." This chapter is a profound condensation of the breakdown since 1980, a "do not miss" explanation; readers who sense a frustration in their understanding of the network of linkages that created a world of hurt, of malfunctioning economic dynamics will see the clarity of the causes and effects. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">To sum up, we squander our surplus. If all these assets were boxed and sunk into the Mariana Trench, we'd would be better off. See the article from <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/07/opinion/leonhardt-income-inequality.html?_r=0">the New York Times</a>. This chart marks the percentiles that received income growth, 1980 is grey, 2014 is red. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: yellow; font-size: x-large;"><b>The Radical Populist Budget, the details:</b> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">I break down my budget policy into five categories: Tax Increases, Tax Deduction Eliminations, Spending Cuts to Existing Programs, Additional Program Expenses, and Tax Cuts. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The table from the <a href="https://itep.org/who-pays-taxes-in-america-in-2017/">Institution on Taxation and Economic Policy</a> (ITEP) shows the “overall effective” tax rates for different income levels. The word “overall” means a combination of local, state and federal taxes, and “effective” means taxes as a percentage of total personal income. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The top-earning one percent of all households earns 21.7% of all income and pays 23.8% of all taxes, and that includes not only federal but state and local taxes too. The lower-earning 90% earn 54% of all income and pay 50% of all taxes. This is barely progressive taxation, not to mention the bizarre imbalance in income distribution. The budget proposed by Representative Paul Ryan in 2016 would have reduced the share of taxes paid by the top one percent from 23.8% to 21.0%, meaning an income of $129,000 would have paid a higher tax rate to all government than an income of $1,800,000, states the document from ITEP. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">#1 — <b>Raise the Personal Income Tax Rate on High Earners.</b> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">I propose to increase their overall effective rate for the 1 percent, from 34.1%, to about 50%. That would indicate an increase of revenues by (15.9% times 21.7%) 3.4% of all national income, a revenue increase of between <b>$540 billion</b> and $560 billion. During the 1950s the highest overall effective rate for federal taxes is estimated at between 40% and 45% during the decades of the 1950s (See <a href="http://gabriel-zucman.eu/files/PSZ2016.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Piketty, Saez, Zucman</span></a>, page 29). The addition of state and local taxes on the 1% would lift that rate to over 50%. So this level of high taxation is not a historically high rate. The deficit for 2017 was $453 billion, so this one measure eliminates the deficit. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">We might call it a day, after that tax shift. But we are only beginning. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">#2 — <b>A Wealth Tax</b> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The total net worth of all households on September, 2017, stands at $96.2 trillion (Federal Reserve, <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1.pdf">Flow of Funds</a>, page 2, and Table 101.B). That comes to an average net worth per adult, age 20 and older, of about $400,000 — an indication of how wealthy the U.S. actually is. The top one percent own 38.5% of all net worth, or $37 trillion. I propose a tax rate of 0.5%, which in 2017 yields <b>$186 billion</b>. As I mentioned earlier, a financial tax commensurate with the property tax on tangible assets would yield $1.1 trillion. Only this last month France had a tax of 1.5% on high wealth (<a href="http://piketty.blog.lemonde.fr/2017/10/10/suppression-of-the-wealth-tax-an-historical-error/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">see here</span></a>). James Kwak also has proposed “<a href="http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/research/JLPP/upload/Kwak-final.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">A Retrospective Tax on Wealth</span></a>” that would “replace most existing taxes on capital (the estate tax, the corporate income tax, and most individual taxes on investment income) while maintaining the current overall tax burden.” </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">#3 — <b>Taxing Capital Gains and Dividends at the Standard Personal Income Rate</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">This was proposed by Representative <a href="https://schakowsky.house.gov/images/stories/Final__1116__Schakowsky_Deficit_Reduction_Plan.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Jan Schakowsky</span></a> in 2011, and she indicates it would raise <b>$88 billion</b>. And the <a href="https://itep.org/what-real-tax-reform-should-look-like/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">ITEP estimate</span></a> is $84 billion per year. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">#4 — <b>A Financial Transaction Tax (FTT)</b> would raise <b>$250 billion</b>, says the <a href="https://www.peri.umass.edu/publication/item/698-the-revenue-potential-of-a-financial-transaction-tax-for-u-s-financial-markets"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">PERI institute</span></a>. A more recent <a href="https://www.peri.umass.edu/component/k2/item/698-the-revenue-potential-of-a-financial-transaction-tax-for-u-s-financial-markets">study from PERI</a> places the revenue stream at $220 billion. The <a href="http://www.cpegonline.org/workingpapers/CPEGWP2010-2.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Chicago Political Economic Group</span></a> estimates a much greater revenue stream. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">#5 — <b>Estate Tax reform</b>, according to <a href="http://prospect.org/article/were-going-need-more-tax-revenue-heres-how-raise-it"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Jared Bernstein’s report</span></a>, would raise <b>$45 billion</b>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">#6 — <b>A Minimum Income Tax on Corporate Earnings</b>, an effective rate of 19% would raise about <b>$35 billion</b>, states <a href="http://www.apple.com/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Bernstien</span></a>.</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(1, 25, 147); color: #011993;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">#7 — <b>A Corporate Foreign Income Tax</b> and O<b>ther Business Tax Reforms</b> would raise <b>$150 billion</b> according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). The ITEP has many studies on corporate taxation, <a href="http://www.ctj.org/pdf/taxreformdetails.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">see this one</span></a>. The <a href="https://itep.org/trump-sort-of-used-our-data-on-corporate-tax-avoidance-but-he-missed-the-point/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">ITEP also recommends</span></a> (<a href="https://itep.org/what-real-tax-reform-should-look-like/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">and see here</span></a>) that corporations pay immediately their $767 billion arrears in unpaid foreign taxes. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">#8 — <b>Additional Funding for the IRS</b> to <a href="http://prospect.org/article/real-tax-reform-what-it-and-what-it-isn%E2%80%99t"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">catch tax dodgers</span></a> would raise <b>$20 billion</b> a year. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">#9 — <b>A Tax on Carbon</b>, says <a href="http://prospect.org/article/were-going-need-more-tax-revenue-heres-how-raise-it"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Jared Bernstein</span></a>, would raise <b>$32 billion.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">#10 — <b>Social Security Tax Increase on High Earners</b>, according to Bernie Sanders’ program, would yield <b>$50 billion</b>. But since Social Security is “off-budget”, I do not include that proposal in this set of tax increases. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">#11 -- <b>Medicare for All</b> is explained by the article at <a href="http://dollarsandsense.org/archives/2017/0917friedman.html">Dollars and Sense</a> by Gerald Friedman. And recently the <a href="http://prospect.org/magazine">American Prospect</a> with the Century Foundation has published six articles on the topic. </span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The total increase in revenues, not including #10, from these nine changes yields $1,346 billion. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Tax Deduction Eliminations:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">#1 — <b>Corporate Interest Expense Deduction</b>. <a href="https://schakowsky.house.gov/images/stories/Final__1116__Schakowsky_Deficit_Reduction_Plan.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Jan Schakowsky’s</span></a> budget projects an increase of <b>$77 billion</b> due to the elimination of this deduction. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">#2 — <b>Capping total deductions</b> on personal income at 28% (or possible even lower, perhaps even 15%) would yield <b>$64 billion</b>, states <a href="http://prospect.org/article/were-going-need-more-tax-revenue-heres-how-raise-it"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Jared Bernstein</span></a>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">#3 — <b>Executive Pay, Environmental Rentals, Farm Subsidies, Real Estate</b> — combined, the <a href="https://schakowsky.house.gov/images/stories/Final__1116__Schakowsky_Deficit_Reduction_Plan.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Schakowsky</span></a> budget projects an increase of <b>$46 billion</b> through the elimination of these deductions. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Current Program Reduction in Outlays</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">#1 — <b>Reducing the Military Budget</b> by <b>$111 billion</b>. <a href="https://schakowsky.house.gov/images/stories/Final__1116__Schakowsky_Deficit_Reduction_Plan.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Schakowsky</span></a>’s plan would release and transfer revenue, making it available for other existing government programs. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Outlay Increases</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">#1 — <b>Increase the Earned Income Tax Credit</b> from $70 billion to <b>$140 billion</b> per year is <a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/equitablog/value-added/expanding-the-earned-income-tax-credit-is-worth-exploring-in-the-u-s-tax-reform-debate/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">the proposal</span></a> from Senator Sherrod Brown and Representative Khanna. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">#2 — <b>Create a public jobs program</b>, <b>$200 billion</b> a year. A proposal from <a href="http://www.demos.org/publication/back-work-public-jobs-proposal-economic-recovery"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Philip Harvey</span></a> shows the effect on employment. The National Jobs for All Coalition, and Representative John Conyers <a href="https://conyers.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/answer-unemployment-jobs-all-bill"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">have promoted</span></a> such job creation programs for years. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The math is fairly simple. Revenues increase by $1,346 billion, and $187 billion, and $111 billion for a total of <b style="background-color: #f4cccc;">$1,644 billion</b> (8.4% of GDP) available for outlays. Paying off the deficit reduces the surplus by $453 billion, and then by $340 billion from new outlays. $453 + $340 = <b style="background-color: #d9ead3;">$793 billion</b>. $1,644 - $793 = <b style="background-color: #d9ead3;">$851 billion</b> for either tax cuts or additional social benefit expenditures. The RPB surplus stands at $851 billion (4.3% of GDP). This is a surplus unheard of, and it is an opportunity for tax cuts to the lower-earning 90% who earn 54.1% of all income and pay 50.1% of all taxes, states the report “Who Pays Taxes in America in 2017?” </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The <a href="https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2017/demo/p60-261.pdf">Supplemental Poverty Measure</a>, from the U.S. Census, (Figure 6) shows that 40.8% of the “total population” live in households whose income is 4 times above the poverty level. This is before paying taxes. After all taxes and government transfers, only 21.0% are 4 times above the poverty level. About a fifth of Americans move below the 4 times poverty level due to their tax burden. The RPB could reduce their federal tax burden by half! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Household poverty median 4 times % of population </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Size income income income</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">1 $12,060 $30,367 $48,240 28%</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">2 $16,240 $65,627 $64,690 34%</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">3 $20,420 $76,936 $81,860 15%</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">4 $24,600 $91,036 $98,400 13%</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">5+ about $30,000 $82,000 $120,000 9% </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">(from U.S. Census, <a href="https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/cps-hinc/hinc-01.html">here</a>)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Perhaps this is too big a tax cut, as the resources still are needed for programs such as pre-K education, housing, infrastructure and more. But this tax cut would greatly increase aggregate demand which powers about 70% of economic activity. It is a complicated analysis. For instance, for single person households, 28% of the population, their <span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;"><a href="https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/historical-income-households.html">median income is $30,367</a></span>, and 4 times the poverty threshold is an income of $48,240; and 35% have incomes above $48,420. So, 35% would see significant tax reduction. And so on, we could figure out how many would have tax reduction. Without further detail, it’s safe to say that many moderate to high income families, incomes between $50,000 and $150,000 would see tax relief. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">This will recharge the economy that is 70% powered by consumer consumption. It will also improve the savings rate and relieve the precariousness of life for the <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2017/08/24/cant-keep-up-more-americans-living-paycheck-to-paycheck/597162001/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">78% of full-time workers</span></a> who live paycheck to paycheck, and the <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/2016-report-economic-well-being-us-households-201705.pdf"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">45% of adults</span></a> who say they could not pay-off a $400 emergency expense in 30 days. The lives of those with lower incomes will be improved due to the jobs program and the EITC increase. It improves the standard of living for 90% of America. It has democratic appeal. It’s time for Americans to reflect on their nation's economy and devise practical measures to share our abundant prosperity. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">There are many more reforms needed to improve the economy and end the squandering of the surplus. Only an informed and concerned citizenry can make these reforms. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">This article by <a href="https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/why-stopping-tax-reform-wont-stop-inequality">Lance Taylor at INET</a> best explains the economic overhaul needed, in which he states, </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: orange;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">"</span></span><span style="font-family: , "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: 0.21px;">What is required are policies that go beyond the tax code to shift the very balance of power between workers and employers. Doing so would allow real wages to catch up to productivity and capital gains to be more equitably shared among the population. It would shrink inequality for years to come."</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #351c75;">Reasons to Dislike the Republican Budget Plan</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Income has not kept up with growth -- for example, the <a href="http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2017/0917friedman.html">Pew Research Center</a> shows that in 1970 the median income for younger adults age 18 to 34 was $27,300, and in 2014 it had sunk to $15,000. Marriage rates are also way down. The "average weekly (and also yearly) income of the <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CES0500000030">production and non-supervisory employee</a> has risen by 11% since 1964, the per capita economy has <a href="https://www.measuringworth.com/usgdp/">grown by 177%</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities has published many reports, and <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/how-tax-reform-can-raise-working-class-incomes">this one is extensive</a>. Here are a table and a graph from the report; it shows median household income increasing by<b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: blue;"> 3%</span></b> in 36 years, 1979 to 2015. The "per capita disposable income" increased by <b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: blue;">91%</span></b> in the same period, from $20,248 to $38,720, in "chained (2009) dollars" says the site BEA.gov, Table 2.1. (I found that it's difficult to read this chart, but it can be done.) </span><br />
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<table style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 10px; width: 665.455px;"><thead style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;">
<tr class="figure" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><th colspan="7" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 1.4rem; font-weight: 300; height: 1.7rem; line-height: 1.2rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; text-transform: uppercase;">APPENDIX TABLE 1</th></tr>
<tr class="title" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><th colspan="7" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 2.4rem; height: 1.7rem; line-height: 2.6rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px 4px 10px;">Real Median Household Income for Three-Person Working-Class Households</th></tr>
<tr class="grey" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><th style="background-color: #f0f0f0; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 24px; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; vertical-align: bottom;"></th><th class="cellcenter" colspan="5" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; border-bottom: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 24px; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Working Class (No One in Family Has a Bachelor’s Degree)</th><th class="cellcenter" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; border-bottom: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 24px; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">At Least One Person Has a Bachelor’s Degree</th></tr>
<tr class="grey" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><th style="background-color: #f0f0f0; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 24px; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; vertical-align: bottom;"></th><th class="cellcenter" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; border-bottom: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 24px; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">White</th><th class="cellcenter" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; border-bottom: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 24px; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Black</th><th class="cellcenter" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; border-bottom: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 24px; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Hispanic</th><th class="cellcenter" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; border-bottom: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 24px; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Other</th><th class="cellcenter" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; border-bottom: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 24px; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Total</th><th class="cellcenter" style="background-color: #f0f0f0; border-bottom: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 24px; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;"></th></tr>
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<tr style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(183, 183, 183); border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 1.7rem; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; vertical-align: middle;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;">1979</strong></td><td class="cellcenter" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(183, 183, 183); border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 1.7rem; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">$50,200</td><td class="cellcenter" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(183, 183, 183); border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 1.7rem; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">$34,300</td><td class="cellcenter" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(183, 183, 183); border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 1.7rem; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"> $37,000</td><td class="cellcenter" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(183, 183, 183); border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 1.7rem; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">$40,500</td><td class="cellcenter" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(183, 183, 183); border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 1.7rem; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">$47,400</td><td class="cellcenter" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(183, 183, 183); border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 1.7rem; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">$68,500<br />
<br /></td></tr>
<tr style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(183, 183, 183); border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 1.7rem; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; vertical-align: middle;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;">2015</strong></td><td class="cellcenter" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(183, 183, 183); border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 1.7rem; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">$55,000</td><td class="cellcenter" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(183, 183, 183); border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 1.7rem; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">$38,100</td><td class="cellcenter" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(183, 183, 183); border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 1.7rem; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"> $41,800</td><td class="cellcenter" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(183, 183, 183); border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 1.7rem; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">$46,600</td><td class="cellcenter" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(183, 183, 183); border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 1.7rem; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">$48,700</td><td class="cellcenter" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(183, 183, 183); border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 1.7rem; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">$84,200</td></tr>
<tr style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(183, 183, 183); border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 1.7rem; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; vertical-align: middle;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;">Percent change</strong></td><td class="cellcenter" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(183, 183, 183); border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 1.7rem; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">9%</td><td class="cellcenter" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(183, 183, 183); border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 1.7rem; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">11%</td><td class="cellcenter" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(183, 183, 183); border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 1.7rem; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">13%</td><td class="cellcenter" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(183, 183, 183); border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 1.7rem; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">15%</td><td class="cellcenter" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(183, 183, 183); border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 1.7rem; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">3%</td><td class="cellcenter" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(183, 183, 183); border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #151515; font-size: 1.5rem; height: 1.7rem; line-height: 1.7rem; margin: 0px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">23%</td></tr>
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<div style="background-color: #f0f0f0; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 13px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
Note: Incomes shown in 2015 dollars. Household incomes take into account taxes and benefits from transfer programs and are adjusted for inflation and family size.</div>
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<div class="dnd-tools-wrapper" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #636363; font-family: Roboto, helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
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FIGURE 1</div>
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<a class="jquery-once-3-processed" href="https://www.cbpp.org/incomes-have-stagnated-across-working-class" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #61b7ec; font-family: Roboto, helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;"><img alt="Incomes Have Stagnated Across Working Class" height="587" src="https://www.cbpp.org/sites/default/files/styles/downsample150to92/public/atoms/files/9-13-17tax-f1.png?itok=rwbivHN3" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: top;" title="Incomes Have Stagnated Across Working Class" width="580" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">An early report stated that 80% of the tax reductions in <a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-tax-tpc-20170929-story.html"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">Trump’s budget</span></a> would go to just 1% of all households. Now it appears that the 1% will get 31% of cuts in the first year and 48% in the last year (there are several <a href="https://itep.org/housetaxplan/">reports</a> from the <a href="https://itep.org/">Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy</a>.) The lower-earning two thirds of Americans, with incomes below $75,000, would experience effectively a net loss of income, according to this Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/11/16/senate-tax-bill-cuts-taxes-of-wealthy-and-hikes-taxes-of-families-earning-under-75000-over-a-decade/?utm_term=.f36ca1b456f4">article</a>. The Ryan budgets in past years would decrease spending by <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/house-gop-budget-gets-62-percent-of-budget-cuts-from-low-and-moderate-income"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">42% on social programs</span></a> that benefit mostly elders, disabled adults and poor children. The CBPP.org has <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/tax-debate-briefs-who-the-gop-tax-plans-really-help">published extensively about the bill</a> and believes cutting social benefits is still the actual agenda yet to surface with the current bill. About 13 million Americans will lose their health care insurance. The bill is <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/the-house-republican-tax-plan-is-fiscally-irresponsible">apt to raise the debt</a> from 77% of GDP to 99%. And economic growth would not improve to the level the GOP predicts, state several reports -- <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/finance/economy/357831-gop-tax-plan-will-explode-deficit-wharton-study">the Wharton School</a> at Univ. of Pennsylvania, and <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/11/27/tax-hikes-working-class-cbo-shows-senate-gop-plan-steals-poor-gives-rich?utm_term=With%20Tax%20Hikes%20for%20Working%20Class%2C%20CBO%20Shows%20Senate%20GOP%20Plan%20%27Steals%20From%20Poor%2C%20Gives%20to%20Rich%27&utm_campaign=News%20%2526%20Views%20%7C%20New%20Study%20Shows%20How%20Taxing%20Rich%20Saves%20Lives%2C%20While%20Trump%27s%20Tax%20Plan...%20Kills&utm_content=email&utm_source=Act-On+Software&utm_medium=email&cm_mmc=Act-On%20Software-_-email-_-News%20%2526%20Views%20%7C%20New%20Study%20Shows%20How%20Taxing%20Rich%20Saves%20Lives%2C%20While%20Trump%27s%20Tax%20Plan...%20Kills-_-With%20Tax%20Hikes%20for%20Working%20Class%2C%20CBO%20Shows%20Senate%20GOP%20Plan%20%27Steals%20From%20Poor%2C%20Gives%20to%20Rich%27">the CBO report</a> of 11/16/17. What's not to like? What is to like? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span>______________________________________________</span><br />
<span style="background-color: yellow; color: #073763; font-size: x-large;"><b>Additional Reading:</b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">My essay <a href="https://benl8.blogspot.com/2016/12/solutions-accentuate-positive.html">"Solutions"</a> best summarizes my vision for improving the economy, December, 2016. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">This <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/commentary-with-tax-cuts-for-the-top-gop-leaders-now-aim-budget-cuts-at-the#_ftnref7">essay of 12/21/17 by Robert Greenstein</a> at CPBB describes the threat to the poorest Americans as the GOP targets government benefits to the poor to balance the revenue losses from their tax cuts.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Two-thids of all SNAP food aid go children, seniors and disabled adults. Cuts to SNAP will reach 30% by 2027.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The report from <a href="https://itep.org/9-things-you-should-know-about-the-tax-debate/">Citizens for Tax Justice</a> appears to me as the most balanced and comprehensive report on the Trump budget. The top 1% receive 31% of budget cuts in 2017 and 48% in 2027. The most important fact is the distribution of income, not the tax proposals. That's where the real reform must happen. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"></span>Eleven graphs from the best of 2016 <a href="http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2016/1216topeleven.html">from Dollars and Sense magazine</a>, present forecasts of effects of the Sanders' budget in wage increases and budget revenue increases over ten year, and more. And the article <a href="http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2017/0917friedman.html">"'Medicare for All' Could Be Cheaper Than You Think"</a> is a persuasive argument for creating a dual option for consumers, either insure with private or enroll with Medicare. It reduces total health care costs substantially. </span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Here's an <a href="https://ourfuture.org/20171113/billionaires-paradise-why-we-need-to-strike-back-against-oligarchy?utm_source=progressive_breakfast&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pbreak">excellent article</a> on the state of inequality by Richard Eskow. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">And here's the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/08/opinion/republican-tax-bill-cost.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region">New York Times editorial</a> critical of the Trump budget. The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-gop-tax-plan-analysis-growth-debt-deficit-2017-11">Tax Policy Center concludes</a> the Trump budget will fail to increase the GDP sufficiently to pay for the tax cuts. Another article claims the budget will <a href="https://ourfuture.org/20171120/the-gops-tax-plan-will-deepen-the-housing-crisis">reduce housing by over 1 million units</a> in the next decades. And this <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/republicans-tax-plan-gives-the-top-1-percent-of-households-a-207000-tax-cut-bottom-20-percent-get-50/?utm_source=Economic+Policy+Institute&utm_campaign=be2acedbd7-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_10_06&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e7c5826c50-be2acedbd7-55955969&mc_cid=be2acedbd7&mc_eid=1f5a2f7509">report from the EPI</a> states the average tax cut for the top 1% will be $207,000. There are many critical appraisals of the Trump budget, just look for "80% of tax benefits go to 1%." </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Robert Pollin outlines a progressive future <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/42284-blueprint-for-a-progressive-us-a-dialogue-with-noam-chomsky-and-robert-pollin">in this article</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.demos.org/blog/4/18/16/50-years-us-tax-system-and-rise-nontax-revenue">Matt Bruenig at Demos</a> provides a very detailed 50 year overview of the composition of all taxes, local, state, and federal, and nontax revenues which accounted for 90% of the new revenue since 1970.</span></div>
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<img alt="" src="http://www.demos.org/sites/default/files/imce/totalandtax.png" style="border: 0px; height: 333px; width: 450px;" /><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; text-align: left;">______________________________________________________</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: yellow;">Median Income data, 2016:</b></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2016">Social Security Administration</a> filed its report on wage income, and $30,557 was the median -- the income for the middle worker on the income ladder -- for 163 million workers. From 1990 to 2016 the median has grown by 16% or 0.6% a year. In contrast the "Disposable personal income" per capita in chained dollars, 1990 to 2016, has grown by 52%, 3 times faster. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The lower half of all earners/workers earned 6.7% of all "Personal Income" (from <a href="http://bea.gov/">BEA.gov</a>, personal income, Table 2.1), and they earned 13.5% of all wage income. There are 81.5 million workers in the lower half. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I don't like to interpret facts and data, but for the sake of some of my friends, this means wages have lagged far behind the growth of the nation, in fact at least half the nation's workers have been left out of most (⅔) of the growth over 26 years. The top one percent saw their incomes triple (an increase of 200% since 1980.) The average growth for the entire lower half was not 16%, it was 1%, according to research from the <a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/research-analysis/economic-growth-in-the-united-states-a-tale-of-two-countries/">Washington Center on Equitable Growth</a>. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'times new roman';">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">If median had grown by 52% over 26 years then the median today would be $40,091, about a third greater. If the minimum wage were 60% of the average income it would be $15.64 an hour, and if it were 60% of the median it would have been $13.44 an hour in 2016. Instead, it is actually just over half of $13.44 per hour. The average <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t24.htm">hourly wage</a> for production and non-supervisory workers, 2017 October, is $22.22 an hour. A minimum at 60% of that average would be $13.33 an hour. Instead, today's minimum is 33% of the "average hourly earnings" when it should be about 60%. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">After absorbing the facts in the article <a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/research-analysis/economic-growth-in-the-united-states-a-tale-of-two-countries/">"A Tale of Two Countries"</a> I discovered the following shocking fact: </span></div>
<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; color: blue; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The poorer 50% of France's population has an average per adult income 16% higher each year than the lower half of the U.S. population, per adult --- $18,792 in France, $16,200 in the U.S. France's per capita income and GDP is smaller by a third than the U.S. per capita, -- GDPs of $36,855 per cap in France, $57,466 in the U.S. (World Band stats) Another way to say this is -- if the U.S. had the same distribution ratios as France, the lower-earning half of U.S. adults would <b>not earn $16,200 a year but $29,300</b> a year --- nearly do<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">uble. This would diminish U.S. poverty. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; color: blue; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">Since 1980 the $16,200 average adult income has increased by $200, or 1%. In France their lower-half average increased by the rate of growth, 32%. This comes from Washington Center for Equitable Growth, <a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/research-analysis/economic-growth-in-the-united-states-a-tale-of-two-countries/">A Tale of Two Countries</a>. France taxes at a much higher rate, so their social benefit programs are more generous, and this after-tax income is not included in the calculations. Michael Moore's movie Where Shall We Invade Next? shows a French school lunch room where the kids are served meals on actual ceramic plates and eat near gourmet quality food with the teacher helping with etiquette. They are not richer, just have a different set of priorities.</span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: x-large;">Two Letters to the Mariposa Gazette,</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Nov. and Dec., 2017, Trump/Republican Tax Plan</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Trump/Republican tax plan is absurd and harmful. The majority of voters in this county should take a closer look. The broad picture should be emphasized over and over until the entire population gets it. The Trump tax plan showers 80% of its tax cuts and benefits on the top-earning one percent. The top one percent will see an average cut of $64,720 a year, says the editorial at the New York Times. Another study from the Economic Policy Institute places the average tax cut at $207,060. This one percent has an average household income of $2.6 million a year, it earned 21.7% of all income in 2016, and it has an average savings of around $30 million. In the 34 year period from 1980 to 2014, the top one percent tripled their incomes from $433,000 a year to $1.3 million per adult, so a couple’s average income is $2.6 million. The lower-earning half of U.S. adults saw his or her average income grow by $200, from $16,000 to $16,200 over a 34 year period, states a report from the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. There couldn’t be a worse time to hand out tax breaks to the wealthiest. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">$48 trillion to $96 trillion, says the Federal Reserve’s Flow of Funds report. That comes to approximately $400,000 for every adult. We are a wealthy nation. Unfortunately that wealth is not distributed fairly. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The lower-saving half of the U.S. owns just 1.1% of all wealth, the top one percent owns 38.5%, the top ten percent own 75%. While the “average” wealth doubled in 9 years, the net worth of the household in the middle dropped by 28% during the same period, from $135,000 to now $97,200 (up from $83,000 in 2013) states the Fed’s Survey of Consumer Finances. The “average” household net worth, states the SCF, stands at $692,100. But the middle household owns only one seventh that amount, $97,200. And worse, a third of Americans live in homes with zero in “non-home” assets. Another Fed report states that 44% of U.S. adults cannot pay-off an emergency expense of $400 in a 30 day period. About 28% live in homes that do not have a “safe and decent” standard of living, says the author of the U.S. Census Supplemental Poverty Measure. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Consumer demand expands the economy and creates new jobs, not tax cuts to the wealthy. The tax proposal is rightly called Voodoo economics. The economy needs reforms that boost average wage earners' incomes, and the federal budget needs much higher taxes on the wealthiest. Their incomes tripled while a majority saw their income growth come to a halt. I write a blog, Economics Without Greed.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Yes, that was an overwhelming display of numbers, but the general idea should be clear. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Yours, Ben Leet </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">and the second letter, December 30, 2017</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The recent Republican tax cuts will not benefit the majority of Americans, even with the rosiest of outcomes. For the first year, 2019, they distribute 52% of their benefits to the top-earning 5% of U.S. households, and by 2027 tax increases face the lower-earning 60% (see the <a href="https://itep.org/finalgop-trumpbill/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">ITEP report</span></a>). The central strategy is to increase the incomes of the wealthiest and hope for trickle-down. This will not restore prosperity to lower-earning families, perhaps half of the nation. Since the 1980s, and even before, economic growth has not reached the average worker. Here are two examples: </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">In 1960 a young male worker, between ages 18 and 34, earning the middle or median income for this age group, earned $27,300 a year. Jobs were abundant, wages were high. Wages had quadrupled for this age group in just 20 years since 1940. But then came a long, slow decline, and young male workers’ earnings have dropped to $15,000, about half what they were 57 years ago. The economy is about <a href="https://www.measuringworth.com/usgdp/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">three times more productive</span></a> than in 1960, on a per person basis. But inequality is much higher. This comes from a Pew Research Center <a href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2016/05/24/4-the-job-market-and-young-adult-living-arrangements/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">report</span></a> of 2016 drawing on U.S. Census data. If we wish to “Make America Great Again” we will have to restore higher incomes to younger workers, to low-earning workers, and in fact most all workers. The share of the national income earned by the lower-earning 90% has fallen by 18% <a href="http://utip.lbj.utexas.edu/abstract.html#UTIP66"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">according to some studies</span></a>. This is a large dollar amount, $2.9 trillion a year, and it is over $26,000 per family in the entire lower 90%. Since other poorer nations in the world have higher living standards than the U.S., it’s a matter of policy choice as to how prosperity is shared. The second example comes from a study that shows since 1980 the lower-earning half of U.S. adults have seen their incomes increase by 1%, from $16,000 to $16,200, while the top one percent earners have had an increase of over 200%, from $420,000 to $1.3 million a year per adult. (see <a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">equitablegrowth.org</span></a> <a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/research-analysis/economic-growth-in-the-united-states-a-tale-of-two-countries/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">A Tale of Two Countries</span></a>) The gap between the two groups tripled from 27 times to 81 times. This extreme ratio is similar only in the poorest nations such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, and Burundi. If the U.S. economy achieved the same income distribution as France, for instance, the average income per adult for the lower-earning 50% would be $29,000 a year, not $16,200. The economy is not serving the lower earning 80%. America is in a crisis, economically. Fortunately, measures could be put in place to restore a balanced distribution. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Josh Bivens, writing at the <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/secular-stagnation/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Economic Policy Institute</span></a> in this past month stated, “Had this upward redistribution not happened, incomes for the bottom 90 percent of Americans would be roughly 20 percent higher today. In short, the rise in inequality driven by anemic wage growth has imposed an ‘inequality tax’ on American households that has robbed them of a fifth of their potential income.” I think 20% understates the amount of income lost, other economists calculate a loss of 32%. The $26,000 of lost income I suggest above equals this 32% annual loss for 112 million households, 90% of American households. I write a blog, Economics Without Greed, and many reputable sources are referenced there for this argument. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">My thinking takes me back to this graph from the University of Texas Inequality Project, from <a href="http://utip.lbj.utexas.edu/papers/UTIP%2066.pdf">a paper by Olivier Giovannoni</a> on labor's share of income. The same paper is published at the Levy Economics Institute, <a href="http://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/wp_805.pdf">Working Paper 805</a>. I reproduced it in this <a href="https://benl8.blogspot.com/2016/07/is-capitalism-broken.html">July 2016 essay</a>. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">It shows that the lower-earning 90% of workers saw their share of the national income decline from 55% to 37% between 1981 and 2010. A drop of 18% of the national income is about </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: orange; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #660000;">$26,000 per household</b></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">among the lower-earning 90%. Read page 33 of the Giovannoni report where he estimates a drop of 18 points to a level not seen since the 1930s. He seems to revise in the Levy publication the 18 points to 15 points, which means a decrease in annual income of <b><span style="background-color: #660000; color: #e69138;">$21,600</span></b> for all 112 million households in the lower-earning 90%, a transfer of $2.4 trillion yearly. </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">And readers may confirm the distribution figures by inspecting the web page </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-income-table-2-4-sources-pretax-comprehensive/">State of Working America</a>,</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Income, Table.2.4; if one bothers to compare the "wage income" portion for the lower 80% of households, and multiply by the total portion wage income occupies in the national income, the total going to the lower 80% also confirms -- a total of 27.3% of all income goes to the wages of the lower-earning 80% (50.2% of wages which are 54.3% of total income when multiplied = 27.3% of all income), which compares to 37% going to the lower 90% in Giovannoni's report.</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Lance Taylor article I quote from notes that real change may take 30 to 40 years, and it will involve far more than tax shifts and boosts in minimum income. It will take a redefining of power between workers and owners. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: x-large;"> Reducing Inequality, a Comparison </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Here's a <a href="https://data.oecd.org/gga/general-government-spending.htm#indicator-chart">link to a graph</a> of government spending among developed nations, from the OECD. Among 32 nations the U.S. ranks 24th for the amount of government spending relative to its economy. The U.S., at all levels of government, spends 37.6% of GDP on government. Germany spends 43.8% or 6.2% more. The <span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;">Radical Populist Budget</span> I outline raises U.S. spending level to just below Germany's. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Germany's "Gini coefficient before taxes for households' market income" registers 0.504, higher than the U.S. with 0.486. This is a measure of pre-tax inequality. After taxes and transfers Germany measures 0.295, and the U.S. 0.378. Germany with very high inequality, higher than the U.S., lowers it by <b><span style="background-color: blue; color: white;">0.207</span></b>, and the U.S. lowers its Gini by <b><span style="background-color: blue; color: white;">0.108</span></b>. This info I take from the table on page 164 from the book <i><a href="https://www.boeckler.de/pdf/p_restoring_shared_prosperity.pdf">Restoring Shared Prosperity</a>,</i> an essay by Eckhard Hein. It appears that Austria, Belgium and Finland reduce inequality even more than Germany, all of the other 14 nations in the table reduce inequality more than the U.S. does. And they do not have enormous military spending ballooning their expenditures. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The United Nations publishes a Human Development Index, and another index <a href="http://hdr.undp.org/en/composite/IHDI">"Adjusted for Inequality"</a>. The U.S. places 10th among all nations before adjusting for Inequality, and falls to 20th place after. Germany ranks at 3rd place before Inequality, and at 4th place after. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_inequality-adjusted_HDI">Wikipedia article</a> shows the nations ranking more clearly than the table at the U.N. These nations drop more than 10 places, exceeding the U.S. in inequality drops: Korea, Israel, Panama, Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, Chile and Iran (Iran does the worst dropping 40 places). Among the top 60 nations only Argentina and Panama score worse than the U.S. in terms of inequality of income. And as I wrote in the second "Letter to the Editor", above, taking from the report <a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/research-analysis/economic-growth-in-the-united-states-a-tale-of-two-countries/">"A Tale of Two Countries"</a>, only The Democratic Republic of the Congo, The Central African Republic and Burundi have a greater income gap between the top 1% and the lower 50% than that of the U.S. !!!! The U.S. has great potential for improvement. </span><br />
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Ben Leethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14058357566482675649noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047544383372645090.post-3710650594918046332017-03-17T17:23:00.001-07:002017-09-20T11:13:04.618-07:00Healthcare, One Aspect of a Failing System<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="color: white; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #660000;">Healthcare</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="background-color: #4c1130; color: white; font-size: x-large;">A Failing Part of a Failing System</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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See the<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/danmunro/2012/12/30/2012-the-year-in-healthcare-charts/#457775586c8c"> article at Forbes magazine</a>. </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">My two previous essays are more important than this one. I should get a web page instead of a blog. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">The <a href="http://yosemitedems.net/PDF/MtnDem1704.pdf">Yosemite Democratic Club</a> did publish this essay, also. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">After the AHCA passed the House on May 4, 2017, the head of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, Robert Greenstein, issued <a href="http://I have been in Washington, D.C. for 45 years. But I have never seen members of Congress vote to so deeply hurt so many of their own constituents. If enacted, this bill will stand as the biggest assault on ordinary Americans — and the largest Robin-Hood-in-reverse transfer of income up the income scale, from low- and middle-income families to those at the top — in our country’s modern history.">a short report</a>, stating, <span style="background-color: #f9cb9c; color: blue; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: #f9cb9c; color: blue; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: 28px;">I have been in Washington, D.C. for 45 years. But I have never seen members of Congress vote to so deeply hurt so many of their own constituents. If enacted, this bill will stand as the biggest assault on ordinary Americans — and the largest Robin-Hood-in-reverse transfer of income </span><em style="box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: 28px; margin: 0px;">up</em><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: 28px;"> the income scale, from low- and middle-income families to those at the top — in our country’s modern history."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This short CBPP report succinctly clarifies both the Trump/Ryan AHCA and the previous ACA which may be repealed with Senate approval. The AHCA passed the House 217 to 213 with all Dems voting against and 20 Reps joining them. As Nancy Pelosi said, this vote will make those Reps glow in the dark. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">On September 19, 2017, I came across this video presentation by Dr. Ed Weisbart of Physicians for a National Health Program. It's 39 minutes and the most convincing argument I've found for the Medicare for All proposal. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkrVU5i26Ho">Watch it here</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now for my take, written in March, 2017: </span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I received a new titanium hip last September, I had hip replacement surgery. I’m 70 years old, and the doctor tells me it will last for 20 years or more. I have Medicare, and when the hospital sent me a bill for $67,000, more or less, I was happy because I knew I was responsible for only $3,000. Medicare saved me. If I had been under 65 years old, I would now be in debt or using a walker or a wheel chair. Or I could have flown to London or Paris where this surgery costs $11,000 or $12,000. In London they do six surgeries for the cost of one in California. Or to India, Korea, Mexico. In Canada the cost of an angiogram (an x-ray of arteries and veins) costs $35, the average cost in the U.S. is $914. An MRI in France costs $363, in the U.S. $1,121; a one day stay in a hospital bed in the Netherlands at $731, compared to $4,287 in the U.S. An appendectomy in England, $3,408, in the U.S. $12,851. And so on from the IFHP 2012 Comparative Price Report. The IFHP 2015 <a href="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/518a3cfee4b0a77d03a62c98/t/57d3ca9529687f1a257e9e26/1473497751062/2015+Comparative+Price+Report+09.09.16.pdf">report here</a>. Bypass surgery in England, $24,059, in the U.S., $78,318. Angioplasty in U.K., 7.264, in U.S. $31,620. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We all have stories about the delivery of healthcare services. A friend, age 52, went in for an appendectomy, and his wife’s insurance paid the $40,000 charge, otherwise he might have died. A friend with a possible colon obstruction spent the night in the emergency room, received some laxatives, total cost $21,000. Another had a pig valve inserted into his heart 20 years ago. He was on MediCal. He has been a productive adult supporting his wife and daughter since then. Another, a PhD. in psychology, diagnosed with breast cancer, died because she could only get treatment by participating in an experimental treatment. We all have stories. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Healthcare U.S.A. seems to be an irrational mess. We pay double per person what other advanced nations spend, and our outcome is worse. (We spend $9,500 per human, our yearly expense, about 18% of total annual GDP, a huge amount, while others average around $4,500 yearly, about 10% of GDP, with better outcomes). Author James Kwak states, “Of the [34] OECD countries, the United States ranks between twentieth and twenty-ninth on primary health status metrics, ranks in the bottom third for access to coverage, and has among the fewest doctors and hospital beds per capita.” Kwak concludes: “It seems quite possible that our high costs relative to the rest of the world are the result not of overconsumption but of a decentralized system organized around private profits rather than strong government spending controls.” Says Kwak at <a href="https://economism.net/economism-and-health-care-1907c6c92075">his web page</a>:</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #ffe599; color: blue;">"The Trump administration is rhetorically committed to deregulating health insurance; the question is whether they are willing to accept the political consequences of pricing millions of people out of not dying."</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Healthcare is just a part of a dysfunctional economy. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Federal Reserve’s “<a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/2015-report-economic-well-being-us-households-201605.pdf">Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households, 2015</a>” shows that 44% of households cannot pay an emergency $400 expense within a 30 day period. Even though the average household net worth is $721,000, and the average yearly household income is over $100,000, almost half of Americans live in “liquid asset” poverty. Thirty percent of Americans “may be characterized as not able to meet their basic needs and achieve a safe and decent standard of living, or as families with ‘low income’,” states Kathleen Short, the author of the U.S. Census Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). (<a href="https://www.census.gov/hhes/povmeas/publications/SEHSD2013-28.pdf">see here</a>, page 23) America has extreme inequality. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The FRB report further shows that 22% of respondents in the past year had an emergency medical expense, and 45% of Americans carry an “unpaid balance” resulting from medical expenses. The initial median cost was $1,200 while the average cost was $2,383. And “Among those whose family income is under $40,000, 39 percent have gone without some form of medical treatment in the preceding 12 months.” And the <a href="https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2016/demo/p60-258.pdf">SPM of 2016 for 2015 states, Table 5.A</a>, that the poverty rate would decrease from 14.3% to 10.8%, without “medical out-of-pocket” expenses.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">A report from The Center for American Progress (see <a href="https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/MCS_Intro.pdf">page 9</a>) shows that medical expenses doubled between 2000 and 2012, increasing from 5.5% of the family budget for the median four-person household to 10.1%. During the Bush years medical expenses were eating us out of house and home. The <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/114th-congress-2015-2016/reports/51130-Health_Insurance_Premiums_OneCol.pdf">Congressional Research Service</a> reported, page 8: <span style="background-color: #f9cb9c; color: #351c75;">"</span></span></span><span style="background-color: #f9cb9c; color: #351c75; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "futuraltbt";">Private health insurance premiums have generally grown faster than the economy as a
whole. The Office of the Actuary at CMS estimates that the average premium per
enrollee in all private markets grew from about $2,320 in 2000 to about $5,080 in
2013, indicating an average annual growth rate of 6.2 percent.</span><span style="font-family: "futuraltbt"; vertical-align: 5pt;">10"</span></span><span style="background-color: #f9cb9c; font-family: "futuraltbt";"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: large;">However, private
insurance premiums grew more slowly from 2005 to 2013 (4.5 percent per year, on
average) than they did from 2000 to 2005 (9 percent per year). </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2012/09/11/the-average-employer-health-plan-now-costs-15980-and-thats-kind-of-good-news/?utm_term=.13b52d5b42c1">(From a Washington Post article)</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">I’m afraid I’ve used too many numbers, and it is numbing. But the general message is pretty clear. We need some reform, healthcare-wise and economy-wise. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/research-analysis/economic-growth-in-the-united-states-a-tale-of-two-countries/">A recent report</a> shows that the lower-earning 50% of French citizens enjoy an income 16% higher than the same group in the U.S., even though the French economy is less productive per person by 36%, $36,000 versus $56,000 per capita. </span></span></div>
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While the bottom 50 percent of incomes were 11 percent lower in France than in the United States in 1980, they are now 16 percent higher. (See Figure 3.)</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Figure 3</strong></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">In fact, this understates the facts because, "</span></span><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-family: , sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Since the welfare state is more generous in France, the gap between the bottom 50 percent of income earners in France and the United States would be even greater after taxes and transfers."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the past 34 years France's lower earning 50% saw their incomes increase at the same rate as productivity, both rose by 32%. In the U.S., over 34 years, 1980 to 2014, the lower-earning 50% had a 1% increase in earnings, despite the overall average growth of 61%. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the U.S. the higher earning groups all increased their incomes greater than the average: <span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: blue;">"</span></span></span><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: blue; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: , sans-serif;">In contrast, income skyrocketed at the top of the income distribution, rising 121 percent for the top 10 percent, 205 percent for the top 1 percent, and 636 percent for the top 0.001 percent.</span><span style="font-family: , sans-serif;">"</span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">In my last post I show a graph of this uneven growth. The income gap tripled in size between the lower 50% and the top 1%, increasing from 27 times to 81 times, from $16,000 (per adult) to $432,000 in 1980, to $16,000 to $1,300,000 in 2014. This is the story of the past 30 years -- widening uneven income gaps, growing inequality. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">With commensurate growth that matched productivity gains, today's U.S. minimum wage would be $15.77, not $7.25, --- multiply $9.80 an hour, the 1978 minimum wage, with 1.61 to arrive at $15.77 -- and yearly earnings would be $32,818, not today's $15,080. We're not France. The Economic Policy Institute states the minimum would be $19 an hour (<a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/15-by-2024-would-lift-wages-for-41-million/">see here</a>, the first graph). And that by 2024 the minimum would be $21.34, and a yearly income would be the unrealistic amount of $42,680, which is above the average wage income for all wage earners -- an obviously unrealistic prediction. </span></span><br />
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Social expenditure and relative poverty rates in selected OECD countries, late 2000s</h1>
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(<a href="http://stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-poverty-figure-7aa-social-expenditure/">From SWA site</a>)</div>
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Extent to which taxes and transfer programs reduce the relative poverty rate, selected OECD countries, late 2000s</h1>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">But I find that $32,818 much too high. So I refer you to the Economic Policy Institute web page <a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/your-pay/">"What Should You Be Earning?"</a>, where we find an annual income of $15,080, "would-be" $26,911 or $12.94 and hour, or still 78% higher than the current income. The BEA.gov (<a href="https://www.bea.gov/iTable/iTable.cfm?ReqID=9&step=1">Personal Income Table 2.1</a>) site says that disposable income per capita in constant dollars rose, between 1980 and 2014, by 86%, not 78%, not 61%. But I think the Piketty, Saez, Zucman report, showing 61% increase) is the most exhaustive. Today the "</span></span><span style="background-color: #f2f4df; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida sans" , "lucida" , "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 19.2000007629395px; font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CES0500000030">Average Weekly Earnings</a> of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees" private sector",</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: large;"> are $734.50 a week, and for a full-time year-round worker that equals $38,194 annually. The EPI says his/her pay would increase to $57,328, a 50% raise. I believe about 80% of U.S. workers are "non-supervisory". </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">My two most recent essays cover the shift of wage income to the lower-earning 90% of earners; see them for details. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">In <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2015">2015 30% (48 million out of 160.7 million) of U.S. </a></span></span><a href="https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2015"><span style="font-size: large;">workers</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">(Social Security Administration report on wage income) </span><span style="font-size: large;">earned less than $15,000 a year. The mean average income for all 48 million <span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;">(30%)</span> was <b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;">$6,246</span></b> in 2015. From the same Social Security Administration report, <span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;">50%</span> (or 80 million) of U.S. workers earned less than $30,000, and their average income was <span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;">$12,770</span>. And the median for all workers, or the upper limit for the lower half, was $29,930. </span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: red; color: #ffe599; font-size: x-large;"> An Inequality of Income Review </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The <a href="https://www.bea.gov/iTable/iTable.cfm?ReqID=9&step=1#reqid=9&step=3&isuri=1&903=58">Bureau of Economic Analysis</a>, Department of Commerce, (Table 2.1, Personal Income) states the average “disposable” income per capita in 2017 is $44,313, and this implies an average income of $177,252 for all four-person families in the U.S. The U.S. median income of $84,000 for a four-person household is less than 50% of the average. At the BEA the total personal income is $16.4 trillion, and "disposable income" -- which is post-tax income -- is, by deduction, $14.4 trillion. This is different, considerably, from the total posted at The <a href="https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4989">Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation,</a> <a href="https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4989">Overview</a>, page 31, which shows a total income of $14.375 trillion. The highest-earning 6.1% of taxpayers, with incomes over $200,000, earn 35.3% of all income. The lowest-earning 66.7 (2/3rds) with incomes under $100,000, earn 36.2% of all income. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="color: white; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #20124d;"> Therefore the collective income of 6% is nearly equal to the collective income of 67%. And 67% collectively earn a little more than the 6%. </b></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Yet the best article on distribution is the Saez, Piketty and Zucman, showing an average income of $16,000 per year for all in the lower-half of U.S. adults (which I have already posted a link to, and <a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/research-analysis/economic-growth-in-the-united-states-a-tale-of-two-countries/">do so again here</a> and <a href="http://gabriel-zucman.eu/files/PSZ2016.pdf">here</a>). </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Looking at Table 1 of the report shows the average income for adults in the lower half in 2015 at $16,000, with a gap of 81 to the income of the earners in the top 1%, whose average income is almost $1.3 million per adult. But comparing the two halves of U.S. adults we get a ratio of 1 to 7 in income. The lower-half average is $16,000, while the higher half average is $113,000. The lower earns 12.5% of all income, therefore the upper therefore 87.5%, the ratio is 1 to 7. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">I try to repeatedly display the inequality so readers will be left with no doubt. IF only I could find more readers! </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">As I said, healthcare is wildly unaffordable and compared with other nations Americans pay double and receive less. And now after the Trump/Ryan Care passage in the House on May 4, 2017, it is more unaffordable. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Today I read that the owner of the Amazon retail web pages, Jeff Bezos, increases each hour his net worth by more than one lawyer will make in his entire lifetime. This was reported <a href="http://inequality.org/newsletters/ineq-5-8-17.html">at Inequality.org on May 8, 2017</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here are a few facts from <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/51385">the CBO report</a> on the Affordable Care Act: </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">The annual federal cost in 2016 was $110 billion. The average subsidy per enrollee receiving a subsidy through a marketplace or Basic Health Program was $4,240. Through the ACA in 2016, 22 million Americans are insured,11 million were made eligible for Medicaid, and 10 million purchased subsidized insurance through marketplaces (often called exchanges), and 2 million purchased individual policies unsubsidized through marketplaces. In 2016 the ACA increased the share of the U.S. population with healthcare insurance from 83% to 90% by insuring 22 million people. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">All this data is overwhelming, maybe incomprehensible. The gist is that the ACA improved the healthcare system but not enough, it is a miserably failing sector in an already dysfunctional economy. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Listen to<a href="https://kpfa.org/episode/behind-the-news-march-16-2017/"> Dr. Steffie Woolhandler explain</a> the need for real healthcare reform on Doug Henwood's Behind the News. And <a href="http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=851&Itemid=74&jumival=Woolhandler&search=search">watch her videos</a> on the Real News, March 17. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I recommend <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/39851-ryancare-dead-on-arrival-can-we-please-now-try-single-payer">Ellen Brown's article</a> on Single Payer reform. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-large;"><b><u style="background-color: #351c75;"> Even More </u></b></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">On May 23, 2017, a continuation . . . </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I have read <a href="http://www.economonitor.com/dolanecon/2017/03/31/universal-healthcare-access-is-coming-stop-fighting-it-and-start-figuring-out-how-to-make-it-work/">Ed Dolan's essays on healthcare</a> and I find this graph very useful for understanding the costs of healthcare. It shows that 1% of recipients cost the system each year 23% of all costs, 5% of them rack-up 50% of costs, and 10% of the sick cost the nation 67% of all expenditures. His source is <a href="http://files.kff.org/attachment/Issue-Brief-High-Risk-Pools-For-Uninsurable-Individuals">this Kaiser Family Foundation report</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><img alt="healthpicture4" class="aligncenter wp-image-4641" height="400" src="https://niskanencenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/HealthPicture4.png" style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="456" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Kaiser report states: <span style="background-color: #fce5cd; color: blue;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: #fce5cd; color: blue; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";">In any given year, among the 50% least expensive people in a year, 73% will remain in that group for
a second year; similarly, of people who are among the most expensive 10% of the population in one year, only
45% would still be in that group the following year.</span><span style="font-family: "lucidasans"; vertical-align: 4pt;">1"</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Five percent (or almost half of the most expensive 10%) of total U.S. population, will slip out of the high expense and uninsurable category -- perhaps many of them die. While 36% of total population (73% times 50%) remain in the insurable category, the lower half who consume just 3% of all medical expenses, going year to year. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: white;"> The Republican Plan, Perhaps Workable</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Dolan's article contends that caps on health expenditures will automatically shift patients from the private insurance market, the General Tier that covers 70% of all citizens, to the High Risk Tier that covers 10% who generate 66% of all costs. The remaining 20% are those in the Low-Income Tier. As I see it, this Republican plan is an extension of Medicare. It appears that if 66% of the costs are covered in the High Risk Tier, and perhaps 10% are covered in the Low-Income Tier, that places 76% of costs under government coverage, and allows the private market access to 70% of the population who generate only 24% of the costs. I may be wrong, as this is a hasty conclusion. The problem of pre-assigning people to certain risk categories therefore is corrected by automatic spending caps, year to year; the "Uninsurable" or the "Marginally Insurable" or the "Insurable" groups are fluid. And this makes the Republican plan, outlined in Dolan's article, workable. But the major issue of egregiously high-costs-for-everything remains to be dealt with. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The book <i><span style="color: blue;">The American Health Care Paradox, Why Spending More Is Getting Us Less</span></i>, by E. Bradley and L. Taylor, makes the case that low social spending in the U.S. exacerbates health outcomes. It says, p. 16, <span style="color: blue;">"The study found that if we counted countries' combined investment in health care and in social services, the United States was no longer spending the larest percentage of GDP -- far from it. In 2007, for example, the United States devoted only 25 percent of gross domestic product to health <i>and</i> social services combined, while such countries as Sweden, France, Austria, Switzerland, and Denmark dedicated about 30 to 33 percent of their respective GDP to the combination. In 2007, while the United States ranked highest in health spending, it ranked only thirteenth in spending on health services and social services combined (see Figure 1.4)."</span> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The New Yorker magazine <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/american-health-care-too-much-too-late">carried an article from these authors</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And lastly, <a href="http://prospect.org/article/next-progressive-health-agenda">Paul Starr at the American Prospect</a> lays out a plan for expanding Medicare to middle age citizens, beginning at age 50. This would incorporate more of the "Uninsurable" and "Marginally Insurable" into the government risk pool. He makes a strong case, and he has written exhaustively about the medical health care problem. He concludes, "</span><span style="font-family: "droid serif" , "cambria" , "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">We need to move in a more promising direction that takes into account the difficulties that progressive reform has long faced in health care. Midlife Medicare could be a big next step toward a system that works better for everyone." </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #b45f06;"> California Moves Closer to Universal Health Care Measure </b></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">In the first week of June, 2017, the California Senate passed a bill to provide universal health care. <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/40882-california-senate-passes-single-payer-healthcare-bill-but-don-t-start-celebrating-yet">Here</a> is an excellent article concerning the measure.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Listen !! <a href="http://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/Radio.html">to Robert Pollin</a> speak on Doug Henwood's radio interview show. Pollin authored the PERI assessment of California's universal plan that is linked to in the article above. He spoke to the California Senate before they voted, favorably, to go forward with the plan. I found it very informative. </span>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The book </span><span style="background-color: yellow; color: blue; font-size: x-large;">Sixteen for '16</span><span style="font-size: large;"> -- This is my choice for readers. It has the virtue of a snapshot. It clearly and persuasively details sixteen elements of a progressive economy. Salvatore Babones writes for the Institute for Policy Studies, the same group that sponsors <a href="http://inequality.org/author/sbabones/">Inequality (dot) org</a> where you can read his articles.</span> <span style="font-size: large;">You can read a short selection from the book at Google books, </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/Best%20short%20read%20on%20the%20economy:%20%20Sixteen%20for%20%E2%80%9916%20by%20Salvatore%20Babones,%20who%20writes%20for%20the%20Institute%20for%20Policy%20Studies,%20the%20same%20group%20that%20sponsors%20Inequality.org.%20%20%20With%20the%20virtue%20of%20a%20snapshot,%20it%20briefly%20and%20%20clearly%20details%20the%20reasons%20for%20a%20progressive%20agenda.%20%20%20You%20can%20read%20a%20short%20selection%20from%20the%20book%20at%20Google%20books,"><span style="font-size: large;">see here</span>.</a><span style="font-size: large;"> Babones also publishes at <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/author/itemlist/user/46660">Truthout</a>. Here is the <a href="http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/S/bo20718704.html">publisher's promotion page</a>. And <a href="http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=14086">The Real News Network interviewed</a> him in June 2015 after the book was published. Amazon sells used copies for a buck plus shipping -- it's well worth it. </span><br />
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Ben Leethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14058357566482675649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047544383372645090.post-22653762782296759922017-06-09T17:08:00.003-07:002017-07-12T15:26:26.368-07:00 A Ten Year Vision towards Full Employment<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;">This post highlights two reports which describe plans to create millions of jobs by 2027. The first by Frank Stricker, and then the report "What Would Sanders Do?" by professor Gerald Friedman: </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: #bf9000; color: white;"> Full Employment and How to Get It </span> </span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> (see <a href="http://goodjobsforeveryone.blogspot.com/2017/05/njfac-full-employment-and-how-to-get-it.html">here to read the article</a>)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Full employment to men means an abundance of good jobs, higher wages, growing income. White Americans with "no college" voted for Trump by a margin of two to one, 67% to 28%, nearly a 40% margin in favor of Trump. And "white males" also went for Trump by a two to one measure, a 32% margin. They were impressed by Trump's claim to be able to create good jobs. Here is Stricker's report card on job and wage growth: </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b>Report Card on Growth in Real Wages and Total Jobs, Five-Year Periods, 1950-2015</b></span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <b>Wages Jobs </b> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">1950-1955<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A+<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> A</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">1955-1960<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>B</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">1960-1965<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>B+<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">1965-1970<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>C<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A+</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">1970-1975<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>F<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>B+</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">1975-1980<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>FF<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A+</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">1980-1985<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>FF<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>D</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">1985-1990<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>FF<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">1990-1995<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>FF<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>D</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">1995-2000<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>C-<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">2000-2005<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>F<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>F</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">2005-2010<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>F<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>F</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-size: large;">2010-2015<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>D<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>B </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Total five-year growth in wages and jobs graded thusly: 10% or more = A, 8%-9% = B, 7% = C, 6% = D, under 6% = F, decline =FF.</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Stricker will have to revise his grade for the years 2012 to 2016, according to <a href="http://voxeu.org/article/minimum-wage-increases-and-earnings-low-wage-jobs">this report</a>, up from a D to a C (a 7% increase over a 5 year period). The report concurs with Stricker that wage growth was low: it rose at a "</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">0.1% annual growth rate from 1980 to 2007</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">." </span><span style="font-size: large;">That's a 27 year "F" in Stricker's grade system, a total increase of 2.7%. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Federal Reserve graph (at <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LES1252881600Q">St. Louis FRED, here</a>) shows a 4% rise in wages over the past 38 years in "Employed full time: Median usual weekly real earnings: Wage and salary workers: 16 years and over." That's 4% in 38 years, while the economy on a per person basis grew by 79% (see here at <a href="https://www.measuringworth.com/datasets/usgdp/result.php">Measuring Worth, GDP per person</a>). Again, so you will remember: 4% growth in median wage income, 79% growth in total economy on a per person basis. Give the economy an FF. Wage growth was abysmal. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Total job growth, not that wonderful. The prime-age working population employment rate is the best indicator; see <a href="https://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet">this graph at the BLS</a>. Same rate as in 1987, 30 years ago, and we are 3.5% below the high point in April, 2000. That 3.5% equals 3.6 million jobs, even after adding 16.4 million jobs since February 2010. In October 2009 the unemployment rate hit 10.0%. To add clarity, the economy did add jobs, albeit not great jobs, in the past 7 years, but we are still down, not near the employment rate of 2000. Not recovered. And wage growth has been abysmal. See Table 1 <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/wkyeng.pdf">here</a>, real wage growth up 4% since 2008, that's 0.6% growth per year. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I recommend readers go straight to "Full Employment and How to Get It", by professor Frank Stricker, who also wrote the book <i>Why America Lost the War on Poverty, and How We Can Win It.</i></span><span style="font-size: large;"> (He also wrote an article on Infrastructure <a href="http://goodjobsforeveryone.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2017-03-16T16:54:00-07:00&max-results=7">here</a>. Another excellent article on direct job creation is <a href="http://www.demos.org/blog/6/21/17/how-create-real-full-employment-all">here at Demos. org</a> by Algernon Austin. He calculates a need for 7 million new jobs for workers age 24 to 55. This implies a current unemployment rate of betweem 7 and 9% for this age group (not 3.3% the official rate), see this <a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2014/ted_20140211.htm">BLS site for confirmation, here</a>. The unemployment rate for this age cohort is about 1% lower than the total unemployment rate. A 7% or 9% unemployment rate may seem so implausible as to be unbelievable, but it is believable and provable. This is why Austin's article is also powerful and important. And why such a direct job program is most important. I should mention that unemployment stood at 25% in 1933 and at 9.6 in 1937 -- fiscal policy works, see <a href="http://rooseveltinstitute.org/real-lesson-great-depression-fiscal-policy-works/">this article by Marshall Auerback</a>.) Fiscal policy in this case means direct government job creation. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Readers who really want a super-clear picture of the poor employment conditions, with 20 million unemployed, about 1 in 8 workers, can read <a href="http://www.levyinstitute.org/publications/full-employment-are-we-there-yet">this excellent report</a> at the Levy Economics Institute by Wray and Dantas. This is a visionary report with a radical solution: <span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">"The creation of a new New Deal program
could provide the workers we need for many of the infrastructure
projects that Trump and others want, but would go
well beyond this by creating jobs for anyone who is ready and
willing to work. It would be an open-ended job guarantee—not
limited by the labor requirements of any single project—since
it aims to achieve true full employment on a permanent basis.
The federal government would take responsibility to provide
the funding for a base wage to be paid to anyone who works in
the program."</span> (see page 16)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Stricker's program, like the Sanders' Program I deal with below, would lift the income of the middle income, non-supervisory employee, whose income would increase by $20,000 a year, a 50% increase by 2026. </span><br />
<a class="article__img-container js-gallerythumbs" data-is-ajax="" data-link-name="Launch Article Lightbox" href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/nov/03/trump-supporters-us-elections#img-4" style="color: #005689; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; text-decoration: none;"></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Michael Braxton states: </span><span style="background-color: #a64d79; font-family: "guardian text egyptian web" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">“I am for Hillary. Praise the lord. Trump will probably start us another war. Praise the lord. And he is a racist. Praise the lord.”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This photo originates from an article in the British paper The Guardian, by Chris Arnade, "<b><span style="color: blue;">What I learned after 100,000 miles on the road talking to Trump supporters</span></b>". Pictured above, Michael Braxton, a resident of Natchitoches, Louisiana, offers his straight-from-the-shoulder assessment of Trump before the election. Arnade, the author states, </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">"</span><span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; color: blue; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "guardian text egyptian web" , "georgia" , serif;">It became simple: if I wanted to talk to a community overwhelmingly supporting Trump, I would go to a white town or neighborhood nearest the rusting factory surrounded by razor fence. . . . </span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-family: "guardian text egyptian web" , "georgia" , serif;">The early Trump voters I met were the losers from these changes. Their once superior status – based only on being white – was being dismantled, while their lack of education was also being punished. They lived in towns and communities devastated by economic upheaval. They were born in them and stayed in them, despite their fall. For many, who had focused on their community over career, it felt like their entire world was collapsing."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Read the article </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/nov/03/trump-supporters-us-elections"><span style="font-size: large;"> here</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">These </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/profile/chris-arnade"><span style="font-size: large;">articles</span></a> <span style="font-size: large;">vividly portray the men and women who swung their votes to Trump</span><span style="font-size: large;">. "Pride and Poverty in America" is the apt title of his articles. Arnade drove his car 140,000 miles across the U.S. searching for his interviews. Then you can listen to a friendly interview with Arnade at the radio broadcast Behind the News with Doug Henwood, </span><a href="http://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/Radio.html"><span style="font-size: large;">here</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I need say no more. But here's some additional background reading. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #ffd966; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #741b47;">The Political and Economic Impact of Infrastructure Programs </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Bernie Sanders called for a $1 trillion investment in infrastructure over 10 years. Unfortunately he downplayed the direct job creation part of the program. Had he called it a jobs program first, that also upgraded infrastructure, the clear intent would have been appreciated by voters -- white male voters -- who rejected Hillary Clinton. But perhaps he shied away from sounding too socialistic. Read this <a href="http://www.dollarsandsense.org/What-would-Sanders-do-013016.pdf">important report</a> <b><span style="background-color: #3d85c6; color: #fff2cc;"> What Would Sanders Do? </span></b>, describing the wide-ranging effect of his public investment program. See Table 1 for a quick glance. Most of his spending increase, 74%, deals with universal health care or Medicare for All. Yet he calls $1 trillion over 10 years in Infrastructure, and another $1.2 trillion in spending for "Climate change, energy resiliency." </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Also see <a href="https://berniesanders.com/issues/creating-jobs-rebuilding-america/">his web page platform</a> describing his program" Rebuilding America. His program would have served two important national purposes: 1) upgraded public roads, seaports, airports, rail lines, electrical grid, drinking water and sewage systems, private home and public building insulation leading to energy conservation, public school building and municipal building upgrades, and broadband internet improvements, as well as human services improvements in senior health care and pre-school education, and 2) jobs. See the Stricker article above for the impact millions of public jobs will have. Readers can review also the Progressive Caucus Budget, <a href="https://cpc-grijalva.house.gov/the-peoples-budget-prosperity-not-austerity-invest-in-america-fy-2017/">The People's Budget, 2017</a>, which claims would create 3.6 million new good jobs; and view the spending program for this budget <a href="https://cpc-grijalva.house.gov/uploads/EPI%20People's%20Budget%20Analysis%202.pdf">here at the Economic Policy Site</a>, see Table 2, page 22. Page 8 states, "
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<span style="background-color: #134f5c; font-family: "adobegaramondpro";"><span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-size: large;">This stimulus program includes a $208 billion investment in </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #134f5c; font-family: "adobegaramondpro";"><span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #134f5c; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: "adobegaramondpro"; font-size: large;">infrastructure, spending that reaches $1.2 trillion over
FY2016–</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #134f5c; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: "adobegaramondpro"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #134f5c; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: "adobegaramondpro"; font-size: large;">2026, which approaches the level the American Society of Civil </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #134f5c; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: "adobegaramondpro"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #134f5c; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: "adobegaramondpro"; font-size: large;">Engineers calls for to close the nation’s investment shortfall while </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #134f5c; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: "adobegaramondpro"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #134f5c; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: "adobegaramondpro"; font-size: large;">offering a sustained, continuing dedicated source of funding </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #134f5c; color: #cfe2f3; font-family: "adobegaramondpro"; font-size: large;">specifically for infrastructure investments (ASCE 2013)."</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Readers may also read the Center for American Progress <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/reports/2017/05/16/432499/toward-marshall-plan-america/">report</a> <b><span style="color: blue;">"Toward a Marshall Plan for America".</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><picture class="mapping-embed" height="615" itemprop="contentUrl" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3c3c3c; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 19.200000762939453px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;" width="961"><img alt="05_05_Infrastructure_02" class="mapping-embed" src="http://s.newsweek.com/sites/www.newsweek.com/files/styles/embed-lg/public/2017/04/21/0505infrastructure02.jpg" height="615" itemprop="contentUrl" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px none; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 802.046875px;" title="" width="961" /></picture><span class="figcaption" style="border: 0px none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #181818; display: block; font-family: "source sans pro" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 19.200000762939453px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 10px 0px 37px; position: relative;"><span class="caption" itemprop="caption" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; line-height: 20px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 10px 0px 0px;">A member of Cal Fire, right, talks to workers on the Oroville Dam project in front of the main spillway in Oroville, </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">A reminder of why the <a href="http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/">American Society of Structural Engineers</a> gave the country a D+ in infrastructure. (recommend <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/2017/05/05/donald-trump-infrastructure-plan-problems-590486.html">this article</a> at Newsweek magazine, with a photo of the 2007 collapse of a bridge in Minnesota, Interstate 35W. ) </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Polls show as high as 81% support for infrastructure improvement, <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2017/03/08/wow-two-new-polls-show-massive-majorities-favor-new-infrastructure-spending/">see here</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Trump's plan will be financed by borrowing from the private financial market, doubling the cost of investment. And it will saddle users with life-time user fees -- an obvious avoidable error. But it will enrich the private corporations who feed on the government. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://ellenbrown.com/2017/01/26/how-to-cut-infrastructure-costs-in-half/">Ellen Brown debunks Trump's plan</a> explaining the hidden costs of private financing: </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , "georgia" , sans-serif;">"Private equity investment now generates an average return of </span><a href="http://www.investmentcouncil.org/private-equity-returns-far-exceed-declining-market-returns-on-multiple-time-horizons/" style="color: #105cb6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Georgia, sans-serif;">about 11.8% annually</a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , "georgia" , sans-serif;"> on a 10-year basis. For infrastructure investment, those profits are made on tolls and fees paid by the public. Even at simple interest, that puts the cost to the public of financing $1 trillion in infrastructure projects at $1.18 trillion, more than doubling the cost. Cities often make these desperate deals because they are heavily in debt and the arrangement can give them cash up front. But as a 2008 Government Accountability Office report warned, “there is no ‘free’ money in public-private partnerships.” Local residents wind up picking up the tab."</span></span> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">See a <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/reports/2016/12/01/293948/how-donald-trumps-infrastructure-plan-fails-america/">report</a> from the Center for American Progress, <span style="color: blue;"><b>How Donald Trump's Infrastructure Plan Fails America. </b></span>And <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/reports/2016/07/14/141221/fact-sheet-a-plan-for-investing-in-americas-infrastructure/">more from CAP</a>, "<span style="color: blue;"><b>Fact Sheet: A Plan for Investing in America's Infrastructure". </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The Economic Policy Institute presents several articles on Infrastructure and Trump. The first, <a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/trumps-infrastructure-plans-are-empty-promises-not-backed-by-money/?utm_source=Economic+Policy+Institute&utm_campaign=45aab75311-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_06_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e7c5826c50-45aab75311-55955969&mc_cid=45aab75311&mc_eid=1f5a2f7509">here</a>, states "</span><span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-family: , "proxima nova" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">The recently released Trump federal budget plan guts infrastructure, period. Read the link—the damage the Trump budget would do to public investment and infrastructure is staggering. This alone should make any open-minded person extraordinarily skeptical of their claims to value infrastructure spending." </span></span><span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The next</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/as-the-trump-administration-kicks-off-infrastructure-week-remember-that-their-recent-budget-is-an-absolute-disaster-for-public-investment/"><span style="font-size: large;">here</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> and the next </span><a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/no-free-bridge-why-public-private-partnerships-or-other-innovative-financing-of-infrastructure-will-not-save-taxpayers-money/"><span style="font-size: large;">here</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> are long, dense, and you might read them only if you want to know in depth. The last "here" shows a graph of the cost of 20 year government bonds at 3.86% per year, which makes the 11.8% mentioned in Ellen Brown's article 3 times more expensive. The "here" before that shows a graph of non-defense discretionary spending dropping to 40% of it's 30 year historical average under the Trump 2017 to 2026 budget. And <a href="http://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/house-gop-budget-gets-62-percent-of-budget-cuts-from-low-and-moderate-income">this article from the CBPP (dot) org</a> states that the Trump Republican budget will cut $6 trillion in federal spending over 10 years, and 62% of these cuts ($3.7 trillion) would cut programs serving low- and moderate income people. "</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "roboto" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">In 2026, it would cut such programs overall by 42 percent — causing tens of millions of people to lose health coverage and millions to lose basic food or other support."</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Most people realize that the Trump-Rep. budget is a massive tax cut to millionaires, see <a href="http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/sites/default/files/publication/141541/options-to-reduce-the-taxation-of-pass-through-income.pdf">this report</a>, and <a href="https://americansfortaxfairness.org/trumps-budget-steals-working-families-give-tax-breaks-billionaires-big-corporations/">this article</a>. Half a million in lower taxes to millionaires, $240 to middle-income families (see page 7, first "report"). From the "article": <span style="color: blue;">"</span></span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: #f7f9fb; font-family: "futura_bkbook" , "open sans" , "verdana" , "arial"; font-size: 19px; line-height: 31px;">Trump’s tax plan would give </span><a href="http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/sites/default/files/publication/141541/options-to-reduce-the-taxation-of-pass-through-income.pdf" style="background-color: #f7f9fb; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: futura_bkbook, 'Open Sans', Verdana, arial; font-size: 19px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: 31px; text-decoration: none;">$6.2 trillion in tax breaks</a><span style="background-color: #f7f9fb; font-family: "futura_bkbook" , "open sans" , "verdana" , "arial"; font-size: 19px; line-height: 31px;">, according to the non-partisan Tax Policy Center, mostly benefitting the rich and big corporations. The tax plan would also grow the deficit by $7 trillion because it closed few loopholes to pay for the tax cuts." </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This passes, incredibly, for responsible government taxing and spending. People do not pay attention, obviously. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Hillary Clinton lost the "white no college" vote by 39% points -- 67% for Trump and 28% for Clinton. </span><span style="font-size: large;">I remember this as 70 to 30. </span><span style="font-size: large;">That represented 34% of all votes cast. And she lost the "men - white" vote by 32 points -- 63% to 31%; also representing 34% of votes cast. See the results </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2016#Voter_demographics"><span style="font-size: large;">at Wikipedia.</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> White men with little education beyond high school turned to Trump, there's no doubt. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">If Democrats in 2018 wish to make gains among these voters they must offer better employment and wage growth programs that will rescue these disenchanted workers who have had decades of poor job and wage growth (see the Stricker article). This malaise portends a future of bleak social disruption. </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Later I'll expand more of the infrastructure and direct job creation. This is an essential issue that can break the iceberg of disaffection and recast our political theater as we know it. The <a href="http://prospect.org/article/democrats-need-be-party-and-working-people%E2%80%94-all-races">American Prospect published an article</a> supporting the idea of appealing to White Working Class citizens, and it concluded: "</span><span style="background-color: #674ea7; font-family: "droid serif" , "cambria" , "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"><span style="color: white; font-size: large;">The party needs to rediscover its roots as a working-class party, one that was initially exclusionary of people of color but that today can and must represent the interests and values of working people of all races. As the party fights Trump and his brand of divisive right-wing populism, the party needs to bring in more working-class candidates and leaders who can credibly talk with their communities about common economic and social challenges, can forcefully take on the corporate interests that harm these communities, and who can be trusted to fight for the well-being and security of all working men and women. "</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #f1c232; font-size: x-large;"> Reviewing the Leet position: </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">As a review of my strange viewpoint about the U.S. economy, the reader may as well watch William Lazonick's appraisal of U.S. corporations. Winner of the Harvard Business Review award for best article, <a href="https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/videos/the-rise-and-fall-of-american-middle-class"> Lazonick speaks on a video here</a>, repeating his claim that corporations, at least in the S&P 500 which comprises 75% of all stock market equity, over the past 10 years have appropriated 91% of their collective profits and distributed them as stock dividends or stock buybacks, thereby looting the corporations of research investments and depriving their workers of raises. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">And this finding dovetails perfectly with the shocking study by Saez, Piketty and Zucman that shows that the income of U.S. adults in the lowest earning half have not risen since 1980, their income is still $16,000 per adult 35 years later, 1980 to 2015. The <a href="http://bea.gov/">BEA.gov</a> (Personal Income, Table 2.1) shows that "Disposable personal income" "per capita" in "chained 2009 dollars" has risen by 91%, from $20,158 to $38,432, 1980 to 2015. The Saez, et al report states: "</span><span style="background-color: #f6b26b; font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: large;">Average pre-tax national income per adult has increased 60%
since 1980, but we find that it has stagnated for the bottom 50% of the distribution at about
$16,000 a year. . . . Income has boomed at the top: in 1980, top
1% adults earned on average 27 times more than bottom 50% adults, while they earn 81 times
more today."</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">While the gap was $16,000 to $432,000 in 1980, it is now $16,000 to $1.3 million. A companion article from the </span><a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/research-analysis/economic-growth-in-the-united-states-a-tale-of-two-countries/"><span style="font-size: large;">Washington Center for Equitable Growth may be read here</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The <a href="http://wid.world/">World Wealth and Income Database</a> is available to compare various countries, with graphs, tables, comparisons. </span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I belabor my readers with all these extra reading projects because I feel the background is indispensable for a rounded evaluation of my eccentric position, which I find completely convincing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">As I always state in my latest essays, my best utopian essay is <a href="http://benl8.blogspot.com/2016/12/solutions-accentuate-positive.html">December 2016</a>, and the most thorough run down of Inequality is the one before that, <a href="http://benl8.blogspot.com/2016/07/is-capitalism-broken.html">July, 2016</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Another photo from the Arnade articles, this of Robert McAdams of Peru, Nebraska, from the article linked to already, <a href="https://www.blogger.com/Robert%20McAdams,%2078,%20of%20Peru,%20Nebraska:%20%E2%80%98We%20need%20to%20get%20this%20country%20straight%20again.%E2%80%99">here</a>. "We need to get this country straight again," he says. </span><br />
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<a class="article__img-container js-gallerythumbs" data-is-ajax="" data-link-name="Launch Article Lightbox" href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/nov/03/trump-supporters-us-elections#img-1" style="color: #005689; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; text-decoration: none;"></a><br />
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Here's a little extra on the Minneapolis bridge collapse, 2007, <a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/I35WBridgeCollapseMarineOne.jpg" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="File:I35WBridgeCollapseMarineOne.jpg" data-file-height="343" data-file-width="515" height="343" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/I35WBridgeCollapseMarineOne.jpg" style="background-image: url(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Checker-16x16.png); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: repeat repeat; border: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" width="515" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://comesatime.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/p1010078.jpg" style="color: #b85b5a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none;" title="p1010078.jpg"><img alt="p1010078.jpg" src="https://comesatime.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/p1010078.jpg?w=450" style="border: none; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px;" /></a></div>
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Ben Leethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14058357566482675649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047544383372645090.post-7899973154911594732016-07-02T15:39:00.006-07:002017-07-12T14:52:56.613-07:00Is Capitalism Broken? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: x-large;"> Is Capitalism Broken? </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: x-large;"> One Percent Earns 18.7% of annual income, while the lower 55% Earns 16.2% </span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b></span>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;"><span style="background-color: #990000; font-size: x-large;"> 2% Owns 50% of private wealth and the lower 50% own 1% </span></span></b><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://dy00k1db5oznd.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Screen-Shot-2014-09-29-at-11.29.04-AM.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1982d1; display: block; font-family: georgia; font-size: 18px; outline: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none; z-index: 100;"><img alt="Average income growth in US recoveries: top 10% versus the bottom 90%. (Graph: Pavlina Tcherneva)" class="size-full wp-image-99825" src="http://dy00k1db5oznd.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Screen-Shot-2014-09-29-at-11.29.04-AM.png" height="465" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" srcset="http://dy00k1db5oznd.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Screen-Shot-2014-09-29-at-11.29.04-AM.png 640x, http://billmoyers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Screen-Shot-2014-09-29-at-11.29.04-AM-300x217.png 300x, http://billmoyers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Screen-Shot-2014-09-29-at-11.29.04-AM-600x435.png 600x" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px;" width="640" /></a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This graph shows who received the growth since 1949. Pavlina Tcherneva created it, see<a href="http://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/op_47.pdf"> this essay</a> and <a href="http://www.pavlina-tcherneva.net/">her web page</a>, and the article<a href="http://billmoyers.com/2014/09/29/smart-charts-economic-recovery-1-percent/"> at Bill Moyers</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">__________________________________________________</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The U.S. economy does not pay workers adequately; we could raise wages and improve life for most Americans --- the conclusion. This is a long essay. I suggest you break it into parts. Skim it first, and then take in the sections. Take it slowly, go to the links at times for more graphics. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">The picture that emerges in the course of this essay is that the economy is below real functionality for about 40% of the population, especially the younger adults. More importantly, it's unjust. See if you do not agree. The economy has become the master of the society, and that should be reversed. Democracy is needed, and some real deep understanding of the profiles of the economy, which is what motivates my inquiry. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">________________________________________________</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Average earnings for the lower-earning 90% of the U.S. population (real inflation adjusted) has not changed in over 45 years, says this 2015 report from <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/262874867/CRS-Income-and-Foreign-Born-Population">the Congressional Research Service</a>. I can't get the graph to reproduce, so readers will have to link to site. Here's a quote from the Q and A portion: "</span></span></span><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #38761d; font-size: large;">5. From 1970-present, how did overall wages change for the bottom 90% of earners?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #38761d; font-size: large;">The reported income of the bottom 90% of tax filers in the United States decreased from an average of $33,621 in 1970 to $30,980 in 2013 for an aggregate decline of $2,641 or a percent decline of 7.9% over this 43 year period.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #38761d; font-size: large;">6. From 1970-present, what was the net change in the share of income held by the bottom 90% of the U.S. income distribution?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #38761d; font-size: large;">The share of income held by the bottom 90% of the U.S. income distribution declined from 68.5% in 1970 to 53.0% in 2013, an absolute decline of 15.5 percentage points over this 43 year period."</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">The question then one would ask, how much income was lost individually owing to the 15.5% decrease? --- $2,247,500 million in all, divided by 144 million taxpayers, or $15,607 per tax payer unit in the lower-earning 90%. Or per household $19,977 per household, call it $20,000 per household lost to 90% of American households. -- The CRS report is short, you might read it. And the corollary is a web interactive page from the Economic Policy Institute, <a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/your-pay/">"What Should Be Your Pay?"</a>. You'll find much the same answer, about $20,000 per household for those with incomes below $70,000 a year. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">____________________________________________________</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">A look at the income distribution, pre-tax and pre-transfer, called "market income", shows a highly unequal distribution. The </span><a href="https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4763" style="background-color: white; font-size: x-large;">Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;"> (page 28) in the table below shows the top-earning 0.9% earning 18.7% of all income while the lower-earning 55% take in 16.2%. A very </span><a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/research-analysis/u-s-top-one-percent-of-income-earners-hit-new-high-in-2015-amid-strong-economic-growth/" style="background-color: white; font-size: x-large;">recent report </a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;"> from the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, July 3, 2016, shows the top 10% earning 50.5% and </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: white; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #990000;">the top 1% earning 22.0% in 2015. </b></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I will assume this 22.0% figure is accurate, and also assume the other details of the chart below are accurate. This means that the average income for the lower-earning 55% is </span><b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: x-large;">$23,016</span></b><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;"> and the average income for those 1 percenters is </span><b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: x-large;">$1,719,412</span></b><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">, 67 times greater than the lower income. I find this disturbing, something is gravely amiss. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdATLVLhY4J_02ijs-04jigXcmgUM9uteqMXD1sSBCSnq60oAz_XLMawn9aZz2I9EOiiUxtS8ZliFw5PeaE_04u3IQ4ihV84549SVfXkns9DM4YE71NfOoR9Nabd40yq0d7vwRmQE_o94/s1600/CJCT%252C+shot.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdATLVLhY4J_02ijs-04jigXcmgUM9uteqMXD1sSBCSnq60oAz_XLMawn9aZz2I9EOiiUxtS8ZliFw5PeaE_04u3IQ4ihV84549SVfXkns9DM4YE71NfOoR9Nabd40yq0d7vwRmQE_o94/s640/CJCT%252C+shot.png" width="640" /></a></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">Taxpayers with income below $50,000 earn 16.2% of all income, and taxpayers reporting income over $500,000 earn 18.7%, or 22.0% per the other report. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Presumably income is derived from work. The contribution and value of one great worker is 67 times the value of each worker in the lower half? That's hard to believe. The labor market does not reward adequately the labor of lower-earning workers. Wages are on a race to the bottom. Wage reward is so out of balance that it is BROKEN? The </span><a href="https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2014" style="font-size: x-large;">Social Security Administration</a><span style="font-size: large;"> shows that 45% of workers -- 71 million in all -- earn less than $25,000 a year (their average income is about $11,130) -- </span><b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: x-large;"> collectively 45% of workers earn less than 6% of total income </span></b><span style="font-size: large;">. This was more or less the case in 1990 when the SSA began these reports. I don't think readers believe this, so here is a screen shot from the report. The total income for 71 million workers, the 45%, is less than $750 billion, less than 6% of $13.287 trillion. </span></span><br />
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<table border="1" bordercolor="#88aaff" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; width: 98%px;"><caption><b>Distribution of wage earners by level of net compensation</b></caption><thead>
<tr><td style="vertical-align: top;"></td><th colspan="3">Wage earners</th><th colspan="2">Net compensation</th></tr>
<tr valign="bottom"><th scope="col">Net compensation interval</th><th scope="col">Number</th><th scope="col">Cumulative<br />
number</th><th scope="col">Percent<br />
of total</th><th scope="col">Aggregate amount</th><th scope="col">Average amount</th></tr>
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<tr align="right"><td style="vertical-align: top;">$0.01 — 4,999.99</td><td style="vertical-align: top;">22,574,440</td><td style="vertical-align: top;">22,574,440</td><td style="vertical-align: top;">14.27075</td><td style="vertical-align: top;">$46,647,919,125.68</td><td style="vertical-align: top;">$2,066.40</td></tr>
<tr align="right"><td style="vertical-align: top;">5,000.00 — 9,999.99</td><td style="vertical-align: top;">13,848,841</td><td style="vertical-align: top;">36,423,281</td><td style="vertical-align: top;">23.02549</td><td style="vertical-align: top;">102,586,913,092.61</td><td style="vertical-align: top;">7,407.62</td></tr>
<tr align="right"><td style="vertical-align: top;">10,000.00 — 14,999.99</td><td style="vertical-align: top;">12,329,270</td><td style="vertical-align: top;">48,752,551</td><td style="vertical-align: top;">30.81961</td><td style="vertical-align: top;">153,566,802,438.45</td><td style="vertical-align: top;">12,455.47</td></tr>
<tr align="right"><td style="vertical-align: top;">15,000.00 — 19,999.99</td><td style="vertical-align: top;">11,505,776</td><td style="vertical-align: top;">60,258,327</td><td style="vertical-align: top;">38.09315</td><td style="vertical-align: top;">200,878,198,035.07</td><td style="vertical-align: top;">17,458.90</td></tr>
<tr align="right"><td style="vertical-align: top;">20,000.00 — 24,999.99</td><td style="vertical-align: top;">10,918,555</td><td style="vertical-align: top;">71,176,882</td><td style="vertical-align: top;">44.99547</td><td style="vertical-align: top;">245,317,570,246.88</td><td style="vertical-align: top;">22,467.95</td></tr>
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(If the blog does not reproduce pdf file "copies", graphs can be found in the original documents.)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmtrh5fB_f7-f0tnPsKWP_ZSPmnVFRHcKdTLuu4oDVSeu-qVtpehb9EP1KS2xgn8M0p5an_qpXuhBRh6E7C7wWzqOKOkH-5idWiNHeWzywAS2bj248RyEMA8Hu5JtzUdQThQmYnqcvrZY/s1600/Giovannoni%252C+90%2525+income+share+.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmtrh5fB_f7-f0tnPsKWP_ZSPmnVFRHcKdTLuu4oDVSeu-qVtpehb9EP1KS2xgn8M0p5an_qpXuhBRh6E7C7wWzqOKOkH-5idWiNHeWzywAS2bj248RyEMA8Hu5JtzUdQThQmYnqcvrZY/s640/Giovannoni%252C+90%2525+income+share+.png" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The real change began when the lower-earning 90% saw their wages stall, around 1980, in this graph. And between 1980and 2015 the economy grew on a per person basis by 90%, <a href="https://www.measuringworth.com/datasets/usgdp/result.php">see here</a>. Why did wages stop growing? Distribution has not always been so one-sided. A report about "labor share and profit share" from the University of Texas "Inequality Project" (<a href="http://University of Texas Inequality project, Giovannoni paper #66">Paper #66, page 34</a>) shows the decline in labor share for the lower-earning 90%. The dark blue represents the lower-earning 90% labor share dropping from 55% to 37%. For 36 years, 1945 to 1981, it averaged around 55% only to drop to 37% in 2009.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The author, Olivier Giovannoni, states in the conclusion, " </span><span style="font-family: "cmr12";"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Within the aggregate, financial and top incomes
grew tremendously at the expense of labor compensation, at the pace of 15
points of net national income or $1.8 trillion in 2012 alone. It is not that labor
compensation has fallen in relative terms; all evidence points to most gains
going to the top incomes and a muddling through middle-class. As a result, the
average American worker has experienced a triple squeeze: (1) overall, there
is relatively less money going to labor; (2) among the “labor money”, less is
going to the bottom 99% as wages; and finally (3) the purchasing power of the
bottom 99% wages has gone down due to higher-than-assumed inflation."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "cmr12"; font-size: large;">Today, 2016, the total is $2.0 trillion that has shifted out of the paychecks of the lower-earning 90%. The labor share of income has stayed constant at 80%, but the distribution within labor share has shifted greatly. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnlaENrq6LOpbZfGTwvo3vgv_KEklhaMhpStzdRXGrkh8TmdG5NyX8fhpYj91EGn1DkclaRNcWOLVI4VQ9UZsYyAUC01Lz25k-F4rkZuRdLeNPz2Ls_ICndJKSOgk6J8c7gOaY03uXcAs/s1600/Giovannoni%252C+profit+share.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="532" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnlaENrq6LOpbZfGTwvo3vgv_KEklhaMhpStzdRXGrkh8TmdG5NyX8fhpYj91EGn1DkclaRNcWOLVI4VQ9UZsYyAUC01Lz25k-F4rkZuRdLeNPz2Ls_ICndJKSOgk6J8c7gOaY03uXcAs/s640/Giovannoni%252C+profit+share.png" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "cmr12"; font-size: large;">Giovannoni also provides an inverse mirror of the drop in a graph showing the increase of "profit share". From 27% post-war to 1980, to today's 44% which approximates 17% of national income that went to the lower 90%. (page 33): </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">For more on the declining labor share of income, you can read this PERI report by James Heintz,<a href="http://www.peri.umass.edu/236/hash/be417141ac1ec3a055d33986a075a6c9/publication/559/"> here</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "cmr12"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This finding is also reported in the report "<a href="http://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/sa_mar_16.pdf">Destabilizing an Unstable Economy</a>", page 5, from the Levy Economic Institute, 2016: </span><br />
<img src="webkit-fake-url://c75ef7aa-1443-482c-a1fe-b17cbff41d90/image.tiff" /><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9iv3GRC8mP7c78XIhpKRV0vTDXbcnn-uEYKDAfWTJR3oaQsLnV8K3Hy28kLqBw3u2uurMhk6fapVb4VrCYPZ6zknTg6ec3Np25fEsnNylhTGEjGSoI77qR9QuPHtW5-n10dFsr4lcdhM/s1600/Levy%252C+10%2525+to+90%2525.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9iv3GRC8mP7c78XIhpKRV0vTDXbcnn-uEYKDAfWTJR3oaQsLnV8K3Hy28kLqBw3u2uurMhk6fapVb4VrCYPZ6zknTg6ec3Np25fEsnNylhTGEjGSoI77qR9QuPHtW5-n10dFsr4lcdhM/s640/Levy%252C+10%2525+to+90%2525.png" width="640" /></a>-</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Compare the flat red line, 1970 to 2015, with a graph from the Federal Reserve, <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/A229RX0">"Real Disposable Personal Income: Per Capita"</a>, --- per capita income doubles (increases by a multiple of 2.35 between 1970 and 2015, from $16,518 to $38,889). </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The median per capita income in 2010 was $18,700 (see <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/23/upshot/the-american-middle-class-is-no-longer-the-worlds-richest.html?rref=upshot&_r=0#">here</a>). This is roughly the same as the <a href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/12/09/the-american-middle-class-is-losing-ground/">Pew Research, see here</a>, amount, $72,520, for a 4 person family. The average "disposable income per capita" was $36,274 in 2010 (see <a href="http://bea.gov/">BEA.gov</a>, personal income, Table 2.1), and that is about double the median income amount. And the total income (before taxes) per capita was $45,342. So -- the middle person's income was about 41% of the average (18,700 / 45,342 = 41%). </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">That means -- the typical income per person is less than half of the average income person. </span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #990000;">That means extreme inequality. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><img src="webkit-fake-url://7d8b8dfb-eba2-4656-b243-1f556e3c391b/image.tiff" /></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #20124d;">Half of U.S. families struggling to get by? </b></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #20124d;">The Basic Family Budget -- Calculator</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">It looks like about half of the U.S. live in households who cannot afford a modest lifestyle. The <a href="http://www.epi.org/resources/budget/">EPI.org has a family budget calculator</a>, and Des Moines, Iowa, has the median expenses for the nation. A four person family, with 2 children, needs an income of $63,741. This budget calculates "</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: , "proxima nova" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">the dollar amount necessary for families to live securely but modestly in various communities across the nation." No frills! No savings! </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The author of the U.S. Census report on poverty, the Supplemental Poverty Measure, <a href="https://www.census.gov/hhes/povmeas/publications/SEHSD2013-28.pdf">states that 140% of poverty is the actual poverty level</a> (see page 23), not the official amount. These nearly 100 million Americans, in a population of 325 million, she states, are </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: yellow;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">not able to meet their basic needs and achieve a safe and decent standard of living."</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In 2015, that 140% income amount was $33,940 for a family of four, which is 53% of the EPI "modest" lifestyle amount. The $63,741 income is also 2.7 times the poverty level. Using the average multiple of 2.4 times for all U.S. households, it looks like half of U.S. households have less than that income amount. Look at the right pillar -- the SPM pillar -</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><img src="webkit-fake-url://26bbd631-423b-4fb8-a2ad-71f8291aeab0/image.tiff" /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">- if the graphic does not display, look below to the section on the Supplemental Poverty Measure -- it shows that 52.8% live with more than 2 times the poverty level income, so I'm guessing that around 50% live with less than 2.4 times the poverty level, which is the "modest" lifestyle level, below which people are struggling to get by. (See <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/what-families-need-to-get-by-epis-2015-family-budget-calculator/#epi-toc-2">the EPI report</a>.)</span><span style="font-size: large;"><img src="webkit-fake-url://f4c6be4b-647d-4b0f-aa37-fa4e75bae171/image.tiff" /></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The author of the SPM says, "</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">This suggests that families with resources
below approximately 140 percent of the SPM threshold, rather than 200 percent, may be characterized
as not able to meet their basic needs and achieve a safe and decent standard of living, or as families
with ‘low income’." <span style="background-color: #f1c232;">NOT ABLE TO MEET THEIR NEEDS -- 30% of Americans, after taxes and transfers -- and 50% living below the modest lifestyle threshold. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #f1c232;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The graph from the Levy Institute is almost identical to the separation of wages from productivity, an EPI.org graph, <a href="http://www.epi.org/productivity-pay-gap/">see here</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><img alt="" src="https://www.epi.org/files/2014/prody_chart.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-size: 1em; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Is this a sign that capitalism is broken? Since 1989, when the incomes of the lower 90% and the top 10% had clearly parted company, the </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="background-color: blue; color: yellow;">"real disposable per capita income" has grown by 54%</span></b> (see BEA.gov, Table 2.1 or <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/A229RX0">this graph from the Fed</a>), and the </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: blue;"><span style="color: yellow;"><b>GDP per capita has grown by 45%,</b></span></span> <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/A939RX0Q048SBEA">see here</a>, the </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="background-color: blue; color: yellow;">median household income has grown by 0.006% -- it's flat.</span></b> That's 26 years and no growth at the median. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Since 1999, 17 years ago, "real disposable per capita income" has grown by 29% and median household income has declined by 7%. Is capitalism broken? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Here's a graph showing unequal growth trends, a reflection of the first graph of this essay on growth distribution, from <a href="http://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2015/demo/real-household-income-at-selected-percentiles--1967-to-2014.html">the U.S. Census</a>: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><img alt="real-hh-inc-67-14" src="http://www.census.gov/content/census/en/library/visualizations/2015/demo/real-household-income-at-selected-percentiles--1967-to-2014/jcr:content/map.detailitem.800.medium.png/1459361117641.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: transparent; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Urban Institute (who co-sponsors the Tax Policy Center) has nine graphs demonstrating income and wealth inequality (<a href="http://apps.urban.org/features/wealth-inequality-charts/">see here</a>). Between 1970 and 2013 the incomes for the 10th and the 50th percentiles of households decreased, the 90th percentile increased by 36% or $43,000. The web page <a href="https://www.measuringworth.com/usgdp/">Measuring Worth</a> shows that per capita GDP increased by 92%. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The wealth graph is pretty amazing, well worth the bother of clicking the hyperlink. Wealth holdings for the top 1% since 1983 have doubled to nearly $8 million, the 50th percentile showed no movement, the lower went from +$750 to -$2,050. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The income of the top 1%, according to this report from the <a href="http://www.epi.org/multimedia/unequal-states-interactive/">Economic Policy Institute</a>, increased by 200.5%, while the bottom 99% grew by 18.9%. </span><span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: blue;">!!! Ouch !!!</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The most comprehensive explanation to be found is in this <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/charting-wage-stagnation/">Economic Policy Institute report, here</a>, a set of 9 graphs showing that the income of the middle 60% of households would be greater by nearly $18,000 if the wages had matched productivity since 1979, as they had between 1946 and 1973. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><img alt="The U.S. middle class had $17,867 less income in 2007 because of the growth of inequality since 1979: Household income of the broad middle class, actual and projected assuming no growth in inequality, 1979–2011" class="chart-body-image" src="http://www.epi.org/files/2013/middle-class-less-income.jpg.538" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; display: block; font-size: 13.194443702697754px; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 18px auto 8px; max-width: 80%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">U.C. Berkeley professor <a href="http://inequality.org/newsletters/ineq-7-18-16.html">Emmanuel Saez again provides</a> (below) a new finding that underscores the not-even-glacial movement of income for 90% of U.S. families over 35 years. Their average income increased by $12 -- twelve dollars! During these years "disposable personal income" per capita increased by 80%, from $28,325 to $50,820 <a href="https://www.measuringworth.com/datasets/usgdp/result.php">according to Measuring Worth</a>. But none of it reached 90% of the capitas. From <a href="http://eml.berkeley.edu/~saez/">Saez's own web page</a>, the latest on "U.S. Income Inequality" updated to 2015, Table A3 shows income share for the top-earning 10% was below 34% from 1943 to 1978, and today it stands at 50.47%, a shift of 16.5%, similar to Giovannoni's finding shown above, a shift of $2.2 trillion, which averages to $19,700 per household for all 112 million households in the lower 90%.</span><br />
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<a href="http://emlab.berkeley.edu/users/saez/piketty-saezOUP04US.pdf" style="color: #3ca7dd; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="two hedge fund kings" src="http://inequality.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/by-the-numbers-july-18-2016.png" width="415" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #990000;"> Wealth </b></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">A recent issue of <a href="http://inequality.stanford.edu/publications/pathways/2016">Pathways</a> magazine from</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Stanford University's Center of Poverty and Inequality, </span><span style="font-size: large;">presents an article by Gabriel Zucman. He shows that 1% own 42% of all private savings. In most European countries the 1% own between 12% and 25%. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Another source is derived from the Congressional Research Service quoted in a <a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/confirming-redistribution-wealth-upward/">blog posting at EPI.org</a>, it states that 50% of the U.S. own just 1.1% of all wealth. And <a href="http://www.colorado.edu/AmStudies/lewis/1025/incomestudy2012.pdf">Edward Wolff</a> is the third source, his report can be easily digested by looking at Table 1 which shows that 30.9% of Americans have "zero" "non-home wealth"-- nothing in the bank savings account. And 50% have less than $10,000. The Federal Reserve's <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1.pdf">Flow of Funds</a> report, page 2, shows the "Household Net Worth" stands today at $88.1 trillion, which is also </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">$710,000 private net savings for every U.S. household -- almost a laughable statement in light of the fact that half have less than $10,000 outside their home equity. The FRB report <a href="http://Survey of Consumer Finances, 2013">Survey of Consumer Finances, 2013</a>, is the last report, showing a decline of 40% for the middle household net worth between 2007 and 2013, a loss of $54,200, from $135,400 to $81,200 (page 37).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This graph from the <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/114th-congress-2015-2016/reports/51846-Family_Wealth.pdf">Congressional Budget Office report</a> shows dramatically unequal growth in family wealth: (I'm not able to load the graphic, so you must click for the title page. When looking, remember that $89.1 trillion is the Fed's <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1.pdf">Flow of Funds</a> total net worth, page 2, not this one in the graphic.) </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/images/pubs-images/51846-coverlarge-figure.png" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.1s linear; box-sizing: inherit; color: #0b59ad; font-family: source_sans_proregular, Helvetica, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: right; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.1s linear;"><picture style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%;"><img alt="" data-aspectratio="" src="https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/styles/800/public/images/pubs-images/51846-coverlarge-figure.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%;" title="" /></picture></a></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><img src="webkit-fake-url://c959ec36-c2af-493a-890a-c27d713a86b4/image.tiff" /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The Flow of Funds reports, FRB, all of them <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/19971211/z1.pdf">going back to 1996</a>, show the growth of financial assets, Table B100. In 1996 total financial assets were valued at $24 trillion, which is $36 trillion adjusted for today's inflation. Today the total is $72 trillion, double. The economy has grown by 15% of a per capita basis, see Measuring Worth. Again:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Financial Assets: grew by 100%</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Economy grew by 15% -- over a 20 year period. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Financial assets should be taxed. See <a href="https://jameskwak.net/2016/07/20/reducing-inequality-with-a-retrospective-tax-on-capital/">James Kwak essay on how to</a>. </span>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: x-large;"> The Economy's Strength </span></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">To look optimistically at our economy we can see (BLS site <a href="http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t24.htm">here</a>) a healthy strength that bodes well -- about 55% of the workforce are nonsupervisory employees working full-time whose average income is $37,544 a year ($722 a week and $21.49 an hour). These 87 million private sector workers, excluding low-paid retail and leisure/hospitality workers, hold the economy together with their purchasing power. To them we can add 22 million government workers, and they total 69% of the workforce. Combined their collective wage income amounts to 35% of all income. The top graph in blue shows that labor share for 90% is about 38% of all income. So my calculation does not match Giovannoni's. We can look to a table at the EPI's State of Working America web page, <a href="http://stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-income-table-2-4-sources-pretax-comprehensive/">Table 2.4,</a> which shows </span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #990000;"> Sources of Income </b></span><br />
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<figure class="chart-29591 chart-landscape chart-too-tall" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; page-break-before: always; vertical-align: baseline; width: 7in;"><h1 style="background-image: url(https://stateofworkingamerica.org/wp-content/themes/swa-clone/img/sprite/originals/chart-icon-white.png); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 3px 24px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Sources of pretax comprehensive income, by income group, 2007 (2011 dollars)</h1>
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<table style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: myriad-pro; font-size: 7pt; margin: 1.2em auto 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 672px;"><colgroup><col width="2%"></col><col width="1%"></col><col width="1%"></col><col width="1%"></col><col width="1%"></col><col width="1%"></col><col class="table-division-left" style="border-left-color: white; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 0.5em;" width="1%"></col><col width="1%"></col><col width="1%"></col><col class="table-division-left" style="border-left-color: white; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 0.5em;" width="1%"></col></colgroup><thead style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 0.2em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="colgroup" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: bottom;"></th><th colspan="5" scope="colgroup" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Income fifth</th><th colspan="3" scope="colgroup" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Breakdown of top 10%</th><th scope="colgroup" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;"></th></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="col" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: bottom;"></th><th scope="col" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Bottom</th><th scope="col" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Second</th><th scope="col" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Middle</th><th scope="col" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Fourth</th><th scope="col" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Top</th><th scope="col" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">90th–<95th percentile="" th=""></95th></th><th scope="col" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">95th–<99th percentile="" th=""></99th></th><th scope="col" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Top 1 percent</th><th scope="col" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Average all households</th></tr>
</thead><tbody style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Households (millions)</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">24.6</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22.2</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22.9</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">23.0</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">23.7</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">6.0</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">4.7</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.2</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">116.88 (Total)</td></tr>
</tbody><tbody style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr class="table-pseudo-header" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-top-color: white; border-top-style: solid; border-width: 0.6em 0px 1px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th colspan="6" scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0.5em 0.2em; vertical-align: baseline;">Share of total pretax income</th><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0.5em 0.2em; vertical-align: baseline;"></th><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0.5em 0.2em; vertical-align: baseline;"></th><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0.5em 0.2em; vertical-align: baseline;"></th><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0.5em 0.2em; vertical-align: baseline;"></th></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Wages</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">50.5%</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">59.3%</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">60.5%</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">63.2%</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">48.4%</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">61.8%</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">55.6%</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">26.7%</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">54.3%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Proprietors’ income</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">6.0</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2.6</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.9</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.6</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2.6</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2.8</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">4.8</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.6</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2.4</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Other business income</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.1</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.6</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.9</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.1</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">8.2</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">3.3</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">7.3</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15.5</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">4.6</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Interest and dividends</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.0</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.2</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.9</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2.6</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">7.6</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">5.0</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">7.1</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12.1</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">5.2</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Capital gains</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.3</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.4</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.6</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.1</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">13.8</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">3.8</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">6.3</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">31.3</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">8.1</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Pensions</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.9</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">4.1</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">7.1</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">8.2</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">5.2</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">7.6</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">5.9</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.1</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">5.8</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Cash transfers</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">20.3</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12.2</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">9.6</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">6.6</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2.3</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">3.3</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2.3</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.4</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">5.7</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">In-kind income</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15.4</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">13.1</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">11.1</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">8.7</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">3.6</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">5.2</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">3.5</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.6</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">6.9</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Imputed taxes</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">4.4</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">5.1</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">5.3</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">5.7</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">7.3</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">6.5</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">6.0</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">9.5</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">6.5</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Other income</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.2</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.4</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.2</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.2</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.2</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.2</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.0</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.3</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.6</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Total</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">100.0</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">100.0</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">100.0</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">100.0</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">100.0</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">100.0</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">100.0</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">100.0</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">100.0</td></tr>
</tbody><tbody style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr class="table-pseudo-header" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-top-color: white; border-top-style: solid; border-width: 0.6em 0px 1px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th colspan="6" scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0.5em 0.2em; vertical-align: baseline;">Average</th><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0.5em 0.2em; vertical-align: baseline;"></th><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0.5em 0.2em; vertical-align: baseline;"></th><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0.5em 0.2em; vertical-align: baseline;"></th><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0.5em 0.2em; vertical-align: baseline;"></th></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Wages</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">$10,082</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">$27,346</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">$42,341</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">$64,528</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">$139,009</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">$121,552</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">$174,477</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">$542,615</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">$56,561</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Proprietors’ income</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1,198</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1,199</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1,330</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1,634</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">7,467</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">5,511</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15,008</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32,516</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2,500</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Other business income</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">20</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">277</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">630</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1,123</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">23,551</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">6,580</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22,803</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">315,001</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">4,792</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Interest and dividends</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">200</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">553</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1,330</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2,655</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">21,828</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">9,890</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22,130</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">245,904</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">5,416</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Capital gains</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">60</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">184</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">420</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1,123</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">39,635</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">7,451</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">19,908</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">636,099</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">8,437</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Pensions</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">379</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1,891</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">4,969</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">8,372</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">14,935</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15,047</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18,435</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22,355</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">6,041</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Cash transfers</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">4,053</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">5,626</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">6,719</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">6,739</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">6,606</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">6,410</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">7,082</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">8,129</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">5,937</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">In-kind income</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">$3,075</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">$6,041</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">$7,768</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">$8,883</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">$10,339</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">$10,138</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">$11,039</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">$12,194</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">$7,187</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Imputed taxes</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">878</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2,352</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">3,709</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">5,820</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">20,966</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12,745</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18,971</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">193,065</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">6,771</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Other income</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">40</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">646</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">840</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1,225</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">3,446</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2,362</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">3,245</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">26,419</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">625</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Total</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">19,965</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">46,114</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">69,985</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">102,102</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">287,208</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">196,838</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">313,616</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2,032,265</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">104,163</td></tr>
</tbody><tbody style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr class="table-pseudo-header" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-top-color: white; border-top-style: solid; border-width: 0.6em 0px 1px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th colspan="6" scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0.5em 0.2em; vertical-align: baseline;">Shares of total income categories claimed by each group</th><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0.5em 0.2em; vertical-align: baseline;"></th><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0.5em 0.2em; vertical-align: baseline;"></th><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0.5em 0.2em; vertical-align: baseline;"></th><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0.5em 0.2em; vertical-align: baseline;"></th></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Wages</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">3.8%</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">9.2%</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">14.7%</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22.5%</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">49.9%</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">11.0%</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12.4%</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">9.9%</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">100.0%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Proprietors’ income</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">9.8</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">8.8</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">10.1</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12.5</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">58.8</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">11.0</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">23.4</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">13.0</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">100.0</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Other business income</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.1</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.0</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2.4</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">4.3</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">92.3</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">6.5</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.7</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">62.5</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">100.0</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Interest and dividends</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.8</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2.0</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">4.9</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">9.8</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">82.6</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">9.5</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">16.6</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">47.1</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">100.0</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Capital gains</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.2</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.4</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.0</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2.6</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">95.8</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">4.6</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">9.5</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">77.9</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">100.0</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Pensions</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.3</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">5.9</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">16.0</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">27.1</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">49.7</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12.7</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12.2</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">3.8</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">100.0</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Cash transfers</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">14.4</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.1</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22.3</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22.5</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22.7</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">5.6</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">4.8</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.4</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">100.0</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">In-kind income</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">9.0</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">16.0</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">21.3</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">24.4</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">29.3</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">7.3</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">6.2</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.7</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">100.0</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Imputed taxes</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2.7</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">6.6</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">10.8</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.0</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">62.9</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">9.7</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">11.3</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">29.3</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">100.0</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Other income</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.7</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">9.9</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">13.3</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">19.5</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">56.6</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">9.8</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">10.6</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22.0</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">100.0</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">Average</th><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">4.0</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">8.3</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">13.1</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">19.1</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">55.5</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">9.6</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12.0</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">19.9</td><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0.1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.2em 0.5em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">100.0</td></tr>
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Source: Authors' analysis of Congressional Budget Office (2010)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;">This states that "average" income for all households was $104,163 in 2007, updated to 2011 dollars (see the middle rows, Average, lower right side, total income). Looking at the top line, at the left, total wage income amounted to 54.3% of all income (which also means that 45% of all income is not wage income but mostly ownership income), and looking in the lower section, the wage share for the first four quintiles was 3.8 plus 9.2 plus 14.7 plus 22.5 -- 50.2% of all wage income. Therefore, the</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"></span><b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;">total wage share for the lower 80% was 27% of all income</span></b><span style="color: #333333;"> (50 times 54 = 27). This is $3.6 trillion adjusted to 2015's national income of $13.287 trillion (taken from the table above from the CJCT). This results in an average income of $36,363 for all households in the lower 80%. Remember also <b><i>the average household income for all</i></b> in this table is $104,163. The <a href="http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/113th-congress-2013-2014/reports/49440-Distribution-of-Income-and-Taxes.pdf">CBO reports</a> (page 2) that the average household income in 2011 was $93,900, and that adjusts to just under $100,000 in 2016. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;">This table of real weekly wage income of nonsupervisory workers <a href="https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/ERP-2014/pdf/ERP-2014-table15.pdf">from the BLS </a>shows a drop of 8% in 44 years. The <a href="http://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/Household-Income-Distribution.php">second graph in this series</a> showing "real mean household income by quintile" from 1965 to 2015 shows perhaps 8% growth for the middle quintile. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;">Between 1970 and 2014 "per capita disposable income" (the average per citizen growth of the economy) grew by </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;">123%. See <a href="http://here./">here.</a> To repeat, 80% of workers see 8% decline in weekly buying power over a 50 year period while economy more than doubles on a per capita basis. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333;">There is an immense disparity in income, and labor has not been receiving it's fair share. The </span><a href="https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2014" style="color: #333333;">Social Security </a><span style="color: #333333;">report on wage income shows that the lower-earning 45% of all workers, 71 million, earn below $25,000 a year, and their average income is about $11,130 a year -- while the total national income divided by all in the workforce is $86,600 a year. </span><b><span style="background-color: black; color: yellow;">The lower 45% also have a combined income of under 6% of the national income.</span></b><span style="color: #333333;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: yellow;"><b style="background-color: blue;">Is capitalism broken? </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: white; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #990000;">Full Employment ? </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">The </span><a href="http://njfac.org/index.php/2016/06/03/unemployment-data-may-2016/" style="color: #333333; font-size: x-large;">National Jobs for All Coalition</a><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> shows that 19.7 million workers -- about 1 in every 8 -- are unemployed (7.4 million) or working part-time involuntarily (6.4 million) or not counted (5.9 million). To that group add the other 19 million who are working full-time but for less than poverty level wages -- total 38 million or </span><span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;"><b>24% of all workers or would-be workers -- looking for living wage employment.</b></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> I did the math recently, and arguably the nation needs about 18 million full-time year-round jobs, with 4% unemployment, to achieve "full employment". The expert prognosis from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) recently stated we need 3 million. So there is room for discussion on this topic. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;">In April, 2000, the <a href="http://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet">Employment to Population ratio for age 25 to 54</a> workers was 81.9%, it dropped and then recovered to 80.3% in January of 2007, then it fell to 74.8% in November, 2010, and today is 77.8%. In short, since 2000 it dropped 7.1%, and now it is up 3.0%, and so --- we have almost half-way recovered -- still 4.1% lower than year 2000. That's about 5 million prime-age workers not working. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">President Obama likes to remind us that 13 million jobs have been created in 6 years since 2010, up 10% (2.17 million a year). But he does not state that a total of only 15.1 million have been added since year 2000, about 15 and a half years (971,000 jobs a year, 80,000 a month). Over 16 years we have had a 11% increase in jobs. For over 7 years there was no increase in jobs. And have the new jobs been good jobs? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> The nature of the new jobs created? Contingent Labor </span></span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-size: medium;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">This is answered <a href="https://krueger.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/akrueger/files/katz_krueger_cws_-_march_29_20165.pdf">by a study from two professors,</a> one from Harvard, the other from Yale: "</span></span><span style="background-color: #ffe599; font-family: "timesnewromanps"; font-style: italic;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;">A striking implication of these estimates is that all of the net employment growth in the
U.S. economy from 2005 to 2015 appears to have occurred in alternative work arrangements."</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>". . . </b></span><span style="font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt";">the number of workers employed in alternative arrangement increased by 9.4 million</span></span><span style="font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt"; font-size: large;">." . . . "</span><span style="font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt";"><span style="font-size: large;">these figures imply that employment in traditional jobs (standard employment arrangements)
slightly declined by 0.4 million</span></span><span style="font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt"; font-size: large;">."</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #ffe599; font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt";"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">" . . . these figures imply that employment in traditional jobs (standard employment arrangements)
slightly declined . . . "</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">The </span><a href="http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CES0000000001" style="color: #333333; font-size: x-large;">"BLS data" shows</a><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> a total increase of employment from 132.8 million in Jan. 2005 to 140.6 million in Jan. 2015. The increase in contingent labor total, according to the authors, was 9.4 million. The authors use slightly different data than the data at "BLS data". </span><b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: x-large;"> Is Capitalism Broken? </span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>All the net gain in employment</b>, they state, occurred in four "alternative" work categories: "Independent Contractors", "On-Call Workers", "Temporary Help Agency Workers", and "Workers Provided by Contract Firms". Traditional full-time and year-round work is shrinking. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">After maybe an hour of researching BLS data, I conclude that we need about 14 million additional full-time year-round jobs, and the total number of employed should be 8 million higher than today, at 159 million instead of today's 151.0 million. </span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #990000;"> The Millenials and the Aging Boomers? </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Since 2000 over 64 million Americans joined the noninstitutional civilian </span><span style="font-size: large;">population, they crossed from 15 years old to 16. While 64 million aged in, 41 million aged out, turned 65 -- <b>a net increase of 23 million</b>. We need about 4 million more full-time jobs to return to 2000 levels. We also need a pay raise across the board of about $10 an hour for all "employees", from an average of $21 an hour to $31 an hour. And while most of the advanced world have around 25 days, more than three weeks, of paid holidays and vacation, the U.S. has zero (<a href="http://cepr.net/documents/publications/no-vacation-update-2013-05.pdf">see here</a>). </span></div>
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<span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: blue;">What Should Your Pay Be? </b></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> What Should You Be Making? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Let's look at the Economic Policy Institute's <a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/making/">web page</a>. The median employee pay in 2014 was $28,815 -- what should it be if wage growth had matched productivity as it did for about 40 years: </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> up by $17,000</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"> </span><b><span style="background-color: blue; color: yellow;">$45,941</span></b><span style="color: #333333;"> -- that's an increase of 59%</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">What if you earned the median household income of $53,600?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> up by $25,000</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"> </span><b><span style="background-color: blue; color: yellow;">$78,300</span></b><span style="color: #333333;"> -- that's an increase of 44%</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;">Remember that I stated above that since 1989 the "real disposable per capita income" </span><b><span style="background-color: blue; color: yellow;"> had grown by 54% </span></b><span style="color: #333333;">? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Is Capitalism Broken? Did it perform better and more fairly? </span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #990000;">The Minimum Wage Debate</b></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: blue; font-family: "arnopro";"><b>In the Australia or the UK, a days work at minimum wage is equivalent to seven working days in the U.S.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In short, a higher minimum wage, combined with more generous social benefits -- such as universal health care, child care subsidies, housing subsidies, low-cost or free post-secondary education, and a more generous EITC (Earned Income Tax Credit) -- would improve life for millions, especially younger workers. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">David Howell has published articles at the American Prospect, and several at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. (See <a href="http://prospect.org/article/what%E2%80%99s-right-minimum-wage">here</a> and <a href="http://cdn.equitablegrowth.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/29101949/072816-minwage-intrl-comparison.pdf">here</a>.) Howell's articles are excellent, better than my ramblings by far. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">"</span><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-family: "arnopro";"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Other affluent countries provide much higher and more universal support for working families than the United States, in the form of health care, housing, education, and child subsidies.
This means the legal wage floor must carry a much higher burden [in the U.S.] for maintaining minimally
decent incomes for working families than in other rich countries.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arnopro";"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc;">. . . the United Stated is at the
extreme low-end among affluent countries on the level of the minimum wage, whether
measured in terms of buying power or relative to the median wage. (See Figures 1 and 2.)
As a result, after taking into account taxes and benefits, </span><b style="background-color: yellow;">it typically takes a minimum wage
worker six to seven times as many hours of work per week to keep a lone parent or two
child family out of poverty compared to the United Kingdom or Australia (50 hours versus
7 or 8 hours)." </b></span></span><span style="background-color: yellow; font-family: "arnopro"; font-size: 11pt;"><b> </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arnopro"; font-size: large;">Low-wage work in other advanced countries (1) pays more and (2) social benefits reduce family expenses. And in all these advanced countries low-wage work is a smaller share of employment, and half have higher employment rates. In France, with an $11.64 (USD) minimum wage, they count 11% of all workers in low-wage positions, while the U.S. counts 25% of workers as low-wage with a $7.25 an hour minimum (which is the actual minimum in 21 states). "</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #777777; font-family: "segoeui" , "segoe ui" , "segoeui" , "helvetica" , "arial";">France spent about 3.8% of GDP on family benefits, cash payments, and services and tax breaks for families, the country had the highest investment level in the OECD, which had an average spending level of 2.9%." </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">(See<a href="http://www.perfar.eu/policy/family-children/france"> here</a>) If the U.S. spent 3.8% on families alone, the cost would be $684 billion, and the OECD average, 2.9%, would be $522 billion. The U.S. spent $362 billion a year on the entire safety net expenditures, not just family related benefits, in 2015, 10% of the budget, and 2% of GDP. (See <a href="http://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/policy-basics-where-do-our-federal-tax-dollars-go">here</a>.)</span></span><span style="font-size: 13.888888359069824px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arnopro";"><span style="font-size: large;">Both are necessary -- a higher minimum, and greater social benefits. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #990000;"> The People's Budget </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Progressive Caucus, of which Bernie Sanders is the only, the one and only, Senator to be a member, <a href="https://cpc-grijalva.house.gov/uploads/EPI%20People's%20Budget%20Analysis%20.pdf">presented a budget</a>. Here is the key recommendation, in my opinion: </span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "adobegaramondprobold";">"Make necessary public investments</span><span style="font-family: "adobegaramondpro";">. The budget finances roughly $295 billion in job-creation and public-
investment measures in calendar year 2016 alone and roughly $565 billion over calendar years 2016–2017.</span><span style="font-family: "adobegaramondpro"; vertical-align: 4pt;">3 </span><span style="font-family: "adobegaramondpro";">This
fiscal expansion is consistent with the amount of fiscal support needed to rapidly reduce labor market slack and
restore the economy to full health." </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;">This morning while drinking coffee I read this report from the Levy Economics Institute: </span><a href="http://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/op_11.pdf" style="color: #333333;">Investing in Social Care Delivery</a><span style="color: #333333;">. Apparently one job in social care -- health care for the elderly and chronically ill, and "early childhood development services" -- costs about $41,600 per year. While a job in infrastructure costs about $100,000 a year. One mainly employs women, the other mainly men. A 50 - 50 split of the two types leads to a $70,000 per year cost per job, and to save the reader the math, </span><b><span style="background-color: #fce5cd; color: #990000;">a $300 billion investment would create 4.3 million jobs, half for men, half for women.</span></b><span style="color: #333333;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">More workers = more taxes. More workers = less excess labor supply and higher wages for 109 million full-time workers. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A financial transaction tax could finance such a program according to <a href="http://www.cpegonline.org/reports/jobs.pdf">this report</a> from the Chicago Political Economy Group. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The year before the Progressive Caucus budget planned to created 9.1 million jobs over a three year period, but they have trimmed down their proposal in this latest edition. We could use 9.1 million new jobs. That would raise wages for all 109 million full-time workers are jobs would be "tight" and wages would grow, and we are far away from inflation. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #990000; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: white;"> Is Capitalism Broken? </span></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #990000; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: white;"> A Look at the Supplemental Poverty Measure </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">The following section is difficult, it has so many numbers. In short, 30% of Americans live in poverty, another 10% have low incomes, too low to achieve a basic, frugal lifestyle. Another 40% are doing well with income, and the top-earning 20% are doing quite well. So 60% are doing well (but they are working too hard without vacations), 40% are struggling. Is Capitalism Broken? I recommend the Pew Research report that breaks down the complexity: <a href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/12/09/the-american-middle-class-is-losing-ground/">The American Middle Class Is Losing Ground</a>, a 9 page paper. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">Let's look at the U.S. Census <a href="https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2015/demo/p60-254.pdf">Supplemental Poverty Measure</a> to see how they measure well-being from a base of poverty. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">But first, this report shows several very important things. On page 9 they show that poverty has been lowered by government transfer programs, principally Social Security, from around 30% to 15.3% -- cut in half by my calculation. A June, 2016, <a href="http://www.cbpp.org/poverty-and-inequality/commentary-house-gops-attention-to-poverty-is-welcome-but-plan-is-seriously">report from Robert Greenstein</a> at Center for Budget and Policy Priorities says that government programs reduce poverty from 25.5% to 15.3%, a reduction of 10.2%. He states: </span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">". . . the safety-net programs . . . lifts</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"><i>more than 40 percent</i> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;">of such (poor) people above he poverty line." He also says of the Republican (Ryan) plan for poverty "</span><b><span style="color: blue;">42 percent of all federal resources for low-income programs would disappear by 2026.</span></b><span style="color: #333333;">" Just great, cut about half of all funding for poverty! </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">Here's a </span><a href="http://www.cbpp.org/research/contrary-to-entitlement-society-rhetoric-over-nine-tenths-of-entitlement-benefits-go-to">report from CBPP</a><span style="font-size: large;"> that states that 90% of benefits go to -- guess who -- the elderly, the disabled, working households. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;">This CBO report, <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/113th-congress-2013-2014/reports/49440-Distribution-of-Income-and-Taxes-2.pdf"> The Distribution of Income and Federal Taxes in 2011</a>, shows (page 2) this distribution by household quintiles</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"> 1 2 3 4 5</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;">Market</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;">Income 4% 7% 12% 20% 57%</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;">After-Tax 6% 11% 15% 21% 48%</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;">Income</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"> -- Gain or +2% +4% +3% +1% -9%</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"> Loss </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;">So roughly 9 or 10% of income from the top-earning 20% is shifted through transfers to the lower-earning 80%. The 2nd quintile receives more than the 1st quintile. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;">Page 13 of the SPM shows that of the 29 million adults (15.0% of all adults) who fall into poverty, 52% worked in the past year, 22% (6.4 million) "worked full-time, year-round". And <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/poor-people-work-a-majority-of-poor-people-who-can-work-do/">another report</a>, showed that 35% of the adult poor were disabled, retired, or in school. Of the remaining 65% who are work-eligible, 63% of them were working either full- or part-time. So, 35% are not work-eligible, 41% are working, leaving 24% of the poor adults, 18 to 64 years old, whose poverty rate is 15.0%. Well, 24% of 15% equals 3.6% -- that's the rate of adults 18 to 64 who do not work, period. That implies that 3.6% of adults between age 18 to 65, about 7.1 million, were able to work but not working. Then, 96% of adults between 18 and 64 are either working, have home responsibilities, are in school, are disabled, or are retired. Only 3.6% (7.1 million adults) are not working and poor. They probably survive on food stamps, and could easily be homeless, or in prison. As the report cited above states, 90% of safety net funding goes to the elderly, to the disabled, and to working households.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">But page 8, Figure 2, gets at total distribution, the graph shows </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Look at the right pillar, the SPM measure. 15.3% of Americans after all government transfers live in poverty -- 48 million -- 1 in 7. </span></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">The most important fact comes from <a href="https://www.census.gov/hhes/povmeas/publications/SEHSD2013-28.pdf">another report by Kathleen Short</a> (page 23), the principal author of the SPM. In November, 2013, she wrote another report that stated: <b style="background-color: #fce5cd;">"</b></span><span style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><b>This suggests that families with resources
below approximately 140 percent of the SPM threshold, rather than 200 percent, may be characterized
as not able to meet their basic needs and achieve a safe and decent standard of living, or as families
with ‘low income’."</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">". . . not able to meet their basic needs"</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">". . . not able . . . to achieve a safe and decent standard of living"</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This is precisely a definition of poverty "not able to meet their basic needs . . [not able] to achieve a safe and decent standard . . .". I repeated it three times. -- 30% "not able". </span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">It raises the after-tax after-transfer </span><b><span style="background-color: blue; color: yellow; font-size: x-large;">poverty rate from </span></b><span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: blue;">15.3% to about 30%</b></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> (29.9% to be exact in 2011), look at the pillar graph to compare. </span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">So, it is a fiction that the poverty rate is 15.3% or 14.9%, when it's actually around 30%, according to Kathleen Short who has been employed at the Census for over 30 years. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">One of the glaring defects of the SPM is that "poverty" is not strictly defined. What are the defining qualities of poverty? The report of 2013 was a comparison of the SPM with another report from the Economic Policy Institute, and it concurs that the EPI reported "poverty rate" of 30% was accurate, and this EPI threshold comprised approximately the same number of citizens who live with income below 140% the SPM poverty theshold. That places the poverty threshold income for a family of four at $35,644, just a few thousand below the average income, 37,544, for the 87 million nonsupervisory private sector workers I cite above under "The Economy's Strength". This is why 65% of married couples with children over 6 years old are working in the economy. One full-time non-supervisory wage worker at the median -- equals just a little above poverty! Around 80% of U.S. workers are non-supervisory. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now back to the chart above:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">5.1% of Americans live with half the poverty amount, deep poverty. The poverty income for a family of 4 is less than $25,460 if they rent an apartment, or $6,365 per year per person -- or $17 a day per person --- and this value includes all government benefits such as food stamps, EITC, Medicaid, Social Security-- called government transfers. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">But let's look at the sector that earns (or receives benefits) twice the poverty level -- about 47.1% of all Americans fall in this category-- over 152 million Americans. As $17 a day is poverty, then $34 a day is 2 times poverty, it comes to $12,410 per person per year. A family of four will have less than $49,640 yearly income. This is low-income. The median for a four person family is $84,000 (see <a href="https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/MiddeClassSqueezeReport.pdf">this report</a>, page 9) and at a <a href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/12/09/the-american-middle-class-is-losing-ground/">Pew Research Center report</a> (page 1) it is $72,520. </span><span style="font-size: large;">The median for all families $63,810, </span><a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-income-figure-2a-real-median-family/"><span style="font-size: large;">see here.</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now look at the average expenses for a family in the U.S., see this EPI site, <a href="http://www.epi.org/resources/budget/">Family Budget Calculator</a> --- $63,741 is needed for a frugal but adequate life style in the median expense city of Des Moines, Iowa. So about 33% to 50% of U.S. families have incomes below what is needed for a frugal but decent life style. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">About 47% live below twice the poverty, 200% of poverty, and that's about $49,640 a year for a four person family whose expenses for a frugal lifestyle, in Des Moines, is $63,810. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The SPM does not breakdown their groups as to family size and income.</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6047544383372645090" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="webkit-fake-url://1ceffb82-7ecb-467c-b64d-86b08bc8e24a/image.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-size: large;">What is the average household income? Over $100,000. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Is capitalism broken? But 47% live with half of the average income, which is less than 2 times poverty level, which is $49,640 for a four person family. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Pew Research report, <a href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/12/09/the-american-middle-class-is-losing-ground/">here</a>, states that in 2015 a total of 9% of households were "Upper Income", meaning 3 times the median income. A four person family will have an income above 3 times $72,520, or $217,560, and 9% of the nation live at that 3 times the median level. For households of various sizes that "3 times the median income" equals income above: </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Upper 9% </span><span style="font-size: large;">Official Poverty Threeshold</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">one person --- $108, 780 + $11,770</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">two person --- $153,840 + $15,930</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">three person --- $188,412 + $20,090</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">four person --- $217, 560 + $24,250</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">five persons of more --- $243,240 + $28,410</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A multiple of 10 separa</span><span style="font-size: large;">tes these two groups. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;">And in 1981 </span><b><span style="color: blue;">only 3%</span></b><span style="color: #333333;"> of households entered this upper income group, but</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: blue;">9%</span></b><span style="color: #333333;"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">were in this group </span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">in 2015</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">. </span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #990000;">The Problem with Pew and SPM </b></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">The problem with the Pew report is that its central reference is the "median" income for various size households. And I've shown that the median has not budged in decades while the entire economy has doubled on a per capita basis. And the problem with the SPM is that the likely understated low poverty rate is the central reference point of comparison. An improved measure would be the "average" income and the distance from it for all households. I venture to guess that only about 10% of households live at "average" or above. That does sound incredible, but I've looked closely. Average would be at $42,543 per person -- $170,172 per year for a 4 person family. And the BEA is using the "disposable income" figure, not the higher market income figure. We are a very wealthy nation, on paper at least -- had it not been for extreme inequality. We are so poor that we can't pay our national public debt of $14 trillion with the $88.1 trillion in private net worth! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/12/09/the-american-middle-class-is-losing-ground/st_2015-12-09_middle-class-03/" rel="attachment wp-att-21110" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #bc7b2b; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15.833333015441895px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Share of adults living in middle-income households is falling" class="alignright size-full wp-image-21110" src="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/files/2015/12/ST_2015-12-09_middle-class-03.png" height="509" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; clear: right; float: right; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 5px 0px 15px 15px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="310" /></a><span style="background-color: #ffe599; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">The hollowing of the American middle class </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;">The BEA reports (</span><a href="http://www.epi.org/resources/budget/" style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif;">Table 2.1</a><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;">) that the "disposable personal income per capita" is how much? --- $42,543. The poverty income per capita in a four person family, $6,365, and that is almost 1/7th of this $42,543 average. (That $42,543 figure may sound too high, but multiply it by 320 million citizens and it's close to the CJCT (first paragraph of this essay) reported national income of $13.287 trillion.) </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;">The per capita average, $42,543, leads to an income of $170,000 for a four person family. And $25,460 is about 1/7th the average of $170,000. This is not a democratically owned economy, quite obviously. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;">Yet 81% live below 4 times the poverty level (19.1% above) per the graph copied from the SPM. The Pew report states that, </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "\22 georgia\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , "\22 times\22 " , serif; font-size: large;">when separated into family size, </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: large;">21% live with more than double the median. For a 4 person family, above $145,000 (2 times $72,540). But according to the SPM 19% live with income above $101,200. Therefore, I find the SPM graph in error, it share is greater than 19%. </span><br />
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<b style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif;"><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"> Perhaps 80% of Americans live below 60% of the average per capita income. Maybe. Definitely few live at or above average. </span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;">I think the Pew and the SPM would be improved if they both showed the percentage of the population living at 100% of "average income" or $42,543 per person. The SPM could scrap the multiple of poverty, and the Pew could scrap the multiple of median. The multiple of "average" more clearly shows the economy's health. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: large;">Since a poor family of four is in poverty at $25,460 or below, as SPM reports, then 4 times that is $101,840. The 80th percentile is about $114,000. The Pew figure, $145,041, where 21% of the population live, is 2 twice the median! And to add complications,</span><span style="font-family: "\22 georgia\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , "\22 times\22 " , serif; font-size: large;"> 4 times the per capita income -- $42,543 is $170,172. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: large;"> ------- One must not lose the forest for the twigs on the trees. Our very wealthy economy could eliminate poverty easily, but we just don't care to do so. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: large;">Here's are a few reports with suggestions: <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/poverty/report/2016/04/14/135547/yes-america-can-afford-to-dramatically-reduce-poverty-and-increase-opportunity/">here</a>, <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/poverty/news/2014/09/17/97287/the-top-10-solutions-to-cut-poverty-and-grow-the-middle-class/">here</a> and <a href="http://billmoyers.com/2013/05/12/twelve-things-you-can-do-to-fight-poverty-now/">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #990000;">A Radical Solution? - - Worker Management </b></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">I've just finished reading </span><a href="http://prospect.org/article/confronting-parasite-economy"><span style="font-size: large;">the American Prospect article</span></a><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="http://prospect.org/article/confronting-parasite-economy"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></a><span style="font-size: large;">by Nick Hanauer, "</span></span><b style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Confronting the Parasite Economy</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">", and it's excellent. But the only solution he mentions is to increase the minimum wage, which will not solve the problem. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">A new charter --</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">I think corporate governance must change, that all firms of a certain size must receive a national corporate charter, and this charter would require worker representation on the board of directors to a certain percentage. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">A new NLRA --</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">A re-writing of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) would mandate that every worker with one year of seniority would have a vote to select a percentage of corporate board members. Greater labor union organizing rights for workers also would help, which means re-writing the NLRA. Ellen Dannin's book and interviews -- see <a href="http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2006/yates010806.html">here</a>, <a href="http://truth-out.org/archive/component/k2/item/94144-ellen-dannin--enforcing-labor-rights?Itemid=228article">here</a> and <a href="http://truth-out.org/archive/component/k2/itemlist/user/38497">here</a> -- outline the process of reforming the NLRA. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">A tax advantage --</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">And -- most importantly -- </span><b style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">abolition of corporate tax for all corporations that are managed, if not owned, by workers</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> with no management input from owners. This tax advantage would position worker-owned firms over those owned by "absentee" owners, and this automatically would transform wages for the entire economy. Worker managed or owned firms would</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> disperse profits to workers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"><b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;"> Large Corporations Are Where Most People -- 65% --Work </span></b></span></span>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">This </span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2015/econ/g12-susb.pdf">U.S. Census report</a></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2015/econ/g12-susb.pdf"> </a>shows that 51.6% of all workers (just under 60 million workers) are employed in corporations with more than 500 workers, and 65.4% work in firms with more than 100 employees. (This </span><a href="http://www.census.gov/ces/dataproducts/bds/data_estab.html" style="font-size: x-large;">U.S. Census report</a><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="http://www.census.gov/ces/dataproducts/bds/data_estab.html" style="color: #333333; font-size: x-large;"> </a><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> (Establishment Size) shows somewhat different data.) A firm that pays high wages should receive a market advantage, and over time these firms would all drive out of existence the current ownership system of corporations. </span><span style="color: white; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #990000;">That would be radical.</b></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: white; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #990000;">Where Corporate Profits Go</b></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> William Lazonick, at </span><a href="https://hbr.org/2014/09/profits-without-prosperity" style="color: #333333; font-size: x-large;">this </a></span><a href="https://hbr.org/2014/09/profits-without-prosperity" style="font-size: x-large;">Harvard Business Review article</a><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">, has shown that at the 449 largest U.S. corporations, between 2002 to 2012 inclusive, 91% of profits went to either stock buybacks or corporate dividends. "</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "guardian";"><span style="color: blue;"><b>That left very little for investments in productive capabilities or higher incomes for employees</b>," </span>Lazonick states.</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;"><b>Very little for higher incomes for employees</b></span><span style="color: #333333;"> -- he hit the nail squarely on its head. As Hanauer has shown, <b>employers cannot raise wages in this system without being driven out of business by competitors.</b> "Good" employers subsidize bad employers with taxes that support the low-paying companies through government benefits to low-income workers. "</span><span style="color: blue;">In effect, many real-economy companies end up subsidizing their parsite-economy competitors</span><span style="color: #333333;">," states Hanauer. This is a broken system. Remember 91% of profits go to owners while average weekly earnings of workers since 1964 are lower by 8%. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;">We need worker ownership or management as a national policy. And still that might not be sufficient. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: white; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #990000;">S&P 500 out grows all others</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">Since 1974 an investment of $1,000 in the </span><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=%5EGSPC+Interactive#symbol=%5EGSPC;range=my"><span style="font-size: large;">S&P 500</span></a><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> has grown by </span><b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: blue; font-size: x-large;">410%</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">. (by a multiple of 5.09, adjusting for inflation)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">The </span><span style="font-size: large;">BEA (Table 2.1)</span> <a href="http://www.bea.gov/iTable/iTable.cfm?ReqID=9&step=1#reqid=9&step=3&isuri=1&903=58"><span style="font-size: large;">"disposable personal income per capita"</span></a> <span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">adjusted to "chained 2009 dollars" has grown by </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: yellow;">108%</b></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">The U.S. median household income, according to </span><a href="http://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/demo/tables/p60/252/table3.pdf"><span style="font-size: large;">the U.S. Census</span></a> <span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">has grown by </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: yellow;">10.1%</b></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;">The <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CES0500000030">Federal Reserve</a> shows the "</span></span><span style="background-color: #f2f4df; color: #333333; font-family: "lucida sans" , "lucida" , "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold;">Average Weekly Earnings of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees: Total Private" </span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">has fallen by </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: yellow;">-4.9%</b></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> since January 1974. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: white; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #990000;"> A Tale of Two Periods ------------ wages grow with the economy, and then they don't </b></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">Between 1947 and 1973 (26 years) the GDP per capita grew by</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="color: yellow; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="background-color: blue; font-size: x-large;">90%, </span></b></span></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> and the BEA "disposable income per capita" grew by</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: medium;"> <b><span style="background-color: blue; color: yellow; font-size: x-large;">106%.</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-size: medium;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">The hourly wages for non-supervisory workers grew by</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: blue;">76%</b></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">, </span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">and their weekly earnings grew by </span><span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: blue;">61%</b></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">But in contrast, between 1973 and 2013 (40 years) GDP per capita grew by</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: yellow;">92%</b></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">, </span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">about the same as '47 to '73.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">The BEA "disposable income per capita" increased by </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: yellow;">94%</b></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> B</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">ut hourly wages for non-supervisory workers, over 80% of all workers, increased by only </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: yellow;">4%</b></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">, and total compensation by </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: yellow;">9%</b></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;">(Go to <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-wages-table-4-3-hourly-weekly-earnings/">here</a> and <a href="https://www.measuringworth.com/usgdp/">here</a> and <a href="http://www.bea.gov/iTable/index_nipa.cfm">here</a> Table 2.1 for confirmation.) </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;">How did Warren Buffet become the wealthiest man? He put his money in corporate ownership shares, and they grew by about 4 times faster than the economy, and about 40 times faster than the median household's income. The economic surplus for decades has been channeled into the minority wealthy who have no constructive use for this surplus. </span><b><span style="color: #990000;">The surplus has been wasted on the wealthy.</span></b><span style="color: #333333;"> They systematically bid up the value of stock prices creating a bonanza for stock values. Since 2008 the nominal wealth of the nation has grown by 57%, see the </span></span><a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1.pdf" style="color: #333333; font-size: x-large;">Federal Reserve report Flow of Funds, page 2</a><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">Since 2008 "household net worth" has increased from $56.2 trillion to $88.1 trillion, an increase of $31.9 trillion, $257,000 per household, a nominal increase of</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> </span><b style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #f9cb9c; color: #990000; font-size: x-large;">57%</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">Since 2007 the median household income has dropped by </span><b style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #f9cb9c; color: #990000; font-size: x-large;">-6.5%,</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">and the median household's wealth has fallen by</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #f9cb9c;">-40%</b></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">. A Tale of Two Cities -- the cities of Paper Assets and Dwindling Assets. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333;"><b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: x-large;">The surplus is going to waste.</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"> Or you might have some other explanation? </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: x-large;">Capitalism is Broken -- but it has not collapsed</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: large;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Material standards are only a part of well being. Cultural values, human relations, family, friends, social attitudes play a much greater role in personal h</span><span style="font-size: large;">appiness, security, and life at its best. Yet for many, perhaps 40% of the nation, the best of non-tangible values is not enough. M</span><span style="font-size: large;">aterial security often determines life's opportunities and fulfillment of human potentials, for the individual and society. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I have to look at the Economy's Strength section above with 87 million workers earning on average $37,000 a year. That is a strong economy. But it could be so much stronger! No paid vacations? The greatest child poverty rate among developed countries? I have failed to mention the United Nations report on Human Development, adjusted for inequality. The U.S. ranks eighth, but then more realistically it is ranked for inequality, and it drops to 28th between Italy and Greece. <a href="http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr_2015_statistical_annex.pdf">See here, page 16</a>. Imagine, just above lowly Greece which is in a major depression. You might wish to skip the rest of this sentence: The Greek GDP/capita is $22,648, USA is $51,925, and Italy is $32,827. What, dear faithful reader, does that tell you? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;">Years ago, in 1990, I worked as a substitute teacher at Frick Junior High School in a rough part of Oakland, California. I asked a boy if there were gangs in the neighborhood. He said, </span><span style="background-color: #ffd966; color: #351c75;">"Are you kidding! There are gangs on every street. This is the killing field."</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Capitalism was and is broken for his neighborhood, his friends, family relations, even his generation. A large portion of our population are struggling unnecessarily.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2016/05/24/for-first-time-in-modern-era-living-with-parents-edges-out-other-living-arrangements-for-18-to-34-year-olds/st_2016-05-24_young-adults-living-02/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #bc7b2b; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: 25.6000003814697px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Living with a parent is the most common young adult living arrangement for the first time on record" class="attachment-large size-large" src="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/files/2016/05/ST_2016.05.24_young-adults-living-01.png" height="750" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="310" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Since 1880, as recorded by <a href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2016/05/24/for-first-time-in-modern-era-living-with-parents-edges-out-other-living-arrangements-for-18-to-34-year-olds/">the Pew Research Center, </a> the U.S. Census and <a href="http://prospect.org/article/first-post-middle-class-election-0">Harold Meyerson (here)</a>, "the percentage of Americans ages 18 to 34 who live with their parents (32.1 percent) exceeds for the first time in recorded history" those who are married or living with a partner (31.6%) or living solo or with friends. And the share who are married or co-habiting has dropped from 62% to 31.6%, half as many as in 1960.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">There goes our birth rate, our family formation rate, our families, and our nation. This looks like the end of our traditional view of society. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Capitalism is not working for those still living with Mom and Dad. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It is breaking apart. It could be fixed with some attention. </span></div>
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Ben Leethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14058357566482675649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047544383372645090.post-22799352524041658842015-02-09T12:15:00.002-08:002017-06-09T13:41:08.647-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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What Caused the Recession ? <span style="background-color: #f3f3f3; color: blue; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 1.4;"> </span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> Debt caused the Recession.</span></span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-large;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Excessive debt leads to insolvency. A growth of debt level must be accompanied by a growth of income. The US economy broke this simple rule, the result has been the Great Recession (GR). Economist Steve Keen won a respected prize among economists for predicting the GR. His explanation points exclusively to the growth of private debt. Since 1964 the “average weekly earnings” of non-supervisory workers, about 80% of the work force, has declined in inflation corrected terms by 4%, while the economy has become more productive per worker and per capita by a rate of 175%. With this background of income stagnation, what did debt do? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It expanded, especially among financial corporations and households. In his book Debunking Economics, page 336, Keen states, referring to the US Flow of Funds report from the Federal Reserve, “Such an exponential rise in the debt ratio had to break, and when it did the global economy would be thrust into a downturn that would surely be more severe than those of the mid-1970s and early 1990s . . .(page 347) The debt-to-GDP ratio, which began the post-war period at barely 50 percent, increased by a factor of 6 in the subsequent five decades to reach a peak of 298 percent of GDP in early 2009.” </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">He was drawing on Table D.3 from the Flow of Funds report. Looking at that report, the ten year section,1998 to 2008, these are the figures of debt growth.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Total domestic debt in ten years from 1998 to 2008 grew from $23 trillion to over $53 trillion. It </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">increased by 76%</span><span style="font-kerning: none;">, adjusting for inflation, while “disposable personal income” per capita </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">increased by 21%</span><span style="font-kerning: none;">. The key sources of debt are Government, Consumer, Non-Financial Corporate, and Financial Corporate.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">The Financial Corporate sector debt</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;"> increased 100%</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"> adjusted for inflation, and it's portion of total debt increased from 27% to 32% of all domestic debt (it was minuscule before 1970 as a % of GDP).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Consumer debt </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">increased by 78%</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"> inflation adjusted, its share of total debt increased by 1%, from 25% to 26%.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Non-financial business debt </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">increased by 65%</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"> per inflation adjustment, dropping its share from 23% to 21%.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Government debt (federal, state and local) </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">increased debt by 53%</span><span style="font-kerning: none;">, falling from 21% to 17% of total debt. Quite often government debt is painted as the debt villain, but this is pure ignorance in the service of politics. Put a white hat on government debt; put a dark thief's mask on financial system debt.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Between 1980 and 2008, 28 years, the economy's per capita “disposable personal income”, </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">grew by 79%</span><span style="font-kerning: none;">. (from <a href="http://bea.gov/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">BEA.gov</span></a>)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"> Total domestic debt increased by </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; line-height: normal;">230%</span><span style="font-kerning: none;">, from $10.6 trillion to $34.9 trillion.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> So <b>debt growth nearly tripled the rate of economic growth (79 times 3 = 237.).</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> <b>Financial Corporate debt grew from 20.7% to 120.0% of GDP (in 2015 it’s at 85%)</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> Household debt grew from 50.2% to 96.6% of GDP</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> Non-financial business debt grew from 52.9% to 80.0% of GDP</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> Government (federal and state) debt grew from 38.7% to 64.7% of GDP</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">(I chose 2008 as the end year because financial corporate debt peaked in that year.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I used BEA figures for GDP and Flow of Funds figures for debt components.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Conclusion: The economy grew well, increased output by almost 80% per human being, but the debt burden took off, all sectors piled on more debt relative to the size of the economy. In 1980 total domestic debt was 1.7 times greater than the annual GDP, in 2008 it was 3.7 times greater.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Keen states it was 3.98 times greater (see above). The financial system froze solid. Secretary of Treasury Paulson said it was encumbered with “negative frozen assets.” That’s a euphemism for valuable stuff wildly over-priced which no one will buy, trade or make loans on. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Debt stimulates the economy, to a point. Excessive debt breaks it down catastrophically. The role of debt in a modern economy is a crucial factor which modern economics has failed to assess. The book The Bankers’ New Clothes: What’s Wrong with Banking and What To Do About It, by Admati and Hellwig, tries to lay out some reforms so that the economy will not nose-dive again. The Dodd-Frank bill needs strong support, not the systematic dismantling we witness from the Republican Congress. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">My web page, Economics Without Greed </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Several recent books agree about the threat of over-lending. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">From MIT Press, Systemic Risk, Crises, and Macroprudential Regulation </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>—- “This must-read book carefully defines systemic risk, considers all its dimensions, identifies the greatest sources of systemic risk (lending booms), and suggests a simple policy approach that avoids the pitfalls that are common in less thoughtful analyses of macroprudential regulation,” states one of the endorsements.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Between the Devil and Debt, by Adair Turner, the former chairman of England’s Financial Services Authority —- </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">“Between Debt and the Devil challenges the belief that we need credit growth to fuel economic growth, and that rising debt is okay as long as inflation remains low. In fact, most credit is not needed for economic growth . . .”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Claudio Borio is interviewed at INET, the Institute for New Economic Thinking, explaining the importance of macro prudential policy. “According to Dr. Claudio Borio, Head of the Monetary and Economic Department, Bank for International Settlements, one could even say that “we are all macroprudentialists now”. And yet, a decade ago, the term was hardly used. What does it mean?” </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">According to Borio, it denotes a systemic or system-wide orientation of regulatory and supervisory frameworks and their link to the macroeconomy.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">http://ineteconomics.org/ideas-papers/interviews-talks/credit-booms-credit-busts</span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The movie “The Flaw” also shows the threat of growing aggregate debt in a chart. By 2007 it had reached 360% of GDP, up from 120% in 1960. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3; color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> Are We Still In Recession in 2015?</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">And the employment rate among age 25 to 54 years old has </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">recovered by half, so we are half way to recovery --- after 5 and a half years! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">(<a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/">See here</a>, the February 6, 2015, articles </span><span style="line-height: 1.4;">by Elise Gould, with relevant graphs.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The unemployment rate would be 9.0% she says, if the dropped-out workers</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">were counted.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;">9.0% unemployment IS</span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 25px;">recession.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Not since 1986 has this particular age group showed such low employment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet">(See here.)</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This age group is not affected by the baby boomer retirement event; their low </span></div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 1.4;">employment rate is solely an effect of the recession. And a perspective on the devastation</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 1.4;"> of long term unemployment can be found <a href="http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/cepr-blog/when-unemployment-gets-worse?utm_source=CEPR+feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+cepr+%28CEPR%29">at the CEPR site</a>. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">From 1996 to 2008 outstanding financial debt increased by </span><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><b>162%</b></span><span style="font-size: small;">, </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">and the economy's growth per capita grew by </span><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><b>24%</b></span><span style="font-size: small;">. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;">Creating debt at a rate almost </span><b style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">7 times faster</span></b><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"> than real growth is </span><b style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: #990000;">disastrous</span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: small;">.</span><span style="color: #222222;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: #222222;">When the median household savings falls by nearly 40%, when 15 million or 11% of the workforce lose their jobs in a two year period, and when the recipients of food stamps increases from 17 million in 2000 to 47 million in 2013, that is a</span><b><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"> disaster</span></b><span style="color: #222222;">. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">(see<a href="http://www.trivisonno.com/food-stamps-charts"> graph here</a>)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; line-height: 1.4;"><b style="background-color: #9fc5e8;">Excessive private, not public, debt created the fatal flaw leading to the great recession.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: #222222;">I calculated from the Federal Reserve's Flow of Fund report, </span></span></span><a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/accessible/d3.htm" style="color: #888888; line-height: 1.4; text-decoration: none;">Table D3</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 1.4;">, and then adjusted for inflation. You can also note that government debt </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 25px;">grew slower than all other sectors' debt. </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 1.4;">This Federal Reserve Graph shows the<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/DODFS" style="color: #888888; line-height: 1.4; text-decoration: none;">growth of the financial system</a><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"> outstanding debt, numbers unadjusted for inflation. And this one shows the </span><a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CMDEBT/1" style="color: #888888; line-height: 1.4; text-decoration: none;">growth of household debt</a><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Here's <a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=2ru" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;">another</a> comparing financial debt with non-financial corporate debt.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I also used the <a href="http://www.measuringworth.com/" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;">Measuring Worth web page</a> where they calculate GDP per capita growth between 1996 and 2008.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Here's a graph of total private debt as a percentage of GDP. We are still around double the historical average. Between 1946 and 1976 the economy grew at a rate of </span></div>
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<a href="http://riskandreturn.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/US-Private-Debt-as-a-Percent-of-GDP.png?84cd58" style="border: 0px; color: #205b87; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Chart- US Private Debt as a Percent of GDP" class="wp-image-3063 aligncenter" src="http://riskandreturn.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/US-Private-Debt-as-a-Percent-of-GDP.png?84cd58" height="473" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 5px solid black; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; clear: both; display: block; height: auto; margin: 5px auto; max-width: 100% !important; outline: none; padding: 0px; position: relative;" title="US Private Debt as a Percent of GDP" width="590" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Here's </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153064283741323&pnref=story" style="color: #888888; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">a video about</a><span style="font-size: medium; text-align: left;"> the drag of private global debt from the Guardian newspaper. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: medium;">The U.S. economy grew at half its normal rate between 2000 and 2010. From Wikipedia and BEA.gov: </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">"<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">US real GDP grew by an average of 1.7% from 2000 to the first half of 2014, a rate around half the historical average up to 2000.</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-bea.gov_84-0" style="color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_United_States#cite_note-bea.gov-84" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[84]</a>" </sup></span><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 25px;">There's a chart tucked away in Bailout Nation by Barry Ritholtz showing that GDP growth during the pre-crash 2000s was generated by home loan mortgage borrowing, called 2nd mortgages. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 25px;">Christian Weller provides<a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/report/2015/01/28/105594/january-2015/"> a monthly snapshot of the economy</a> at the Center for American Progress. </span></div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: large; line-height: 25px;">This comes from the January report:</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: medium; line-height: 25px;"> "</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "calibri" , "gill sans" , "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Household debt equaled 102.5 percent of after-tax income in September 2014, down from a peak of 129.7 percent in December 2007." And this graph showing our present recovery vs. other recoveries:</span></span><br />
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<img alt="EconSnapshot-Jan15fig1" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-105600" height="420" src="https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/EconSnapshot-Jan15fig1.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #990000; font-family: Calibri, 'Gill Sans', Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="620" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "calibri" , "gill sans" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> </span></div>
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The EPI also presents a similar graph <span style="line-height: 1.4;">(</span><a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/charts/real-gdp-growth-comparison-of-recessions-1947-2013/" style="line-height: 1.4;">see here</a><span style="line-height: 1.4;">)</span><span style="line-height: 1.4;"> except you can see the performance of the 2007 </span><br />
<span style="line-height: 1.4;">recovery is </span><span style="line-height: 1.4;">about a third, not a half, of all previous recoveries:</span><br />
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<img alt="Chart: Real GDP growth, comparison of recessions" src="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/m/?src=http://stateofworkingamerica.org/files//GDP_recession_comparison_without-titles.png&w=640" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="640" /></div>
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<sup class="reference" style="color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: yellow;">Home Mortgage Crisis Still Unfolding</b></span></sup></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: medium;"><sup class="reference" style="color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Dan Alpert at Economonitor, <a href="http://www.economonitor.com/danalperts2cents/2015/03/06/the-recovery-in-u-s-housing-prices/">March 6, 2015, writes</a> about the wrongly perceived recovery in housing.</span></sup></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: medium;"><sup class="reference" style="color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It's an important article showing the impending deflationary pressures on the economy.</span></sup></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: medium;"><sup class="reference" style="color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span style="font-size: medium;">One must link to his Westwood Capital web page to see the entire presentation. The graph </span></sup></span></div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 1.4;"><sup class="reference" style="color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span style="font-size: medium;">on page 12 tells a powerful story of deflation, especially combined with the thesis of his </span></sup></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 1.4;"><sup class="reference" style="color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span style="font-size: medium;">analysis. </span></sup></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: medium;"><sup class="reference" style="color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Here's <a href="http://prospect.org/article/needless-default" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;">an article about the failure</a> of the Obama Administration effort to save homeowners (from a recent American Prospect issue). This is an example paragraph from the article:</span></sup></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"> "<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "droid serif" , "cambria" , "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; line-height: 26px;"><span style="color: #741b47;">The most direct and effective policy solution to stop foreclosures is to allow bankruptcy judges to modify the terms of primary-residence mortgages, just as they can modify other debt contracts. This is known in the trade as “cramdown,” because the judge has the ability to force down the value of the debt. The logic of bankruptcy law reduces debts that cannot be repaid in order to serve a broader economic interest, in this case enabling an underwater homeowner to keep the house. Liberal lawmakers believed the threat of cramdown would force lenders to the table, giving homeowners real opportunities for debt relief. Wall Street banks were so certain they would have to accept cramdown as a condition for the bailouts that they held meetings and conference calls to prepare for it.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "droid serif" , "cambria" , "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; line-height: 26px;">"</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "droid serif" , "cambria" , "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; line-height: 26px;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: yellow;">Housing Crisis Myths</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;">Here are the </span><span style="color: #990000;"><b>Ten Myths</b></span><span style="color: #222222;"> from <b><span style="color: #990000;">Jennifer Taub's book Other People's Houses</span></b> from the last chapter :</span></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: medium;">1. There has been no official bipartisan consensus on the causes of the financial crisis.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span>Carl Levin (D) and Tom Coburn) investigated and agreed on the<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></span></span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">causes, <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-04-14/goldman-sachs-misled-congress-after-duping-clients-over-cdos-levin-says">see here</a>.<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span></i>
<i style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: medium;">2. The financial crisis was an accident without human causes.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Steve Keen explains in his book Debunking Economics that he received </span></i></div>
<i><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span>the (Paul) Revere award for his prescient forecast of the economic<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 25px;">freefall.</span></span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 25px;"> There were 94 other economists in the running for the award, and 5,000 who voted </span></span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 25px;"><span style="color: #990000;"> in the award. <a href="https://rwer.wordpress.com/2010/05/13/keen-roubini-and-baker-win-revere-award-for-economics-2/">Read the article.</a></span></span></span></span></i><br />
<i style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i>
<i style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: medium;">3. The financial crisis was brought about because the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 forced banks to lend to people with low incomes who could not afford to pay back their mortgages. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #990000;">This is the conclusion of most Republicans, and it is fantasy.</span></span></i><br />
<i style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i>
<i style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: medium;">4. The giant government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, caused the financial crisis because he government pushed them to guarantee mortgage loans to people with low incomes as part of their public housing mission.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">Fannie and Freddie were private enterprises selling their stock shares on the NYSE. </span></i></div>
<i><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span>The FCIC concluded they were acting out of self-interest, not government </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 25px;">pressure</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 1.4;">. </span></span></span></i><br />
<i style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i>
<i style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: medium;">5. Mistakes were made, but there was not widespread fraud and abuse throughout the financial system.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #990000;">Jennifer Taub's book and others will convince you of fraud.</span></span></i><br />
<i style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i>
<i style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: medium;">6. The financial crisis was caused by too much government regulation.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span>Most people realize that the </span></span></span><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 25px;">system</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 1.4;"> was poorly regulated. </span></span></span></i><br />
<i style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i>
<i style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: medium;">7. Nobody saw it coming.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #990000;">See note #2 about the Revere Award.</span></span></i><br />
<i style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i>
<i style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: medium;">8. The financial crisis was unavoidable. And financial crises of this magnitude are inevitable.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #990000;"> The Federal Reserve is charged with oversight sufficient to quell over-speculation.</span></span></i><br />
<i style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i>
<i style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: medium;">9. The Dodd-Frank Act has ended "too big to fail". </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #990000;">The six largest banks are larger than before their self-destruction.</span></span></i><br />
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<i style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: medium;">10. The bankers are the victims of greedy homeowners who borrowed money and did not pay it back. </span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><b> When debt increases 7 times faster than growth over a 12 year period, 1996 to 2008; when home price jump by 70% nationally over a four year period, 2002 to 2006, banks are not ignorant observers, they are perpetrators. They immediately sold most of their loans as </b></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><b>securitized </b></span><b style="color: #990000; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="font-size: large;">assets. </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Taub's book is masterful, I nominate her for the Supreme Court. It is also very complicated and detailed. The last page of her book quotes </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;">Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan testifying to the FCIC</span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;">,</span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 1.4;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 1.4;">"</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt";"><span style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: blue;">Over the course of this crisis, we as an industry caused a lot of damage. Never has it been clearer
how mistakes made by financial companies can affect Main Street, and we need to learn the
lessons of the past few years." </span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt";"><span style="line-height: 1.4;">Excessive private debt is a well-known cause of speculative collapse, </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt"; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 33px;">it is </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt"; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 33px;">surprising that so many ignore this as the main cause. Economist Steve Keen has </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt"; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 33px;">placed his analysis on it in his book Debunking Economics. From page six, "<span style="color: #741b47;">. . . the </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt"; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 33px;">never ending crisis . . . was no 'Black Swan.' Its inevitability was obvious to anyone</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt"; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 33px;"><span style="color: #741b47;">who paid attention to the level of debt-financed speculation taking place, and considered what would happen to the economy when the debt-driven party came to an end.</span>" </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #ffd966;">POVERTY RAGES</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Paul Buchheit has been writing the nation's best journalism. He explains <a href="http://www.alternet.org/economy/5-facts-show-half-america-seriously-struggling?akid=12773.143867.4SDuab&rd=1&src=newsletter1031557&t=7">in this February 2015 article</a> the endemic poverty in the wealthiest nation. He cites a study showing that "</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "lato" , sans-serif; line-height: 32px;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;">almost</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>two-thirds</b></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">of Americans didn't have savings available to cover a $500 repair bill or a $1,000 emergency room visit.</span></span><span style="font-size: large;">"</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "lato" , sans-serif; line-height: 32px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The average household income, pre-tax and pre-transfer, is $93,000 a year (see CBO report <a href="http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/49440-Distribution-of-Income-and-Taxes.pdf">here</a>). The average savings per household is around $650,000 (see Federal Reserve report, page 2,<a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1.pdf"> here</a>) -- and almost 2 in 3 live in households that cannot pay a $1,000 emergency room visit. !!!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "lato" , sans-serif; line-height: 32px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Should it surprise us that the suicide rate among age 40 to 64 group has increased by 40% since 2000?</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "lato" , sans-serif; line-height: 32px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/29378-austerity-kills-economic-distress-seen-as-culprit-in-sharp-rise-in-suicide-rate-among-middle-aged">Read the article here</a>. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "lato" , sans-serif; line-height: 32px;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #ffd966;">LOW WAGES</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "lato" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 32px;">I made this comment on one of Elise Gould's articles about employment, cited above.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "lato" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 32px;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: #ead1dc; color: #4c1130; font-size: large;">The Social Security Administration <a href="http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2013">report on wages for 2013 </a>says that 40% of workers earn less than $20,000 a year. The National Jobs for All Coalition shows that 12% of all workers work full-time and year round for under $23,500 a year, the poverty level for a family of four. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #ffd966;">40% of Workers Earned Just 4% of all Income in 2013</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: large;">The combined or collective income of all</span><span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;"><b> 61 million workers</b></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: large;"> who earned less than $20,000 in 2013 is about 4% of the total national income. Again 40% of the workers earn only 4% of all the income our economy generated. </span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: large;">It's not complicated to figure it out. Add the incomes at the SSA report to get the $504 billion in income going to the lowest earning 40%, then go to the BEA.gov / personal income interactive site to find total personal income for 2013, $14.167 trillion. Then divide the numbers for a percent of total. Even if we take the total income recorded by the Joint Committee on Taxation for 2014, $12.7 trillion, the percentage does not really change much (<a href="https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4568">see here for the JCT, </a>page 30). Or look at the EPI table 2.4, <a href="http://stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-income-table-2-4-sources-pretax-comprehensive/">see here</a>, and find that wage income amounts to 54% of total income. </span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: large;">Something should go off in your mind when you read this. </span><br />
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Ben Leethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14058357566482675649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047544383372645090.post-75355130050617459452015-11-06T14:15:00.001-08:002016-06-07T15:52:39.203-07:00Uprooting Inequality<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<img alt="A member of the Occupy Wall Street movement stands with a sign protesting the financial industry in the financial district of New York October 6, 2011. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson" border="0" src="http://s1.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20111028&t=2&i=523791259&w=644&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&sq=&r=BTRE79R168F00" style="border: 0px;" /></div>
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This essay was published at <a href="http://therealnews.com/t2/home/472-ben-leet/2553-uprooting-inequality">The Real News Network, see here</a>.<br />
Their "Economy" section provides quality interviews from some of my favorite economists. The INET does so also, <a href="http://beta.ineteconomics.org/ideas-papers/interviews-talks">The Institute for New Economic Thinking</a>.<br />
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Inequality of income and wealth has set in like a deep rot undermining the foundation of our society and economy. Uprooting it will not be simple. </div>
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I enjoy numbers and think they explain better than anything the problem, so bear with me. “If wages had kept up with productivity over the last three decades your pay would be closer to:” states the <a href="http://www.epi.org/multimedia/wage-calculator/">Economic Policy Institute web page</a>, and then one types in an income amount.<br />
An income of $20,000 would be $32,576, a 63% increase;<br />
an income of $40,000 would be $61,055, up 53%;<br />
an income of $60,000 would increase 40% to $83,728,<br />
and an income of $80,000 would be $101,782, up 27%.<br />
The median worker income for 2014 was $28,851 states the <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2014">Social Security Administration </a>(SSA), that would be $44,357 states the EPI. The <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/49440">Congressional Budget Office</a> issued a report on income distribution in 2011, revealing that $93,900 was the average household income, and adjusting for inflation it is now $99,000. And adjusting to find average worker income, each worker contributes $80,379 to the national income — mean average. The SSA report shows the lower-earning 45% of U.S. workers earn less than $25,000, and the average income for this 45% is $10,523. The lower-earning 45% of workers earn in wage income about 6% of the total national income. Even though this seems unbelievable, you can do the simple math by following the steps in footnote below. </div>
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It’s depressing, isn’t it? The United Nations issued its Human Development Index and found the U.S. ranked 5th among all 187 nations of the world. The U.N. also issued an <a href="http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/table-3-inequality-adjusted-human-development-index">index adjusted for inequality</a> in which the U.S. drops to the 28th rank. Who would know that <a href="http://www.colorado.edu/AmStudies/lewis/1025/incomestudy2012.pdf">31% of the U.S. population</a> live in households with "zero or negative non-home wealth", or that 50% lived in homes with less than $10,000 in "non-home wealth"? (see Table 1 on page 56) Especially when the net worth of all households is about $687,000. (See <a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1.pdf">Flow of Funds report</a>, page 2, and divide by 124 million households.) Or that 44% of the adults live in <a href="http://scorecard.assetsandopportunity.org/2014/measure/liquid-asset-poverty-rate">“liquid asset poverty”</a>, or that <a href="http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_1100.html">44% of U.S. children</a> are being raised in families that are low income or poor? </div>
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As a result, millions of lives are damaged, and a few unfortunate ones are destroyed.</div>
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Reversing this baked-in, nearly invisible condition will not be easy, but it is the political imperative of our time. Money is power and our political institutions have been corrupted. It will take education and a collective determination to readjust the flow of monetary resources. </div>
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<b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;"> Remedies to Tame Inequality </span></b></div>
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Of the remedies put forth, those that raise wage income are the most promising: 1) create public jobs directly or through infrastructure improvement projects; 2) stronger and clearer labor union rights; 3) increasing the minimum wage and the earned income tax credit. In the late 1990s, during Clinton’s last term, the employment to population ratio reached its historical high, workers became scarce and employers raised wages. The employment to population ratio (E/P ratio) for all workers is at a 31 year low, and for prime working age workers it is at a 29 year low (see <a href="http://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet">here</a> and <a href="http://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet">here</a>). Using this scale, the E/P ratio, indicates a truer picture of the labor market than the usual unemployment rate which varies drastically because of labor non-participation, and the figure misleads the public into thinking the labor market is recovering. It is far from recovered. If we take the norm ratio for E/P to be the 20 year average, from 1986 to 2006, and calculate how far today we are from this norm, then we need perhaps 10 million jobs to come to the normal 20 year average E/P ratio. See below, in this essay, about the labor market. Bernie Sanders' proposal to spend $3.8 trillion over ten years is the only political solution that comes close to restoring and employing our workers. See this article, <a href="http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2015/1115friedman.html">What Would Bernie Sanders Do?</a>, at Dollars and Sense magazine. </div>
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<span style="color: #ffd966; font-size: x-large;"><i><b style="background-color: #351c75;"> How to Raise Wages and other reforms </b></i></span><span style="font-size: 22px;"> </span><br />
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The Economic Policy Institute (<a href="http://epi.org/">EPI.org</a>) has over the decades become the nation’s strongest advocate for workers, and they present <a href="http://www.epi.org/pay-agenda/">eleven proposals</a> that will raise wages. The renown economist Joseph Stieglitz has just released the book <a href="https://www0.gsb.columbia.edu/faculty/jstiglitz/download/papers/2015%20Rewriting%20the%20Rules.pdf">Rewriting the Rules of the American Economy</a>. He details the institutional changes needed to <i><b>uproot inequality</b></i>. These deal with corporate governance, tax laws, labor laws, trade, and other concerns. Ellen Dannin has written about reforming the labor laws in <a href="http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2006/yates010806.html">Taking Back the Workers’ Law</a>. The American Prospect has a book review of Thomas Geoghegan's book <b><i><span style="color: blue;">Only One Thing Can Save Us</span></i></b>, <a href="http://prospect.org/article/security-precarious-workforce">see here</a>. Geoghegan advocates for renewed labor rights to organize. And Salvator Babones has presented sixteen solutions for 2016 in his book <a href="http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/S/bo20718704.html">Sixteen for ’16</a>. And my favorite solution is found in Phillip Harvey’s report <a href="http://www.demos.org/sites/default/files/publications/Back_To_Work_Demos.pdf">Back to Work</a>, proposing a government direct employment program. For an investment of $180 billion a year we could raise the employment to population ratio for prime working age workers, age 25 to 54, back to its high of 2000. This would raise wage income for 80% of workers (who are nonsupervisory workers) in the U.S. </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">I do not wish to snow readers under a blizzard of numbers, but two more examples are very telling. The first deals with wealth. The average private household savings now is $710,000 (<a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1.pdf">see Federal Reserve data here, page 2</a>), and only 10% of households reach or surpass this level. The second deals with income. The total combined market income of the top-earning 1% of taxpayers is greater (16.7% of all market income) than the market income of 54% of taxpayers (16.4% of all market income). Market income is income before taxes and before government transfers. The 54% who make less than $50,000 a year earn a combined total less than the 1% who earn over $500,000 a year. The average income of the top 1% is 65 times greater than that of the average income of the lower-earning 54%. This is data from the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, 2014, <a href="https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4763">see here, page 30</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">The Bureau of Labor statistics says the “median weekly earnings of the nation's 110.4 million full-time wage and salary workers were $803 in the third quarter of 2015,” and that equals $41,756 a year. The EPI web page would convert that amount to $63,259, except that inequality distorted the economy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CES0500000030">St. Louis Fed, FRED</a>, shows that "average weekly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees: Total private" at $722, or $37,544 per year. But the <a href="https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/LES1252881600Q">median weekly pay for full-time</a> workers is much less than the average, $346 per week, which is $17,992 per year. The median is half the average. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">There are <a href="https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/LNS12500000">123 million working full-time</a>, so about 61 million are earning less than $18,000 a year, that is $8.65 an hour working 2080 hours a year, or $10.58 working 1700 hours a year. Combine these full-timers with other 27 million part-time workers, and 56% of all U.S. workers are working either full-time at less than $11 an hour, or part-time, or unemployed. And add the labor force drop- outs, it's over 60%. So, 40% of workers are doing OK, and 60% are not. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">The <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2014">Social Security Administration shows</a> that 45% of U.S. workers (71 million) took home less than $25,000 in 2014. The poverty level for a four person family is $25,500 (see <a href="https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2015/demo/p60-254.pdf">Supplemental Poverty Measure</a> here, page 3) The average income for the 71 million was under $11,000. Their combined or collective income was <span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;">less than 6% of total national income. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: x-large;"> Shocking? </span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Looking at the SPM, page 9, it appears that poverty was reduced from around 30% to 15.3% due to government transfers. Below in this essay I explain the size of the government safety net. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: 22px;"> </span><b style="font-size: xx-large;"><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;"> Shocking? </span></b><span style="font-size: 22px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">In a nation with average household "market income" of nearly $100,000, </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: x-large;"> this is shocking.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></b></span><span style="font-size: large;">See </span><a href="https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/113th-congress-2013-2014/reports/49440-Distribution-of-Income-and-Taxes-2.pdf">the CBO report, page 2</a><span style="font-size: large;">, for the $93,900 figure in 2011, adjusted to $100,000 for 2016. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">See <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2014">National Jobs For All Coalition</a> for their run-down on Jobs: see here. About 1 in 4 workers are either working full-time for less than poverty income for a family of four, or are unemployed or working part-time involuntarily (wish they had full-time work). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">I packed a lot of information into this short article. The take-away is: Progress at this point is not necessarily growth of total output, the GDP, but is a fairer distribution of resources. This excessive inequality is a blemish on the nation.</span></div>
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Notes: calculating 6% of national income.</div>
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Determine $12.7 trillion as total national income, at Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation report, page 30. </div>
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Multiply by .06. Answer $762 billion. </div>
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For workers earning below $25,000 a year, see the SSA report. </div>
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Add the “net compensation” figures for the below $25,000 groups. </div>
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It comes to $748,994,000,000. </div>
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Divide national income, $12.7 trillion into $749 billion. </div>
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Answer 6%. </div>
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I think the essay called Overview, July 2015 is the best summary of this blog. </div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;"><b><u><i style="background-color: #ffe599;">Labor's Share of Income Has Declined</i></u></b></span><br />
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Here is a graphic of Labor's Share of Income. It comes from the University of Texas Inequality Project, <a href="http://utip.gov.utexas.edu/papers/UTIP%2066.pdf">see here</a>, page 34. </div>
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Note that the lower, dark share represents the lower-earning 90% of workers. The 90% received, between 1943 and 1980, in the range of 56% of total income. In 2013 its share appears at 38%, a drop of 18%. The 2014 total income was $12.7 trillion according to the Congressional Joint Tax Committee, and 18% of that is $2.286 trillion, divided among 112 million households (90% of total households) equals $20,483 per household. All this confirms the first paragraph above, the Economic Policy Institute's estimate of what incomes would be had they matched growth in productivity as they had for 30 years, 1946 to 1976.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfuO_-h6hF7aIFt5B-m70tF512Zqb2gr_O7bZ088ehNOvBQ3nuOOdJpj3xqZWJwMMoD1BlVhj-wrUweEyhqbTjHMTvMbZP9TapKI6HwLXbfD1luZXgYiXOM8_p7OFd6KPIHVSIeTWlVB8/s1600/Labor+Share%252C+screen+shot+2.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfuO_-h6hF7aIFt5B-m70tF512Zqb2gr_O7bZ088ehNOvBQ3nuOOdJpj3xqZWJwMMoD1BlVhj-wrUweEyhqbTjHMTvMbZP9TapKI6HwLXbfD1luZXgYiXOM8_p7OFd6KPIHVSIeTWlVB8/s640/Labor+Share%252C+screen+shot+2.png" width="640" /></a> </div>
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<span style="font-size: 22px;">To take this a little further, a look at <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-income-table-2-4-sources-pretax-comprehensive/">State of Working America's table, Income 2.4</a>, (SWA) shows that 80% of households earned 27.2% of all <b style="background-color: #ffe599;">income in wages</b>, $3.455 trillion. That is an average wage of $34,828 for the 99 million households in the lower-earning 80%. (One must multiply 54.3% by 50.1%, wage share of total income by the share of wage income to the lower-earning 80%.) In an economy with mean average household income at $99,300, when the lower-earning 80% are earning 35% of the average ($34,828 divided by $99,300 = 35%) for all, you have gross, excessive inequality, and it's damaging to all. Table 2.4 shows the lower-earning 60% earn just 25.3% while the top 1% earn 19.9%, probably equal, the top 3% vs 60% -- </span><span style="color: white; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #990000;"> that's extreme ! </b></span><span style="font-size: 22px;">. </span><br />
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An update to this blue graph:</div>
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The EPI has a graph showing "share of income going to the top 10%" in relation to "union membership". <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/as-union-membership-has-fallen-the-top-10-percent-have-been-getting-a-larger-share-of-income/">Take a look here</a>.</div>
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<h4 style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 15pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0.5em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="title-presub" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.1em; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">As union membership has fallen, the top 10 percent have been getting a larger share of income</span><span class="subtitle" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.85em; font-style: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Union membership and share of income going to the top 10%, 1917–2014</span></h4>
<div class="data-table-wrapper table-wrapper visuallyhidden overflowing" style="border: 0px !important; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; height: 1px !important; line-height: inherit; margin: -1px !important; max-height: 400px; outline: 0px; overflow: hidden !important; padding: 0px !important; position: absolute !important; vertical-align: baseline; width: 1px !important;">
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 206px;"><thead style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="col" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: bottom;">Year</th><th scope="col" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Union membership <span class="chart-series-options" data-series-options="{"color":"#D00"}" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></th><th scope="col" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">Share of income going to the top 10 percent</th></tr>
</thead><tbody style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1917</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">11.0%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">40.3%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1918</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12.1%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">39.9%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1919</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">14.3%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">39.5%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1920</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.5%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">38.1%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1921</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.6%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">42.9%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1922</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">14.0%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">42.9%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1923</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">11.7%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">40.6%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1924</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">11.3%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">43.3%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1925</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">11.0%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">44.2%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1926</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">10.7%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">44.1%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1927</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">10.6%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">44.7%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1928</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">10.4%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">46.1%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1929</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">10.1%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">43.8%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1930</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">10.7%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">43.1%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1931</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">11.2%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">44.4%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1932</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">11.3%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">46.3%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1933</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">9.5%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">45.0%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1934</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">9.8%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">45.2%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1935</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">10.8%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">43.4%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1936</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">11.1%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">44.8%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1937</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.6%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">43.3%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1938</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">23.9%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">43.0%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1939</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">24.8%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">44.6%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1940</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">23.5%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">44.4%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1941</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">25.4%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">41.0%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1942</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">24.2%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">35.5%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1943</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">30.1%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.7%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1944</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.5%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">31.5%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1945</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">33.4%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.6%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1946</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">31.9%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">34.6%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1947</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">31.1%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">33.0%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1948</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">30.5%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">33.7%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1949</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">29.6%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">33.8%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1950</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">30.0%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">33.9%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1951</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.4%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.8%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1952</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">31.5%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.1%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1953</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">33.2%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">31.4%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1954</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.7%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.1%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1955</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.9%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">31.8%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1956</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">33.2%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">31.8%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1957</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.0%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">31.7%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1958</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">31.1%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.1%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1959</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">31.6%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.0%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1960</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">30.7%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">31.7%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1961</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">28.7%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">31.9%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1962</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">29.1%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.0%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1963</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">28.5%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.0%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1964</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">28.5%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">31.6%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1965</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">28.6%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">31.5%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1966</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">28.7%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.0%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1967</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">28.6%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.0%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1968</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">28.7%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.0%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1969</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">28.3%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">31.8%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1970</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">27.9%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">31.5%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1971</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">27.4%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">31.8%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1972</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">27.5%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">31.6%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1973</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">27.1%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">31.9%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1974</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">26.5%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.4%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1975</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">25.7%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.6%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1976</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">25.7%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.4%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1977</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">25.2%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.4%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1978</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">24.7%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.4%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1979</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">25.4%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.3%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1980</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">23.6%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.9%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1981</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">22.3%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">32.7%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1982</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">21.6%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">33.2%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1983</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">21.4%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">33.7%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1984</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">20.5%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">33.9%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1985</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">19.0%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">34.3%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1986</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">18.5%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">34.6%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1987</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.9%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">36.5%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1988</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.6%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">38.6%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1989</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">17.2%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">38.5%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1990</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">16.7%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">38.8%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1991</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">16.2%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">38.4%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1992</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">16.2%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">39.8%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1993</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">16.2%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">39.5%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1994</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">16.1%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">39.6%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1995</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">15.3%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">40.5%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1996</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">14.9%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">41.2%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1997</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">14.7%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">41.7%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1998</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">14.2%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">42.1%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">1999</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">13.9%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">42.7%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2000</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">13.5%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">43.1%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2001</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">13.5%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">42.2%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2002</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">13.3%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">42.4%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2003</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12.9%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">42.8%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2004</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12.5%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">43.6%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2005</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12.5%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">44.9%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2006</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12.0%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">45.5%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2007</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12.1%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">45.7%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2008</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12.4%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">46.0%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2009</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">12.3%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">45.5%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2010</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">11.9%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">46.4%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2011</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">11.8%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">46.6%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2012</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">11.2%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">47.8%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2013</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">11.2%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">47.0%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">2014</th><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">11.1%</td><td style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">47.2%</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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</div>
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font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" x="4" y="18" zindex="1">11.1%</text></g></g><g class="highcharts-legend" transform="translate(70,25)" zindex="7"><rect fill="rgba(255,255,255,0.8)" height="43" rx="5" ry="5" strokewidth="0" visibility="visible" width="285" x="0" y="0"></rect><g zindex="1"><g><g class="highcharts-legend-item" transform="translate(8,3)" zindex="1"><path d="M 0 12 L 12 12" fill="none" stroke-width="3" stroke="#4a81a3"></path><path d="M 6 12 C 6 12 6 12 6 12 C 6 12 6 12 6 12 Z" fill="#4a81a3"></path><text style="color: black; cursor: pointer; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; padding: 1px;" text-anchor="start" x="17" y="16" zindex="2"><tspan>Share of income going to the top 10 percent</tspan></text></g><g class="highcharts-legend-item" transform="translate(8,19)" zindex="1"><path d="M 0 12 L 12 12" fill="none" stroke-width="3" stroke="rgb(221,0,0)"></path><path d="M 6 12 C 6 12 6 12 6 12 C 6 12 6 12 6 12 Z" fill="rgb(221,0,0)"></path><text style="color: black; cursor: pointer; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; padding: 1px;" text-anchor="start" x="17" y="16" zindex="2"><tspan>Union membership</tspan></text></g></g></g></g><g class="highcharts-axis-labels highcharts-xaxis-labels" zindex="7"><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" text-anchor="middle" x="87.4774072258901" y="314">1920</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" text-anchor="middle" x="180.4490098421341" y="314">1940</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" text-anchor="middle" x="273.4206124583781" y="314">1960</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" text-anchor="middle" x="366.39221507462213" y="314">1980</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" text-anchor="middle" x="459.36381769086614" y="314">2000</text></g><g class="highcharts-axis-labels highcharts-yaxis-labels" zindex="7"><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; width: 167px;" text-anchor="end" x="36" y="302.5">0</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; width: 167px;" text-anchor="end" x="36" y="210.5">20</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; width: 167px;" text-anchor="end" x="36" y="118.5">40</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; width: 167px;" text-anchor="end" x="36" y="26.5">60%</text></g><g class="highcharts-axis-labels highcharts-yaxis-labels" zindex="7"></g><g class="highcharts-tooltip" opacity="0" style="border: 0px; cursor: default; padding: 0; white-space: nowrap;" transform="translate(160,123)" zindex="8"><path d="M 0.5 0.5 L 19.5 0.5 25.5 -5.5 31.5 0.5 51 0.5 C 51.5 0.5 51.5 0.5 51.5 0.5 L 51.5 130.5 C 51.5 130.5 51.5 130.5 51.5 130.5 L 0.5 130.5 C 0.5 130.5 0.5 130.5 0.5 130.5 L 0.5 0.5 C 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5" fill="rgba(255, 255, 255, .85)" stroke-width="1" stroke="rgba(200, 200, 200, .6)"></path></g></svg><br />
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<a class="toggle-button chart-tabletoggle-link donotprint" href="http://www.epi.org/publication/as-union-membership-has-fallen-the-top-10-percent-have-been-getting-a-larger-share-of-income/#" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #868686; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0.5em !important; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><span class="zleft active" style="background-color: #bbbbbb; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(187 , 187 , 187); box-sizing: border-box; color: white; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.1em 0.4em 0.05em 0.35em; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">Chart</span><span class="zright not-active" style="border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(187 , 187 , 187); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.1em 0.4em 0.05em 0.35em; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">Data</span></a></div>
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<div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Source:</b> Piketty and Saez (2014), Gordon (2013), and Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey public data series<a class="epi-toggler toggle-extended-source no-screenshot onlyforweb toggle-enabled" data-toggle-parent=".figure" data-toggle-target=".chart-extended-source" href="http://www.epi.org/publication/as-union-membership-has-fallen-the-top-10-percent-have-been-getting-a-larger-share-of-income/#" style="background-color: #bbbbbb; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 0.4em; border-bottom-right-radius: 0.4em; border-top-left-radius: 0.4em; border-top-right-radius: 0.4em; box-sizing: border-box; color: white; font-size: 0.85em; height: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0.1em 0.35em 0.05em; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: nowrap; word-break: break-word;"></a></div>
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In 1980 the share of income to the top-earning 10% was 23.6%, and in 2014 it was 47.2% -- the share doubled exactly. The national income in 2014 was $13.3 trillion (see<a href="https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4763"> here, page 28</a>), and 23.6% of that is $3.14 trillion, and that divided by 90% of households (112 million) is $28,025. Each of the 112 million households is, on average, $28,025 poorer each year due to the shift in the distribution of income.</div>
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And a look at the EPI's page How Much Should You Be Making? shows the median income of $53,000 becoming $77,677 -- which is a jump of $24,677. Readers can play with this calculator and see the results -- what improved economic policy would have accomplished, equal to the results of 1947 to 1979, <a href="http://stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-income-figure-2c-average-family-income/">see here</a>.</div>
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<h4 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0.5em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Average family income growth, by income group, 1947–2013</h4>
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<table style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 229px;"><thead style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="col" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: bottom;"></th><th scope="col" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1947–1979</th><th scope="col" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">1979–2007</th><th scope="col" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: bottom;">2007–2013</th></tr>
</thead><tbody style="border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 2px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">Bottom fifth</th><td class="xl83" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2.6%</td><td class="xl84" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.0%</td><td class="xl84" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-1.9%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">Second fifth</th><td class="xl83" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2.3%</td><td class="xl84" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.4%</td><td class="xl84" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-1.4%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">Middle fifth</th><td class="xl83" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2.5%</td><td class="xl84" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.6%</td><td class="xl84" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-1.3%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">Fourth fifth</th><td class="xl83" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2.5%</td><td class="xl84" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.9%</td><td class="xl84" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-1.0%</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">Top fifth</th><td class="xl83" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2.3%</td><td class="xl84" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">1.5%</td><td class="xl84" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">-0.2%</td></tr>
<tr style="background-color: #ebf2fa; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th scope="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; vertical-align: middle;">Top 5 percent</th><td class="xl83" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2.0%</td><td class="xl84" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2.0%</td><td class="xl84" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.36em 0.7em; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">0.1%</td></tr>
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<svg height="330" style="font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;" version="1.1" width="585" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><defs><clippath id="highcharts-1"><rect height="258" width="360" x="0" y="0"></rect></clippath></defs><rect class=" highcharts-background" fill="#FFF" height="330" strokewidth="0" width="585" x="0" y="0"></rect><path d="M 67 149.5 L 427 149.5" fill="none" stroke-width="1" stroke="#888" zindex="-99"></path><g class="highcharts-grid" zindex="1"><path d="M 67 19.75 L 427 19.75" fill="none" opacity="1" stroke-dasharray="2.5" stroke-width="2.5" stroke="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.08)" zindex="1"></path><path d="M 67 63.25 L 427 63.25" fill="none" opacity="1" stroke-dasharray="2.5" stroke-width="2.5" stroke="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.08)" zindex="1"></path><path d="M 67 106.25 L 427 106.25" fill="none" opacity="1" stroke-dasharray="2.5" stroke-width="2.5" stroke="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.08)" zindex="1"></path><path d="M 67 149.25 L 427 149.25" fill="none" opacity="1" stroke-dasharray="2.5" stroke-width="2.5" stroke="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.08)" zindex="1"></path><path d="M 67 192.25 L 427 192.25" fill="none" opacity="1" stroke-dasharray="2.5" stroke-width="2.5" stroke="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.08)" zindex="1"></path><path d="M 67 235.25 L 427 235.25" fill="none" opacity="1" stroke-dasharray="2.5" stroke-width="2.5" stroke="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.08)" zindex="1"></path><path d="M 67 278.25 L 427 278.25" fill="none" opacity="1" stroke-dasharray="2.5" stroke-width="2.5" stroke="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.08)" zindex="1"></path></g><g class="highcharts-grid" zindex="1"></g><g class="highcharts-grid" zindex="1"></g><g class="highcharts-axis" zindex="2"><text class=" highcharts-yaxis-title" style="color: black; 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fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 8px;" x="4" y="14" zindex="1">2.6%</text></g><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(64,13)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 8px;" x="4" y="14" zindex="1">2.3%</text></g><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(123,5)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 8px;" x="4" y="14" zindex="1">2.5%</text></g><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(183,5)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 8px;" x="4" y="14" zindex="1">2.5%</text></g><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(244,13)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 8px;" x="4" y="14" zindex="1">2.3%</text></g><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(303,26)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 8px;" x="4" y="14" zindex="1">2.0%</text></g></g><g class="highcharts-data-labels highcharts-tracker" opacity="1" transform="translate(67,20) scale(1 1)" visibility="visible" zindex="6"><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(17,112)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 8px;" x="4" y="14" zindex="1">0.0%</text></g><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(77,95)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 8px;" x="4" y="14" zindex="1">0.4%</text></g><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(137,86)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 8px;" x="4" y="14" zindex="1">0.6%</text></g><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(197,73)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 8px;" x="4" y="14" zindex="1">0.9%</text></g><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(258,48)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 8px;" x="4" y="14" zindex="1">1.5%</text></g><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(317,26)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 8px;" x="4" y="14" zindex="1">2.0%</text></g></g><g class="highcharts-data-labels highcharts-tracker" opacity="1" transform="translate(67,20) scale(1 1)" visibility="visible" zindex="6"><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(31,212)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 8px;" x="4" y="14" zindex="1">-1.9%</text></g><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(91,190)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 8px;" x="4" y="14" zindex="1">-1.4%</text></g><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(151,186)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 8px;" x="4" y="14" zindex="1">-1.3%</text></g><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(211,173)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 8px;" x="4" y="14" zindex="1">-1.0%</text></g><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(270,139)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 8px;" x="4" y="14" zindex="1">-0.2%</text></g><g style="cursor: default;" transform="translate(332,108)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 8px;" x="4" y="14" zindex="1">0.1%</text></g></g><g class="highcharts-legend" transform="translate(455,25)" zindex="7"><rect fill="rgba(255,255,255,0.8)" height="62" rx="5" ry="5" strokewidth="0" visibility="visible" width="68" x="0" y="0"></rect><g zindex="1"><g><g class="highcharts-legend-item" transform="translate(8,3)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; cursor: pointer; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; padding: 1px; width: 70px;" text-anchor="start" x="17" y="16" zindex="2">1947–1979</text><rect fill="#004466" height="12" width="12" x="0" y="5" zindex="3"></rect></g><g class="highcharts-legend-item" transform="translate(8,20)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; cursor: pointer; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; padding: 1px; width: 70px;" text-anchor="start" x="17" y="16" zindex="2">1979–2007</text><rect fill="#5d90b2" height="12" width="12" x="0" y="5" zindex="3"></rect></g><g class="highcharts-legend-item" transform="translate(8,37)" zindex="1"><text style="color: black; cursor: pointer; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; padding: 1px; width: 70px;" text-anchor="start" x="17" y="16" zindex="2">2007–2013</text><rect fill="#a8cdef" height="12" width="12" x="0" y="5" zindex="3"></rect></g></g></g></g><g class="highcharts-axis-labels highcharts-yaxis-labels" zindex="7"><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; width: 173px;" text-anchor="end" x="52" y="284.1796875">-3</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; width: 173px;" text-anchor="end" x="52" y="241.1796875">-2</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; width: 173px;" text-anchor="end" x="52" y="198.1796875">-1</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; width: 173px;" text-anchor="end" x="52" y="155.1796875">0</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; width: 173px;" text-anchor="end" x="52" y="112.1796875">1</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; width: 173px;" text-anchor="end" x="52" y="69.1796875">2</text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; width: 173px;" text-anchor="end" x="52" y="26.1796875">3%</text></g><g class="highcharts-axis-labels highcharts-yaxis-labels" zindex="7"></g><g class="highcharts-axis-labels highcharts-xaxis-labels" zindex="7"><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; width: 40px;" text-anchor="middle" x="97" y="296"><tspan>Bottom</tspan><tspan dy="17" x="97">fifth</tspan></text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; width: 40px;" text-anchor="middle" x="157" y="296"><tspan>Second</tspan><tspan dy="17" x="157">fifth</tspan></text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; width: 40px;" text-anchor="middle" x="217" y="296"><tspan>Middle</tspan><tspan dy="17" x="217">fifth</tspan></text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; width: 40px;" text-anchor="middle" x="277" y="296"><tspan>Fourth</tspan><tspan dy="17" x="277">fifth</tspan></text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; width: 40px;" text-anchor="middle" x="337" y="296"><tspan>Top</tspan><tspan dy="17" x="337">fifth</tspan></text><text opacity="1" style="color: black; cursor: default; fill: #000000; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; width: 40px;" text-anchor="middle" x="397" y="296"><tspan>Top 5</tspan><tspan dy="17" x="397">percent</tspan></text></g><g class="highcharts-tooltip" opacity="0" style="border: 0px; cursor: default; padding: 0; white-space: nowrap;" transform="translate(114,56)" zindex="8"><path d="M 0.5 0.5 L 23.5 0.5 29.5 -5.5 35.5 0.5 58 0.5 C 58.5 0.5 58.5 0.5 58.5 0.5 L 58.5 85.5 C 58.5 85.5 58.5 85.5 58.5 85.5 L 0.5 85.5 C 0.5 85.5 0.5 85.5 0.5 85.5 L 0.5 0.5 C 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5" fill="rgba(255, 255, 255, .85)" stroke-width="1" stroke="rgba(200, 200, 200, .6)"></path></g></svg><br />
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<a class="toggle-button chart-tabletoggle-link donotprint" href="http://www.epi.org/chart/swa-income-figure-2c-average-family-income-2/?utm_source=epi_press&utm_medium=chart_embed&utm_campaign=charts_v1&view=embed&embed_template=charts_v2013_08_21&newest&chartoptions=showtable%2Cshowdata%2Cshowimagelink%2Cshowembed%2Chidelinkback#" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #868686; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0.5em !important; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><span class="zleft active" style="background-color: #bbbbbb; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(187 , 187 , 187); box-sizing: border-box; color: white; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.1em 0.4em 0.05em 0.35em; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">Chart</span><span class="zright not-active" style="border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(187 , 187 , 187); box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.1em 0.4em 0.05em 0.35em; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">Data</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 22px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #20124d;"> What if Income Were Distributed More </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #20124d;"> Equally? </b></span><span style="font-size: 22px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 22px;">What if our </span>economy distributed 60% of its income among the middle 60% of households instead of today's 40.5%?</div>
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The SWA report distributes 40.5% of income to the middle 60%. </div>
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<a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/49440">The CBO report</a> distributes 41.3% as market income distribution. </div>
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The CBO report distributes 44.9% as after-tax income distribution.</div>
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<span style="font-size: 22px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 22px;">The </span><span style="background-color: blue; color: yellow; font-size: x-large;"> ideal </span><span style="font-size: 22px;"> per quintile distribution might be</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: blue; color: white; font-size: x-large;">7%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 33%.</span></div>
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-- 60% to the middle 60%. </div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: 22px;">But we have in </span><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: blue;">reality</b></span><span style="font-size: 22px;"> the following distribution: </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: blue; color: white; font-size: x-large;">4%, 8%, 13%, 19%, 56%.</span><span style="font-size: 22px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 22px;"> -- <b style="background-color: yellow;">40.5%</b> to the middle 60% --</span></div>
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(this array from SWA Income, <a href="http://stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-income-table-2-4-sources-pretax-comprehensive/">Table 2.4</a>)</div>
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<span style="background-color: blue; color: white; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: blue; color: white; font-size: x-large;">2.2%, 7.3%, 13.0%, 21.0%, 58.1%</span><span style="font-size: 22px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 22px;">-- <b style="background-color: yellow;">41.3%</b> to the middle 60% -- from <span style="background-color: #f4cccc;">CBO market income 2011</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: blue; color: white; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: blue; color: white; font-size: x-large;">9.4%, 10.8%, 14.2%, 19.9%, 47.3%</span><span style="font-size: 22px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 22px;">-- <b style="background-color: yellow;">44.9%</b> to the middle 60% -- from <span style="background-color: #f4cccc;">CBO after-tax income 2011</span> (these two last arrays come from </span><a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/49440" style="font-size: 22px;">this CBO report</a><span style="font-size: 22px;"> on after-tax income distribution, Table 7, see "data underlying figures, xls, Table 7)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 22px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 22px;">The difference between the distribution of pre-tax to post-tax shows the effect of government transfers, a matter of 10.8% of national income, $1.44 trillion in transfers (2014). Social Security makes up $706 billion, (4.1% of GDP or 5.3% of national income) about half of transfers (see <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2017/assets/hist.pdf">here</a>, Table 1.1 and 1.2). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 22px;"><span style="background-color: #ffe599; color: #990000; font-size: x-large;">How big is the safety net?</span><span style="font-size: 22px;"> About 5% of total income, and if you include Social Security it's about 10% to 11%. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 22px;">But <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/113th-congress-2013-2014/reports/49440-Distribution-of-Income-and-Taxes-2.pdf">the CBO report</a>, page 10, states slightly different. "Before tax 'market' income is 86%, and "government transfers" is 14%. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 22px;">All Households, </span><span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #ffe599;">government transfers: 14%</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 22px;"> Social Security 6%</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 22px;"> Medicare 4%</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 22px;"> Medicaid 2%</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 22px;"> Cash or In Kind 2%</span></div>
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Medicaid and Cash or In Kind, 4%, or $532 billion in 2014. </div>
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I think the CBO after-tax income distribution is most meaningful and accurate. I am suggesting that 44.9% to the middle 60% of households should be enlarged to 60% of total income. A 15.1% gain for these households would increase their incomes across the board by $1.9 trillion or $25,775 per household for all 74 million households. The median income for all households would be near $78,000. The EPI web page "<a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/making/">How much should you be making?</a>" shows that with an income of $53,000, close to the median, "your pay would be closer to" $77,007.<br />
<b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;"> This was the norm between 1946 and 1976. </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 22px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 22px;"><span style="background-color: #20124d; color: yellow; font-size: x-large;"> A Paradigm Shift </span></span>
<span style="font-size: 22px;">Robert Kuttner has a recent article, "</span><a href="http://prospect.org/article/new-inequality-debate-0" style="font-size: 22px;">The New Inequality Debate</a><span style="font-size: 22px;">" that offers a paradigm shifting view of the role of inequality. He says, "</span><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-family: 'Droid Serif', Cambria, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">THIS REVISIONISM HAS HUGE</strong><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "droid serif" , "cambria" , "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"> implications for economic theory, for possible remedies, and for politics. If greater inequality does not reflect market efficiencies, then market distributions of income are not efficient. And policies that produce greater equality will, at worst, do no damage to economic growth—and quite possibly will improve it."</span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Translation: inequality hinders an economy from reaching full potential. Everyone, especially low-paid workers, are hurt. The policy of full employment, government as the employer of last resort, would "quite possibly improve" economic efficiency. Not to mention providing meaningful work to willing workers whom the private sector has no use for. Kuttner's article offers much food for thought, and if the reader has a burning desire to probe the most advanced thinking on inequality, this is a good beginning. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 22px;"> </span><span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #b6d7a8;">The Unemployment Story, again.</b></span><span style="font-size: 22px;"> </span></div>
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Not part of the above essay. </div>
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Want to read a great article on employment, just out today, November 6, 2015? See <a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/looking-beyond-the-topline-employment-number-public-sector-jobs-remain-depressed/">the EPI article by Elise Gould</a>, explaining why restricted expansion of government employment has been the cause of a lackluster recovery. You could say that Reagan had it right, and he expanded the national debt from 25% of GDP to 48%. He proved, not that deficits don't matter, but that they are a great investment, in jobs and health, that can be paid off, if we don't lower taxes indiscriminately. In 2000 about 20% of GDP was collected as federal revenue, and in 2009 14.6%, the result of Bush II's tax cuts. Bush II left the country with the worst economy since 1933. The Great Recession officially lasted 18 months, the first 14 were under G.W. Bush. Since 2009 the Republicans have been rejecting all attempts to increase public spending, direct stimulus proposals, and all tax increases.<br />
An additional 3.3 million jobs would have been created had we pursued a policy similar to Reagan's. Instead of having 22.0 million government employees we would have 25.3 million. The BLS has a graph showing the <a href="http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CES9000000001">government employment here</a>. To employ 3.3 million at $40,000 per job would cost $132 billion a year, about a 5% increase in federal spending excluding Social Security expenses. Also less than a 1% in spending as a percentage of GDP, which would require increasing federal revenue (taxes) from 17.5% to 18.5% of GDP. For comparison, 20.0% was the figure for revenues as a percentage of GDP for year 2000. <a href="http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Docid=205">See here</a>.<br />
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Here's the telling graph:</div>
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<img alt="" class="main-image" src="http://www.epi.org/files/2013/jobs_recovery_comparison_public.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: myriad-pro, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 550px;" /><br />
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And here's a graph comparing growth post-recession since 1973:<br />
<a href="https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/01052346/LaborMarket_sept30_fig2.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #990000; font-family: Calibri, 'Gill Sans', Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15.833333015441895px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="nonfarm employment" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-122508" height="311" src="https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/01052346/LaborMarket_sept30_fig2.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="620" /></a><br />
Instead of today's 143 million employed there would be 158 million. What would that have done for the level of wages? They would have increased across the board, all your neighbors would have greater economic security. I wonder about my friends who are dubious about the power of good economics. Would you personally feel better if wages were at the level mentioned at the very top of the essay? No, say most of my friends! Most Americans give too little weight to good economic policy. Their children will be the ones who take the mantel for change.<br />
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Since January, 2008, private sector employment is up 4% or 4 million jobs, from 115,977,000 to just over 120 million. But, it dropped like a rock, 2008 to 2010, from 116 million to 107 million, roughly. Obama became President in the middle of this awful job disappearance when nearly 15 million lay offs occurred, and 8.8 million were permanent. If we had repeated the growth rate of the 1980s, from January 2008 onwards, then there would be 20 million additional jobs, not just 4 million new jobs since January, 2008. No, there would be not the current 142 million but 162 million.<br />
How did Reagan do it? Public employment was part of the solution. Between 1981 and 1989 public employment increased by 8.6%, up 1.4 million, In contrast, since January 2009, Obama's inauguration, it has declined by 2.6%, down 591,000 (<a href="http://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet">see here, bls data</a>). That's a differential of 2 million public jobs.<br />
Reagan in 8 years created almost 15 million private sector jobs, Obama, between 2009 and October 2015, nearly 7 years, 9.7 million. But that is deceptive since he came into office during a huge cascade of job losses. Since Dec. 2009, when job losses ended, some 13.4 million private sector jobs have been added (<a href="http://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet">see bls data here</a>). Obama is on track to creating a net 11.5 million private sector jobs in his 8 year presidency, even after losing almost 9 million in the recession. Add the missing 2 million from a cut back in public job growth, 13.5 million, it's comparable to Reagan's term -- except the 2 million is missing.<br />
But Obama's term ends 15 months from today. He has time to match the Reagan record. Except -- and it's a big EXCEPT -- the employment to population ratio is at a 38 year low, and for ages 25 to 54, it's at a 31 year low. And the debt to income ratio for households, and the entire economy, is much higher, weakening the economy.<br />
<a href="https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/30073339/EconSnapshot_Oct15_web5.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #990000; font-family: Calibri, 'Gill Sans', Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="EconSnapshot_Oct15_web5" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-124712" height="391" src="https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/30073339/EconSnapshot_Oct15_web5.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="620" /></a><br />
Admittedly that last paragraph was too complex. On December 2, 2015, I wrote a comment on the Bernie Sanders' proposal to create and infrastructure program. Here is the comment:<br />
<span style="background-color: #f4cccc; color: blue;">Another article at Dollars and Sense Magazine lays out the Sanders' plan; it amounts to $3.8 trillion over 10 years, that's $380 billion a year for 10 years. <a href="http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2015/1115friedman.html">http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2015/1115friedman.html</a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f4cccc; color: blue;">So that is $105 billion more in one year than Clinton's total program over five years. Clinton's plan is 7% the size of Sanders' plan. I hope this registers on our minds. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f4cccc; color: blue;">Sanders' plan is also a full employment plan. It will add 4.5 million to 7 million more jobs to the economy, enough to bring the employment to population ratio up to the 2007 level. The E/P ratio is now at a 38 year low. With full employment wages rise as employers are pressured to raise wages to keep employees from taking higher paid work. So 80% of the workers will benefit. This plan is the biggest and best thing about the Sanders' candidacy in my opinion. The Sanders' plan is not all infrastructure, it is also universal pre-K, Social Security enhancement, college tuition, paid leave from work for illness and family necessities, youth jobs, and private pensions, according to the article at D and S. </span><span style="background-color: #f4cccc; color: blue; font-family: "helvetica";">It will require increasing federal revenues from 17% of GDP to 18.5%, well below the revenue amount, 20.0%, in year 2000</span><span style="background-color: #f4cccc; color: blue; font-family: "helvetica"; font-weight: bold;">. </span><span style="background-color: #f4cccc; color: blue;"> I write the blog Economics Without Greed, http://benL8.blogspot.com </span><br />
The article I contributed to compares the Sanders' plan with the Hillary Clinton plan, <a href="https://ourfuture.org/20151201/clinton-vs-sanders-infrastructure-plans?utm_source=progressive_breakfast&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pbreak">see here</a>. </div>
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Ben Leethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14058357566482675649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047544383372645090.post-87866987140771927492016-03-19T19:01:00.002-07:002016-04-07T13:14:32.784-07:00Trump's One Good Idea: Soak the Rich<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In 1999 Mr. Trump was running for president and broadcasting his ideas about the national debt. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">A November, 1999, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/11/09/trump.rich/index.html?_s=PM:ALLPOLITICS">article begins</a>, “Billionaire businessman Donald Trump has a plan to pay off the national debt, grant a middle class a tax cut, and keep Social Security afloat: tax rich people like himself. . . . By Trump's calculations, his proposed 14.25 percent levy on such net worth [on individuals with net worth over $10 million] would raise $5.7 trillion and wipe out the debt in one full swoop. . . . ‘Personally this plan would cost me hundreds of millions of dollars, but in all honesty, it's worth it,’ Trump said. ”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This might be Trump’s only good idea, I don’t know. In the article he called our capital “Disneyland-on-the-Potomac,” showing his flair for denigrating and humorous statements was alive back then. This “fell swoop” plan is absent in his present proposals. A 2015 <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2015/10/28/news/economy/donald-trump-debt/">article states that</a> the head of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget “estimates Trump's tax plan would increase public debt to 125% of the size of the economy by 2025, up from 74% today.” The very professional <a href="http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/UploadedPDF/2000560-an-analysis-of-donald-trumps-tax-plan.pdf">Tax Policy Center states</a> that Trump’s current plan would increase the debt from its present $18 trillion to $33 trillion by 2036. Apparently Donald has parked his first “fell swoop” proposal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I believe the controversy over the federal budget and the national debt is crucial to restoring prosperity to all Americans and should be a focus issue for all voters. Presently the average household annual pre-tax income is almost $100,000 (<a href="https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/113th-congress-2013-2014/reports/49440-Distribution-of-Income-and-Taxes-2.pdf">see here</a>, page 2), and the average net worth is $700,000 (<a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1.pdf">see here</a>, also on page 2). But averages are misleading; the median household income in 2015 was $53,657 (the same level as 1996) and median net worth <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2015/07/27/news/economy/wealth-diverse/">stands at $81,450</a> (less than it was in 1989). This is not shared prosperity. In the past 8 years total household net worth has increased by a nominal 55%, from <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1.pdf">$56 trillion to $87 trillion</a> (see page 2). This is equal to an added wealth gain of $250,000 per household. But our prosperity is not shared. The top one percent, some 1.2 million households, together own $36 million millions, over $36 trillion, some 42% of all private savings (<a href="http://inequality.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/Pathways-SOTU-2016.pdf">see here, page 42</a>), averaging $30 million in savings (net worth) per household. The lower-saving half of U.S. households <a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/confirming-redistribution-wealth-upward/">own 1.1% of all wealth</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Perversely, during the past 8 years the median household's net worth has dropped by 40%. Since 1996 personal "disposable income" per capita has increased by 40%, since 1986 by 61%. But this too is a misleading average; the <a href="https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CES0500000030">"Average Weekly Earnings of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees"</a>, 80% of all workers, is up 3% after 54 years, while the <a href="http://www.bea.gov/iTable/iTable.cfm?ReqID=9&step=1#reqid=9&step=3&isuri=1&904=1962&903=58&906=a&905=2015&910=x&911=0">disposable income per capita</a> has tripled, up 200%. The richest one percent received 19% of all income in 2015, and <a href="http://inequality.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/Pathways-SOTU-2016-Wealth-Inequality-3.pdf">owned 42% of all private savings</a>. These last paragraphs should shock a careful reader. The numbers tend to blur in the mind, so I hope you have re-read it slowly. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">A Trump plan to eliminate the national debt would be very feasible, since the debt is $18.4 trillion, and the national private savings is $86.8 trillion (<a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1.pdf">see here</a>, page i). The Public Debt, owed to private investors and foreign governments,<a href="https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/mspd/2016/opds022016.pdf"> is $13.8 trillion, one sixth</a> the amount of U.S. private household net worth. This means the old Trump plan, the "fell swoop" at 14% would almost wipe out the Public Debt. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">My Congressman, Tom McClintock, and his Republican clan, are calling for drastic spending cuts in order to balance the budget. Raising taxes is off the table. Taxing private wealth is beyond his imagination. A financial transaction tax is adamantly opposed. My neighbor and I walk around together for exercise. He votes for McClintock because <a href="https://mcclintock.house.gov/newsroom/speeches/unsustainable-federal-spending-and-the-debt-limit">McClintock will balance the budget</a>. You probably have many neighbors who do the same. I think Democrats should be able to explain why this Republican austerity program is a disaster. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> This graph -- from the <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/deal-deal-shutdown-debt-ceiling-biggest/?utm_source=Economic+Policy+Institute&utm_campaign=c23c8b1193-EPI_News&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e7c5826c50-c23c8b1193-55903761">Economic Policy Institute</a> -- and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/01/26/business/economy/20090126-recessions-graphic.html?_r=0">this NYTimes article</a> -- and see graphs below, Nov. 2015, <a href="http://benl8.blogspot.com/2015/11/uprooting-inequality.html">this blog</a>, the Unemployment Story, Again -- show that government spending in the wake of economic recessions has plummeted since 2009. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">For 20 years, 1943 to 1963, the top marginal income tax rate was 90% on income that exceeded $1.6 million annually. For fifty years, 1930 to 1980, the average top income tax rate averaged 82%, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2016/feb/16/thomas-piketty-bernie-sanders-us-election-2016">see this article</a>. During those 50 years the economic growth rate has never been surpassed, and prosperity enabled <a href="http://stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa/">family income to double</a> (inflation adjusted) at all income levels between 1946 and 1976. Between 1950 to 1970 the <a href="http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/government-debt-to-gdp">federal debt dropped</a> from 90% of GDP to under 40%, even though the national budget was in deficit 15 of those 20 years (see Table 1.2, <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals">here</a>). And infrastructure projects such as the Interstate Highway system and NASA’s Apollo project were paid for. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Austerity does not work. We have to repair the economy by spending intelligently. This may sound counter-intuitive, but it has worked successfully since <a href="http://rooseveltinstitute.org/real-lesson-great-depression-fiscal-policy-works/">FDR lowered the unemployment rate</a>, 1933 to 1937, from 25% to 9.6%. Spending by government has increased prosperity, and deficits are manageable with shared growth, which we do not now have. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Since writing this piece two excellent articles have appeared. "<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2016/feb/16/thomas-piketty-bernie-sanders-us-election-2016">Thomas Piketty on the Rise of Bernie Sanders</a>", and an article by <a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/bernie-sanders-will-make-the-economy-great-again/">Robert Pollin,</a> "Bernie Sanders Will Make the Economy Great Again." They capsulize the economic drama the nation faces. Sanders represents a stark and much needed break from the 1980s to the present. A quick education is available by reading these two pieces. What the two authors leave out is the need to change the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, and that of 1947, which would free up labor to win greater incomes from the corporations most workers work for -- this shift would change the inequality trend and bring about a shared prosperity. </span></div>
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This piece will appear in the Mountain Democrat Newsletter, Oakhurst, CA, Spring 2016.<br />
<a class="irc_mil i3597" data-noload="" data-ved="0ahUKEwiYv8P9ls7LAhVW0mMKHbBCC84QjRwIBw" href="http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2015/06/15/donald-trump-president-campaign/" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk" style="border: 0px; color: #660099; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;" target="_blank" wrc_done="true"><img class="irc_mi" height="300" src="https://usatelections.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/xxx_a13_trump_2000_24.jpg?w=198&h=300" style="-webkit-background-size: 21px; -webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; background-color: white; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; background-size: 21px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; margin-top: 47px;" width="198" /></a> <img alt="" src="http://cms.onlinebase.nl/userfiles/cmsPetwolfe/image/Donald-Trump-s-Real-Hair--97550.jpg" pagespeed_url_hash="2920074645" style="border: none; color: #dddddd; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; height: 211px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 179px;" /> <a class="irc_mil i3597" data-noload="" href="http://vietbf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2787616" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk" style="border: 0px; color: #660099; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;" target="_blank" wrc_done="true"><img class="irc_mi" src="http://intermati.com/vuitoichat/NAM%20-%202015/TIN%20TUC/THANG%20-%201/0000Trump%20(7).jpg" height="393" style="-webkit-background-size: 21px; -webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; background-color: white; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; background-size: 21px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; margin-top: 0px;" width="548" /></a><br />
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Ben Leethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14058357566482675649noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047544383372645090.post-88915909099138890342015-09-09T20:39:00.001-07:002015-12-04T14:32:02.430-08:00Labor Day, 2015<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: #ffd966; font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 55pt;">LABOR DAY, 2015
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<span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 31.000000pt;">23.6 %</span><span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 31px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 21px;">of the U.S. labor force,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 21px;">nearly one in four workers, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 16.000000pt;">or 39 million American workers,
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 16pt;">are either<br />
</span><span style="background-color: #ead1dc; font-family: "herculanum";"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">unemployed</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 15pt;">, </span><span style="background-color: #ffd966; font-family: "herculanum";"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">under-employed involuntarily</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 15pt;">, or </span><span style="background-color: #f4cccc; font-family: "herculanum";"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">working full-time and </span></span><span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #f4cccc; color: blue;">year-round for poverty wages</span> </span><span style="font-family: "herculanum";">(1) -- see graph below</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">46 % of workers in 2013 earned less than $25,000 for the year (see reference 2 below). The <a href="https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/data/threshld/">poverty threshold for 2014</a> for a four person family was $24,008. the average yearly income for 46 % of workers is $12,365 (#2 below). Two average workers earning below the median would earn less than the poverty level for 2014. Most researchers say this official poverty rate is much too low. The <a href="https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2015/demo/p60-254.pdf">U.S. Census states (page 6)</a> that of Poor Americans age 18 to 64, half are working poor, this is 13 million. 13 million is also 9%, or 1 in 11, of daily workers. the combined income of half of u.s. workers totals less than 8 % of national income. only 18 % of daily workers are classified as part-time workers. 82% are full-time. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 22pt;"><span style="background-color: #9fc5e8; color: #20124d;">Income:</span><br />
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 15pt;">Median worker income — $28,031 in 2013 </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 11pt;">(2) </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> 46 % of workers earned annually less than $25,000, just above </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> the poverty level for a family of four (2)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> The typical family of four had about $63,000 in expenses (3)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2014/07/04/american-dream/11122015/">USA today says</a> that $58,491 is the annual expenses for a 4</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> person family. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> 44 % of u.s. children live in low income or poor families (4)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> with incomes below $47,248 per year, about double the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> official poverty level </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 15.000000pt;">average worker income — $79,183 </span><span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 11.000000pt;">(5)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 15.000000pt;">Average household income — $99,618 </span><span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 11.000000pt;">(6)
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> extremely high incomes raise the average. Ditto for wealth.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "herculanum";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #9fc5e8; color: #20124d;">wealth</span><span style="background-color: white;">:</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15pt;">
Average household savings, 2015 — $691,000 </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 11pt;">(7) </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 15.000000pt;">median household savings, 2010 — $77,300 </span><span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 11.000000pt;">(8) </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> 31% of households have zero or negative </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 15.000000pt;"> “non-home” savings </span><span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 15px;">(9)</span><span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 15.000000pt;"><br /> 50% of households have less than $10,000 in
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 15.000000pt;"> “non-home” saving </span><span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 11.000000pt;">(9)
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #ffe599; font-size: medium;">Sources:</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 11pt;">
(1) <a href="http://www.njfac.org/jobnews.html">National jobs for all coalition, (employment)</a> september 2015</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 11pt;">
(2) <a href="http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2013">Social Security Administration wage report</a>, Oct. 2014</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 11pt;">(3) <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/what-families-need-to-get-by-epis-2015-family-budget-calculator/">basic Family budget Calculator</a>, EPI.org, for 2015
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<span style="font-family: "herculanum";"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">(4) <a href="http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_1100.html">basic facts about low-income children</a>, nccp, 2015</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "herculanum";"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">(5) <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/113th-congress-2013-2014/reports/49440-Distribution-of-Income-and-Taxes.pdf">CBO, Distribution of Household income and federal taxes, 2011,</a> (2014) page 2 </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "herculanum";"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> i used the cbo total national income and divided by number of workers</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "herculanum";"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 11pt;">(6) </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 11pt;">CBO report, page 2, i adjusted the 2011 figure, $93,900, for inflation</span></span><br />
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(7) Federal Reserve Bank, <a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/Current/z1.pdf">flow of Funds</a>, page i, September 2015</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt;">
(8) federal reserve, <a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/bulletin/2012/pdf/scf12.pdf">survey of consumer finances</a>, page 17</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt;">
(9) edward wolff, <a href="http://www.colorado.edu/AmStudies/lewis/1025/incomestudy2012.pdf">the asset price meltdown, 2012</a>, Page 10, and Table 1</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "herculanum";"><b><span style="background-color: #ffe599; font-size: medium;">23.6%</span></b><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 11pt;"> -- I get most of my info from <a href="http://njfac.org/index.php/2015/11/10/unemployment-data-october-2015/">National Jobs for All Coalition</a>. They have updated their web page. Here's their graph showing the real under-employment rate of over 12.1%. Dec. 5, 2015 official U6 unemployment is 9.9%, the NJFAC says it should be 12.1%. They say that 19.8 million or 12.1% of the labor force are out of full-time work. Add those not paid above poverty level wages, the rate is 23.5%. </span></span></span><br />
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Welcome to NJFAC</span></h1>
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<a href="http://njfac.org/index.php/2015/11/10/unemployment-data-october-2015/" style="-webkit-transition: 0.1s; background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #5e93d8; display: block !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.1s; word-wrap: break-word;" tabindex="-1" target="_self"><img alt="The Full Umemployment Count: View Monthly Unemployment Data" src="http://njfac.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/The-Full-Count2.jpg" height="400" scale="0" style="border: none; box-sizing: inherit; display: block; float: none; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto; max-width: none !important; padding: 0px; width: 586px;" width="586" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://njfac.org/index.php/2015/11/10/unemployment-data-october-2015/" style="-webkit-transition: 0.1s; background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: white; display: block !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.1s; word-wrap: break-word;" tabindex="-1" target="_self"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Full Count: View Monthly Unemployment Data</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://njfac.org/index.php/ohio-town-meetings/" style="-webkit-transition: 0.1s; background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #5e93d8; display: block !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.1s; word-wrap: break-word;" tabindex="-1" target="_self"><img alt="Dec 4-5 Town Meetings in Ohio on Full Employment" src="http://njfac.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Conyers2.jpg" height="400" scale="0" style="border: none; box-sizing: inherit; display: block; float: none; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto; max-width: none !important; padding: 0px; width: 598px;" width="598" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://njfac.org/index.php/ohio-town-meetings/" style="-webkit-transition: 0.1s; background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: white; display: block !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.1s; word-wrap: break-word;" tabindex="-1" target="_self"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Dec 4-5 Town Hall Meetings on Jobs for All in Ohio</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://njfac.org/index.php/back-to-work-a-public-jobs-proposal-for-economic-recovery/" style="-webkit-transition: 0.1s; background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #5e93d8; display: block !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.1s; word-wrap: break-word;" tabindex="0" target="_self"><img alt="The Job Gap" src="http://njfac.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/jobgap.jpg" height="400" scale="0" style="border: none; box-sizing: inherit; display: block; float: none; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto; max-width: none !important; padding: 0px; width: 546px;" width="546" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "herculanum";"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "herculanum";"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 11pt;">The <a href="http://www.economicpopulist.org/content/plunging-51-unemployment-rate-belies-record-low-labor-participation-5835">Economic Populist web page</a> has a thorough employment report. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 11.000000pt;"><img alt="civilian labor force again not in labor force" src="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fredgraph.png?bgcolor=%23cccc99&fo=ge&height=315&width=525&id=CLF16OV,LNS15000000&scale=Left,Right&range=Custom,Custom&cosd=2007-01-01,2007-01-01&coed=2015-08-01,2015-08-01&line_color=%23660000,%230000ff&link_values=false,false&line_style=Solid,Solid&mark_type=NONE,NONE&mw=4,4&lw=3,3&ost=-99999,-99999&oet=99999,99999&mma=0,0&fml=a,a&fq=Monthly,Monthly&fam=avg,avg&fgst=lin,lin&transformation=lin,lin&vintage_date=2015-09-04,2015-09-04&revision_date=2015-09-04,2015-09-04" height="315" style="border: 0px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 14px; height: auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;" width="525" /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This graph from the Economic Populist shows that while the labor force grew by 4 million in the past 7 years, the "Not in Labor Force" grew by 16 million. Note the stagnation of the maroon line 2009 to 2012. The <a href="http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk">U.S. Census, see here</a>, shows that citizens aged between 65 and 69 increased by 2.2 million between 2010 and 2013, a three year period. At that rate over an 7 year period 5.1 million would age out of the labor force, not 16 million. See, <a href="http://Federal Reesserve, st. louisFrred">here, the "Not in Labor Force" graph</a> from the St. Louis FRED Federal Reserve graph. It shows a 16 million increase since 2008. The employment to population ratio has not been as low since 1977 (38 years) and the employment to population ratio for prime working age, 25 to 54, has not been this low since 1984 (31 years). </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Economic Populist concludes:</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 11.000000pt;"><span style="background-color: #f5f5f1; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>"This month's CPS report warns. To focus on just the plunging official unemployment rate is a huge mistake. Underneath the numbers shows a disturbing trend of people just dropping out of the count. The never ending low labor participation rates are just not changing and simply cannot be explained by baby boomers retiring." </b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 11pt;">The September, 2015, unemployment report, according to<a href="http://www.njfac.org/jobnews.html"> the NJFAC report</a>, shows that</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: yellow;"> 23.5% of the work force</b></span><span style="font-family: "herculanum";"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 11pt;"> are either </span><b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: blue; font-size: medium;">unemployed, involuntarily part-time workers, or working full-time year-round for less than the poverty level</span></b><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 11pt;"> for a family of four ($24,008). The numbers read: 7.9 million unemployed, 6.0 million involuntarily working part-time, 6.0 million "not counted in the official statistics" and 18.5 million working for low wages -- 38.4 million total, 23.5% of work force. Confirming this statistic is the Social Security report that shows 46% of all workers earn less than $25,000 annually, and their average annual income is $12,365, about $1,000 a month, well below poverty for a single individual. The U.S. Census report <a href="https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2015/demo/p60-254.pdf">Supplemental Poverty Measure shows, page 6</a>, that 9% of all workers (or 13.3 million) live in poverty, and 43% of that total "worked full-time year-round". See BLS on part-time workers,<a href="http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t08.htm"> here. </a>The household average income for 2011 was $93,900 according to <a href="https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2015/demo/p60-254.pdf">the CBO report,</a> and inflation adjusted to 2015, that's $99,000. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 11pt;">Non-supervisory workers’ average </span><span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; color: blue; font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: medium;">weekly earnings are
</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; font-family: "herculanum";"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><b>4% lower than they were in 1964</b></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 18pt;">. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 11pt;">See St. Louis <a href="https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CES0500000030">Federalreserve bank graphs, FRED</a>, and <a href="http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl">adjust for inflation</a><br />
82% of the work force are non-supervisory workers
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Since 1964, the output of the U.S. economy has nearly tripled on a per person
basis (increasing the per capita disposable income by 175%), according to the
Bureau of Economic Analysis, <a href="http://bea.gov/">BEA.gov</a>. (See Table 2.1, personal income, Disposable personal income) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">A report from the economic policy
institute states that since 1979 the income of the top 1% tripled (increased by
200.3%), while the income for the lower 99% increased by 18.9%. The 1% captured
53.9% of all income growth. (<a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/income-inequality-by-state-1917-to-2012/">increasingly unequal states of america,</a> epi.org) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 11.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 11pt;">Another report,<a href="http://toomuchonline.org/tmmonthly.html"> here</a>, states that the world's wealthiest 400 individuals, the Forbes 400, on average own $5.8 billion each. In 1982 this inflation adjusted average was $570 million, indicating a ten fold increase, or a 900% increase, in 30 years. The rest of the U.S. population increased their private savings by only 30% over 30 years, 1% per year. </span><span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 11pt;">And Edward Wolff says that the median household's wealth has decreased to its 1969 level, while the economy, per person, has almost tripled its output, a 175% per capita increase.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 11.000000pt;">In a broader</span><span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 11pt;"> contrast to the entire world, the</span><a href="http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4953e.pdf" style="font-family: Herculanum; font-size: 11pt;"> U.N. report on Food and Agriculture, page 2,</a><span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 11pt;"> states that more than 1 in 3 humans, or 2.2 billion humans, survive on less than $2 a day, less than $730 a year. That statistic does not convey it's real meaning, it is too dry. We should feel the individual hunger and insecurity of those 2.2 billion humans. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 11pt;">The Credit Suisse Bank report, </span><a href="https://publications.credit-suisse.com/tasks/render/file/?fileID=F2425415-DCA7-80B8-EAD989AF9341D47E" style="font-family: Herculanum; font-size: 11pt;">World Wealth Report, 2015</a><span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 11pt;">, states that the world average savings per adult is now $52,432 (page 5) but the median adult wealth is $3,200, and the top 1% own more than half of all private wealth, and the top 10% own 87.7%, while the lower-saving 50% own less than 1% of all wealth (pages 18 and19). A <a href="http://www.nationofchange.org/2015/10/19/new-2015-wealth-data-us-inequality-at-its-ugliest/">stunning article about wealth disparity in the U.S.</a> shows that about 1 in 5 american adults are very poor, data is taken from this World Wealth Report. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "herculanum"; font-size: 11pt;">All in all, this story contradicts our values, our concepts of personal success. We have to adjust our values. Not only is the natural world in danger -- the climate, the soil, water resources, oceanic aquatic life -- our excessive inequality threatens civilization. We humans require harmonious social coordination for survival, and it is the source of our dignity. But the pursuit of endless accumulation, the signal of success, has reached anti-social and absurd levels. Now the most vaunted success portends the collapse of our species' survival. Absurd? We have met the enemy . . . </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Personally, I like the next blog entry better. It has much more basic info in it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This was my Labor Day message. I've yet to distribute the paper copies I made. It was a holiday, and who is interested in a topic like inequality on a holiday? </span></div>
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<img alt="Olivia Holmes leads the High Peaks Twirlers during the Louisville Labor Day Parade on Monday.
For more photos and a video of the parade go to www.dailycamera.com
Paul Aiken Staff Photographer Sept 7, 2015" src="http://photos.dailycamera.com/Louisville-Labor-Day-Parade/i-XNvVRXv/0/L/LOUISVILLELABOR130-L.jpg" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.6s ease-in-out; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 439px; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; opacity: 1; position: relative; transition: all 0.6s ease-in-out; vertical-align: middle; width: auto;" /></div>
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Olivia Holmes leads the High Peaks Twirlers during the Louisville Labor Day Parade on Monday. For more </div>
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Ben Leethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14058357566482675649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047544383372645090.post-42836663115759637262015-04-24T15:30:00.001-07:002015-10-21T21:33:14.784-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b><span style="background-color: #ead1dc; color: blue; font-size: x-large;">The New Economy Will Be</span></b><br />
<b><span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="background-color: #ead1dc; color: blue; font-size: x-large;">Managed Democratically</span></b><br />
<br />
<b><span style="background-color: white; color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="background-color: #f4cccc; color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"> Stimulus Without Debt, A Novel Plan </span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: #ffe599;"> Huge wealth gains while economy declines </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">--- $26.4 trillion in added savings has been created during 6 years of a crippled economy, increasing total private wealth to over $83 trillion, or $675,000 per household <i><b>on average</b></i>. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<a href="http://statuteofryanne.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/money.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-width: 0px; color: #d00505; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 21.00792121887207px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Money" class="size-medium wp-image-711 aligncenter" src="http://statuteofryanne.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/money.jpg?w=300&h=200" height="200" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 5px; border-bottom-right-radius: 5px; border-top-left-radius: 5px; border-top-right-radius: 5px; border: 4px solid black; box-shadow: rgb(171, 171, 171) 0px 1px 2px; clear: both; display: block; height: auto; margin: 4px auto; max-width: 100%;" width="300" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">The large American economy can serve everyone. That's the objective of this essay. In recent fact it has served just a minority who were already well-off. Stimulus Without Debt is a plan by professor L. Seidman to directly create money without debt or taxation to fund a stimulus, which I have put forth as a direct job creation program, similar to the Congressional Progressive Caucus plans of 2011 to 2015. The economy can employ all workers and create security for all households. It is not impossible. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Since 2008 private household net worth has risen by $26.4 trillion, or <b>$214,000 per family</b> or household. (<a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1.pdf">see here</a>, page 2) This is a 47% increase in private wealth, or 30% adjusted for inflation and population growth. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Now the </span><b><span style="font-size: large;">average savings per household is </span><span style="background-color: yellow; color: blue; font-size: x-large;">over $675,000</span></b><span style="font-size: large;">. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The </span><b><span style="font-size: large;">median savings in 2013</span><span style="background-color: yellow; color: blue; font-size: x-large;"> is $81,200</span></b><span style="font-size: large;">. (Source, Fed Reserve Chartbook, see note below.) Median household savings has dropped by 40.2% since 2008, from $135,000 to $81,200. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Real median household income <a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/MEHOINUSA672N">according to the Fed</a> has dropped by 8%. The last six years has brought turmoil -- job loss, income loss, house loss and life savings loss --- for most families. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">With one exception ----</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This enormous $26.4 trillion gain (or $214,000 more private savings for every household) went mostly to the wealthiest 5% who own 75% of all financial assets. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Most people, 90%, were unaffected by the asset value increase, which reflected the rise of corporate stocks.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">A few retirees with savings were rewarded to some extent, as were pension funds.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The source of this gain of $26.4 trillion is two-fold, increased corporate profits due mostly to lowered costs in labor expenses, stock buybacks and corporate dividends (see <a href="https://hbr.org/2014/09/profits-without-prosperity">William Lazonick's article Profits Without Prosperity here</a>), and a limited universe of places where the rich could put their money. The limited range of "investments" (or secure places to park money) meant that the existing finite selection increased their value, as in a bubble situation. The employment to <a href="http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS12300000">population ratio</a> is at a 31 year low, among age <a href="http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS12300060">25 to 54 the E/P ratio</a> is at a 29 year low, and the <a href="http://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet">labor force participation level</a> is at a 37 year low. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="background-color: #0b5394; color: yellow; font-size: x-large;">The Stimulus Without Debt Solution</span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Without creating more debt, Congress could fund a stimulus. As an example of a stimulus, in 2008 </span><span style="font-size: large;">George W. Bush issued tax rebates worth $152 billion that were mailed to all adults ($600) and children ($300) in most households. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">But rebates are scatter shot, not targeted. Better than a rebate, Congress could fund direct job creation. It would employ the one in four (25%) who are un-employed or under-employed, dropped out, or working full-time year round for less than poverty wage income. It would help those most in need of help. And this would also help everyone. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Congress would authorize it. The Fed would determine how large to make it. This would establish a separation of power. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This is the sensible plan, rather than the top-down method the Fed chose with the $2.5 trillion quantitative easing program. The Fed created money out of thin air, absolutely debt free. We can call it "bank rescue without debt". </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I'm proposing the plan, Stimulus Without Debt, of professor Lawrence Seidman, see here, and read it slowly,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.lerner.udel.edu/sites/default/files/ECON/PDFs/RePEc/dlw/WorkingPapers/2014/UDWP2014-01.pdf">http://www.lerner.udel.edu/sites/default/files/ECON/PDFs/RePEc/dlw/WorkingPapers/2014/UDWP2014-01.pdf</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #990000;">Two Videos on Direct Money Creation Stimulus</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">On 16 October, 2015, the proposal of stimulus without debt and direct money creation, was presented on YouTube in the book launch for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n9zo4HYffc&feature=player_embedded">Between Debt and the Devil </a>by Adair Turner. See the hour long program with Turner and economist Martin Wolff, here. And also watch an interview with Adair Turner and Rob Johnson, <a href="http://ineteconomics.org/ideas-papers/interviews-talks/what-really-caused-the-crisis-and-what-to-do-about-it">here</a> on Institute for New Economic Thinking. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: yellow;">Federal-State Coordination for Direct Job Creation</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Another permanent plan for direct government job creation is the Federal Employment Reserve Authority proposed by Princeton University professor Martin Shubik. In each of the 50 states an agency would prioritize projects for emergency employment to avoid unnecessary levels of unemployment. See the proposal <a href="http://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/pn_09_05.pdf">here</a> and <a href="http://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/rpt_19_3.pdf">here (page 23</a>) in a much longer report from the Levy Economics Institute. Sample quote: "</span><span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; font-family: Minion;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">(4) Once unemployment goes above a fixed level of, say,
6 or 7 percent (to be adjusted as circumstances warrant), the
Authority would put out bids for projects in coordination with
federal and state funding authorities involved in financing."</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: yellow;">A Jobs Program Without Debt</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Not mentioned in Seidman's direct money creation plan, is the corollary for the Fed to create out of nothing, out of thin air, and debt free, $300 billion each year (or 1.7% of GDP), and </span><span style="font-size: large;">Congress could then create 10 million public jobs at $30,000 per job net cost. </span><span style="font-size: large;">The only danger is inflation, and the Fed would monitor for that possible result. Inflation danger is thoroughly discussed in Seidman's paper. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The cost per job would be $30,000, using the estimate of Philip Harvey’s plan, <a href="http://www.demos.org/sites/default/files/publications/Back_To_Work_Demos.pdf">Back to Work</a>. On page 11 he shows that a cost of $28.6 billion in government outlays would create 1,414,000 jobs. This indicates a net cost of $20,226 per job. "Net" is the key idea. Such a plan is affordable, perhaps indispensable. I am assuming his per job figures are too low. Experts will have to evaluate the costs. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;">The Congressional Progressive Caucus</span><span style="font-size: large;"> promotes a direct job creation plan; it has promoted a variant of this plan</span><span style="font-size: large;"> for the last 5 years. It proposes $336 billion in direct job creation for the next three years. See <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/the-peoples-budget-analysis-of-the-congressional-progressive-caucus-budget-for-fiscal-year-2016/">the section "Renewed Fiscal Expansion . . ."</a> in their budget. In all they propose $1.6 trillion over a 10 year period, most of it in the first three years. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Their plan involves borrowing, going into debt. But the enlarged economic output translates into greater tax collection and a growing economy. Debt is a ratio, debt over income. Growing the denominator is the best, maybe only, way to exit a recession/depression. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Additional debt or borrowing is politically problematic. Another method would be to increase taxes, also problematic. Direct money creation, <span style="color: #990000;"><b>Stimulus Without Debt</b></span>, would neither increase debt or raise taxes, nor would it increase inflation which is the primary danger of such a plan. Inflation fears are fully dealt with in the proposal by Seidman. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The Fed can create the money without borrowing or taxing — this would be a quantitative easing </span><span style="font-size: large;">directed at the low-income sector that would enrich the entire society. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;"><b>Wage income has fallen</b></span><span style="font-size: large;"> badly since 1970 when non-supervisory employees earned <b><span style="color: #990000;">51.5%</span></b> of the </span><span style="font-size: large;">national income. Today they earn <b><span style="color: #990000;">41.9%</span></b>, a loss or difference of over $1.3 trillion. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This represents a loss of about $11,000 a year per employee (non-supervisory worker) </span><span style="font-size: large;">among the lower-earning 80% who work. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">On a per household level, incomes would rise by $16,000 if the 20 year average (1950 to 1970) </span><span style="font-size: large;">percentage of national income was restored to the level of 50%. See Fed graph: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/W270RE1A156NBEA">http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/W270RE1A156NBEA</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The EPI states almost the same, "</span><br />
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<li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-image: url(http://s1.epi.org/wp-content/themes/epi/img/list-lightpink-8px.gif); list-style-type: square; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc; color: blue; font-size: large;">By 2007, the growing wedge between economy-wide average income growth and income growth of the broad middle class (households between the 20th and 80th percentiles) reduced middle-class incomes by nearly $18,000 annually. In other words, if inequality had not risen between 1979 and 2007, middle-class incomes would have been nearly $18,000 higher in 2007.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: large;">The inflation adjusted, "real", weekly wage, and the <b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: blue;">annual wage</span></b>, <b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: blue;">for 80% of workers </span><span style="background-color: yellow; color: blue;">has decreased by 4% over a 51 year period</span></b>, 1964 to 2015, (see<a href="https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CES0500000030"> Fed graph here</a>), while the disposable (after-tax) <b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: blue;">income per capita has increased by 196%</span></b>. See the <a href="https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/A229RX0A048NBEA">Federal Reserve graph demonstrating this Real Disposable Income Per Capita</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><b><span style="background-color: red; color: #ffd966; font-size: x-large;"> The Big Picture </span></b><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I'm going to leave this essay incomplete. Later --- much later, many years later I'll get back to this --- I'll include topics such as </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> ~ <b>converting to clean energy to combat </b><b>climate change</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>NASA scientist comment on the new monthly high of over 400 parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere. <a href="http://climate.nasa.gov/400ppmquotes/">Read here</a>.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Have you heard the news? "</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.6000003814697px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">The last time there was this much carbon </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 17.6000003814697px;">dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere, modern </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 17.6000003814697px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 17.6000003814697px;">humans </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.6000003814697px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.6000003814697px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">didn't exist. Mega-toothed sharks prowled the oceans, the </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.6000003814697px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.6000003814697px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">world's seas were up to 100 feet higher than they are today, </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.6000003814697px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.6000003814697px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">and the global average surface temperature was up to 11°F </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.6000003814697px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.6000003814697px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">warmer than it is now." </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.6000003814697px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<a class="irc_mil" data-ved="0CAcQjRw" href="http://carnivoraforum.com/topic/9896341/1/" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk" style="border: 0px; color: #660099; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 0px; text-align: center;"><img class="irc_mi" src="http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g62/TigerQuoll/dinosaur/article-1162600-03F209B0000005DC-59.jpg" height="391" style="-webkit-background-size: 21px; -webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; background-color: white; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; background-size: 21px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; margin-top: 30px;" width="634" /></a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.6000003814697px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.6000003814697px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.6000003814697px;"><span style="font-size: large;">And, "</span></span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22px;">Atmospheric concentrations of </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22px;">the greenhouse gas [co2], which helps drive global warming, </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: #674ea7; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.climatecentral.org/news/the-last-time-co2-was-this-high-humans-didnt-exist-15938" style="border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white;">haven’t been this high</span></a><span style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22px;"> </span><span style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22px;">in </span><span style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22px;">somewhere between 800,000 and </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #fff2cc; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #fff2cc; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22px;">15 million years." </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 17.6000003814697px;"> Read some article</span><a href="http://www.climatecentral.org/news/the-last-time-co2-was-this-high-humans-didnt-exist-15938" style="font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.6000003814697px;"> here</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 17.6000003814697px;"> and </span><a href="http://www.climatecentral.org/news/april-becomes-first-month-with-co2-levels-above-400-ppm-17367" style="font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.6000003814697px;">here</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 17.6000003814697px;"> and </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.6000003814697px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.6000003814697px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.climatecentral.org/news/report-can-us-carbon-emissions-keep-falling-15058">here</a> and <a href="http://www.climatecentral.org/news/co2-milestone-400-ppm-climate-17692">here</a>. </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">Employment in energy system conversion </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.6000003814697px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.6000003814697px;"><span style="font-size: large;">can change this.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.6000003814697px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"> ~ <b>increasing the </b></span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>minimum wage</b> together with the </span><span style="font-size: large;">Earned Income Tax Credit to eliminate poverty. The median annual income for 155 million workers is $28,031, and it should be closer to the average workers' income, $73,000. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> ~ <b>imposing </b></span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>mandatory paid vacation rules</b> on all corporations, </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> ~ <b>funding Individual Development Accounts, or </b></span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>IDAs</b>, t</span><span style="font-size: large;">o increase the typical and low-income household savings. The median household saving, $81,200, should be closer to the average, $675,000. (see <a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/econresdata/scf/files/BulletinCharts.pdf">Fed Chartbook here</a>. It shows that the <b><span style="background-color: #e06666; color: blue;">median household net worth fell by 40%</span></b>, from $135,400 to $81,200 between 2007 and 2013. </span><span style="font-size: large;">It's difficult to find this chart as the pages are not numbered. It's perhaps chart #40, if you wish to look.)</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Half of U.S. households own 1.1% of all wealth, <a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/confirming-redistribution-wealth-upward/">see here</a>. About 44% of U.S. </span><span style="font-size: large;">households report that they could not survive longer than three months on their "liquid asset" savings, which for a family of four amounts to $5,763. About half the families in the U.S. have less than $6,000 in liquid assets, <a href="http://scorecard.assetsandopportunity.org/2013/measure/liquid-asset-poverty-rate">see here</a>. Pew Trusts issued an excellent report in January, 2015, <a href="http://www.pewtrusts.org/~/media/Assets/2015/01/FSM_Balance_Sheet_Report.pdf">The Precarious State of Family Balance Sheets</a>, that indicates similar levels of savings as reported by the Fed. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> ~ <b>democratizing the Federal Reserve Board</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> ~ <b>taxing personal savings above $50 million</b> or variants such as the Financial Transaction Tax, FTT, which will effectively repress extreme capital formation and utilize the economy's surplus instead of wasting it in astronomical net worth accumulation, </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> ~ <b>creating tax preferences to small corporations</b>, </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> ~ <b>establishing state banks</b> and regional development and self-sufficiency programs, </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> ~ <b>creating foreign trade agreements that include labor rights</b> <b>and environmental protections and protection against currency manipulation</b> with penalties for violation against them, </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> ~ <b>exploring direct job creation subsidies to corporations</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The discussion will also include a <b>reform of the parasitical sectors of the economy</b> --- the financial system, the medical health system, and the military. Somewhere I'll also squeeze in <b>childcare subsidies</b>. And when I finish I'll have also mentioned that we need to take down the telephone poles -- really. Bury the telephone wires in most neighborhoods. This is a direct jobs program waiting. After that we can paint the classrooms if needed. The American Society of Civil Engineers has a program for all states, <a href="http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/states/">see here</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Their projects are more important than painting classrooms. But care programs should be mentioned as part of a Jobs Program (see <a href="http://www.levyinstitute.org/publications/why-president-obama-should-care-about-care-an-effective-and-equitable-investment-strategy-for-job-creation">Why Obama Should Care About Care</a>). </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: black;">In all, the economy can serve humanity.</b></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Humanity can save the earth's ecology and still preserve a healthy level of freedom, personal savings and prosperity. Internationally we can create a high quality of life with environmental beauty and health. </span><br />
<br />
_________________________________________________<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I wrote a comment on Robert Reich's article "The Political Roots of Widening Inequality", and you can <a href="http://bl8comments.blogspot.com/">read it here</a>. </span></div>
Ben Leethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14058357566482675649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047544383372645090.post-28168455379870952812015-07-31T18:08:00.002-07:002015-10-15T21:56:23.688-07:00Overview of Inequality, Family Budgets, Proposals<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I will speak tomorrow, August 1, 2015, to the local Democrats in Oakhurst, California. My topic:<br />
<b><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #990000; font-size: large;"> Inequality as a Threat to the American Middle Class</span></b><br />
<b><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #990000; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b>
<span style="background-color: white;">Here's my outline with the comments I will make. </span><br />
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WEALTH DISTRIBUTION<br />
<br />
half own 1.1% own 12% own 17% own 30%<br />
top 1%<br />
own 40% <br />
0% --------------------25%---------------------50%-----------------------80%---------90%---------100%<br />
<br />
no savings under $80,000 average average percentile<br />
$225,000 $500,000 90 - 94 95 to 99<br />
$1.3 mn $3.3 mn<br />
Average for top 1% --- $27 million<br />
Average for all households: $685,000 as of 2015 Q1<br />
<br />
Reference: <a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/Current/z1.pdf">Flow of Funds Report, page i</a>, <a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/bulletin/2012/pdf/scf12.pdf">Survey of Consumer Finances</a>, page 17, showing a 40% drop in median household savings, from $126,400 to $79,300, between 2007 and 2010. In three years the "typical" household lost nearly half its life savings. Is that simple enough? The <a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/confirming-redistribution-wealth-upward/">Congressional Research Service</a> report that shows the lower-half owns but 1.1% of all savings, and Edward Wolff's report <a href="http://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2013/05/13/middle-class-wealth-in-meltdown-nyu-economist-wolff-finds.html">here</a>. Wolff states that the median dropped by 47%, from $108,000 to $58,000 between 2008 and 2010. It dropped below its 1969 level. <br />
<br />
********************************************************************<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Moving in Opposite Directions, the Richest and the Majority</span> </b></span><br />
Total private wealth in the past seven years has grown by 36%, adjusting for inflation. See the Federal Reserve's <a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/Current/z1.pdf">Flow of Funds</a>, page 2.<br />
In seven years since 2008 total private savings for all households in the nation grew <br />
by <span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: yellow;">$28 trillion</b></span> , from $57 trillion to $85 trillion.<br />
This is a nominal increase of 50% in seven years, a windfall. But, when adjusted for inflation and population growth, wealth increased by 36%. During the same seven years, perversely, the nation suffered its worst economic debacle in 75 years since the Great Depression of the 1930s! Most of the wealth increase went to the already wealthy, the owners of financial assets; and most of the damage of the recession went to the lesser wealthy 90%. Perversely, the instigator of the debacle -- the financial system that collapsed through over-lending -- was rewarded. <br />
To make that $28 trillion understandable, it also equals $88,000 per citizen, and $229,000 per household -- of <b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: blue; font-size: large;">new</span></b> or additional personal savings over 7 years.<br />
If we compare the wealth of 2007 with today's wealth, then the increase in personal savings was not 36% but 11%.<br />
<span style="background-color: yellow;"><b>While the average for ALL households since 2008 increased savings by 36%, the middle household, the median, lost 40%of its life savings, or as Edward Wolff reports, 47%, from $107,500 to $57,000. </b></span>--- <b><span style="background-color: black; color: yellow;">Moving in Opposite directions </span></b><br />
Wolff further states, page 10, <b><span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; color: blue; font-size: large;">"<span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">Then during the financial crisis of the late 2000s, median non-home wealth nose-dived by
a colossal 60 percent to only $10,000 – is lowest level over the fifty-year period!"</span></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">The median had $25,000, then lost 60% or $15,000, now has $10,000 in "non-home wealth". And this is why the liquid asset poverty rate is around 44%,<a href="http://scorecard.assetsandopportunity.org/2014/measure/liquid-asset-poverty-rate"> see here</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: small;">And that means that nearly half of all citizens are in danger of living on the </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">streets after a 3 month period with no income, save for the government safety net programs that aid the low income households. Resentment and bewilderment is understandable. Disgust with the political system that oversaw this perverse enactment is nearly universal. The portion of society that feels itself lower-income, not middle, has increased from 25% to 40% in the last few years. "</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.600000381469727px;"><span style="color: blue;">Today, about as many Americans identify themselves as lower or <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/01/27/despite-recovery-fewer-americans-identify-as-middle-class/">lower-middle class (40%)</a> as say they are in the middle class (44%), according to a recent </span></span><a href="http://www.people-press.org/2014/01/23/most-see-inequality-growing-but-partisans-differ-over-solutions/" style="border: 0px; color: #bc7b2b; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.600000381469727px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Pew Research Center/USA TODAY survey</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.600000381469727px;">."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">The lower 40% of households, according to Wolff, see the WaPost graphic below, have no savings. </span><br />
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
As the wealthiest 5% of households own 75% of all financial assets, <a href="http://epi.3cdn.net/2a7ccb3e9e618f0bbc_3nm6idnax.pdf">see here page 11</a> (this SWA report by Sylvia Allegretto is excellent), and financial assets were the source of most of the new wealth, then the top 5% or the wealthiest 6 million households gained about $450,000 per year in wealth, an average total of $3.125 million over seven years. The cash annual income (not life savings) of top-earning 0.9% of households is more than $500,000 per year. The gain in wealth is like a second income, not in cash but in stock value. The new $28 trillion, is not treated as taxable cash income. But what is the difference? It is equivalent to cash; it is a liquid asset, as of course cash is. One possible way to adjust for such windfall increases is a direct tax on financial assets or wealth, just as now the property tax is levied on home values. Or, as a second choice, a tax on financial transactions -- the Robin Hood Tax -- would suffice. Though this is not popular, that could change. The Credit Suisse Bank report World Wealth Report, page 146, shows the composition of wealth in the U.S. as 70% financial and 30% non-financial. (See link below to WWR) The ZeroHedge article, referred to above, shows wealth composed of 82% financial assets, 18% other.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="background-color: #351c75; color: yellow; font-size: large;">A Double Boost -- Wealth and Income Surge </span></b><br />
<b><span style="background-color: #351c75; color: yellow; font-size: large;"> for the Few at the Top -- Everyone else gets creamed </span></b><br />
"Top 1% Got 93% of Income Growth" reads the 2012 <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-10-02/top-1-got-93-of-income-growth-as-rich-poor-gap-widened">Bloomberg article</a>. What it fails to mention is the simultaneous surge in wealth benefiting only the wealthiest. Remember the lower half of U.S. families saw their assets reduced by 47%, according to Edward Wolff, and their non-home liquid assets reduced from $25,000 to $10,000, while the annual median income dropped by about $5,000. Below is a good visual of the growth of net worth, or private savings, in America. See the other visuals of private savings at this <a href="http://www.floatingpath.com/2015/06/11/u-s-household-net-worth-rises-to-84-9-trillion-in-q1-2015/">site, Floating Path.</a> In 2007 private wealth fell by $12.7 trillion. Since 2008 it has grown by $28.4 trillion. Since 2007, wealth has increased by 11%, or since 2008 it has increased by 36%. <b><span style="font-size: large;">Both income and wealth went up for the top 5%, BUT income and wealth fell for the lower 80%. </span></b><br />
That is the lesson of the Great Recession and Obama's failure to manage the recovery which he inherited from GW Bush. That wealth could be taxed: $28 trillion could easily wipe out the national debt standing at $18 trillion, or the publicly held national debt at $10 trillion. In comparison, the federal government will spend $3.9 trillion in 2015, and the Social Security Trust Fund totals $2.8 trillion. But an even better use of this $28 trillion would be to employ every unemployed and under-employed worker into a living wage job,<b><span style="background-color: black; color: orange; font-size: large;"> and that would manifestly and actually improve our national well-being. </span></b><br />
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<a data-rel="lightbox-1" href="http://floatingpath.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Net-Worth.png" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0070c0; font-family: arial; font-size: 20px; line-height: 32px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease;"><img alt="Net Worth" class="alignnone size-new-size wp-image-20907" src="http://floatingpath.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Net-Worth-820x476.png" height="476" style="border: 0px; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%;" width="820" /></a><br />
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Reader, superimpose on this graph the growth of net worth of the lower half of U.S. households. They own 1.1% of all net worth today, see <a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/confirming-redistribution-wealth-upward/">here</a>.<br />
It has been essentially flat since 1952. And we call this progress?<br />
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The average household net worth or savings in 2015 is <b><span style="background-color: red; color: #4c1130; font-size: large;">$685,000. </span></b> Average is not average, though. About 1 in 10 live in a family with about that much in savings. Only half of all households own more than <span style="color: #4c1130; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #e06666;">$80,000, the median</b></span>. (See<a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/12/17/wealth-gap-upper-middle-income/"> here</a>.) And as we've read in the Wolff report, $10,000 in non-home savings is the median, which Wolff reports is less than the 1960 level. Therefore it's not surprising that only a bare 10% of households own the official "average" or more. In the same seven years the median household net worth has fallen from $130,000 to around $80,000, (as I've noted in recent blog entries, below) a fall of 40%, a loss of about 20 to 30 years of savings, or as Edward Wolff claims, a loss of 41 years of savings. Also since 2007 median income, not wealth but income, has dropped 8%, and some 9 million jobs were permanently eliminated with the 1.5 year recession, and millions of homeowners lost their houses through foreclosure during the worst slump in 75 years. Of the Recession, 14 months occurred under G.W. Bush, 4 months under B. Obama.<br />
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<b><span style="background-color: red; font-size: large;">Wealth Distribution - International Comparison</span></b><br />
Among 39 nations, the U.S. has the highest inequality of wealth, save for one nation, Russia.<br />
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In Australia the "typical" (or "median" or middle person) adult owns about 4 times more than the typical adult in the U.S. --- 4.2 times more --- meaning he or she owns not $53,352 but $225,337.<br />
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Therefore, the typical household savings in Australia is around $450,000, not $80,000 as in the U.S.<br />
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Chances are high that one's neighbors in Aussie land are pretty well off. Average wealth per adult in Australia is $537,140; it is wealthier than the U.S. which also is wealthy at $405,671 per adult (see page 146 of Credit Suisse report, linked <a href="https://publications.credit-suisse.com/tasks/render/file/?fileID=5521F296-D460-2B88-081889DB12817E02">here)</a>. Even though Australia is a very wealthy nation on a per capita basis, it has chosen to share its abundance. Many advanced nations have chosen to share; in these countries the "typical" adult wealth is much higher, often double, that of the U.S. The World Wealth Report, by Credit Suisse Bank, <a href="http://economics.uwo.ca/people/davies_docs/global-wealth-databook-2014-v2.pdf">the databook</a>, page 141, shows the relationship between "mean average" to "median" wealth per adult.<br />
The higher the ratio between the median to the average, the greater the inequality gap. In the U.S. average household wealth, $685,000, is <b><span style="color: blue;">6.6</span></b> times greater than the median, $80,000. That is using data from the Federal Reserve. If we use the data from the Credit Suisse report, the ratio is <b><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">7.6.</span></b><br />
In Belgium the average wealth per household is only <b><span style="color: blue;">1.7</span></b> times greater than median wealth (($476,000 is the average, and $280,000 is the median). Belgium has a lower average than the U.S. ($476,000 to $685,000), but the median is higher ($280,000 to $80,000). Average to median: In Italy average is <b><span style="color: blue;">1.8</span></b> times higher than median, Australia <b><span style="color: blue;">1.9</span></b>, UK <span style="color: blue;"><b>2.2,</b></span> France <b><span style="color: blue;">2.3</span></b>, and Norway <b><span style="color: blue;">4.1</span></b>. In the U.S., again, <b><span style="color: blue;">7.6</span></b> times greater. Of 39 nations, only Russia has a higher ratio, <b><span style="color: blue;">8.3</span></b>.<br />
<b><span style="background-color: #990000; font-size: large;">Internationally, the U.S. is about the worst when it comes to sharing prosperity.</span></b><br />
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If the U.S. had the same ratio as France for instance, 2.6, then most of our neighbors would have $263,000 of household net worth, not $80,000 or less. <b><span style="color: blue;">I believe this would improve the quality of our lives, our families, our neighborhoods in many ways.</span></b><br />
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These countries are not poor. In fact <b><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">they are richer</span></b>. The median wealth in Belgium is greater than the U.S. median by 3.5 times ($280,000 to $80,000 as I showed in the last paragraph). Japan's median surpasses the U.S. median by 2.2. In France by 2.6, in UK by 2.5, in Italy by 2.6, in Norway by 1.6, but in Australia the median adult savings is 4.2 times greater than the U.S. median adult savings. The middle class in these nations enjoys a higher quality of life with far greater security. In simple words, other countries share their economy's surplus among the general population, <b><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: blue; font-size: large;">but in the U.S. the wealthy hoard most of the wealth. And that trend is a threat to our culture, society and economy. Our lives could be greatly improved if we could shift this picture to greater sharing. If others do it, and they do, why not us? </span></b><br />
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Take a glance at childhood poverty rates among advanced nations, and ask if we can be proud of our record, especially given that our national income per capita, over $37,000, is the highest. Compare our performance with Korea, UK, and Denmark.<br />
<a href="http://web.stanford.edu/group/scspi/cgi-bin/facts.php">http://web.stanford.edu/group/scspi/cgi-bin/facts.php</a><br />
<img alt="Fact 9 image is missing" src="http://www.stanford.edu/group/scspi/_images/facts/fact9.jpg" style="background-color: white;" /><br />
As I report later in this essay, the five nations with the highest income inequality gap among 38 advanced nations are 1) Mexico, 2) Turkey, 3) Chile, and 4) Israel tied with the U.S., the income inequality gap between the 20th and 80th percentile of income earners, as reported by the OECD.<br />
The high child poverty level duplicates this inequality gap. Australia needs to work on its poverty level, obviously.<br />
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Page 147 of this Credit Suisse databook shows wealth distribution in deciles among the population of 38 countries of the world. In the U.S. the wealthiest 10% own about 75% of all wealth. In Japan, 48%. These are the two extremes among the 38 nations, except for Indonesia which surpasses the U.S.<br />
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The U.N. Human Development Index ranks the U.S. at the 5th place among about 170 nations of the world. When adjusted for inequality, <a href="http://hdr.undp.org/en/data">see here Table #3</a>, the U.S. slips down 23 places to #28. This loss of 28 places is exceeded by only one nation, Iran.<br />
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Here's a chart from Edward Wolff's data, published <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/05/21/the-top-10-of-americans-own-76-of-the-stuff-and-its-dragging-our-economy-down/">in the Washington Post</a>:<br />
<img class="courtesy-of-the-resizer zoom-in" data-hi-res-src="https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/files/2015/05/OECD-wealth2.png&w=1484" data-low-res-src="https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/files/2015/05/OECD-wealth2.png&w=480" src="https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/files/2015/05/OECD-wealth2.png&w=1484" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; cursor: -webkit-zoom-in; font-family: FranklinITCProLight, HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue Light', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; width: 619.090881347656px;" /><br />
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<b><span style="color: blue;">40% have Zero net worth in the U.S.A. </span></b><br />
<b style="color: blue;">44% are liquid asset poor. <a href="http://scorecard.assetsandopportunity.org/latest/measure/liquid-asset-poverty-rate">See </a></b><span style="color: blue;"><b><a href="http://scorecard.assetsandopportunity.org/latest/measure/liquid-asset-poverty-rate">here</a></b></span><b style="color: blue;">. </b>These households "<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 12.7968006134033px;">do not have a basic safety net to weather emergencies or prepare for future needs, such as a child’s college education or homeownership."</span> The BLS states that 43% of the unemployed endure at least 15 weeks (3 months and 2 weeks) of unemployment, <a href="http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t12.htm">see here</a>. The definition of liquid asset poverty: "<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 12.7968006134033px;">Liquid asset </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 12.7968006134033px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 12.7968006134033px;"><span style="background-color: white;">poverty is a measure of the liquid savings households hold </span><span style="background-color: #fce5cd; color: #990000;">to cover basic expenses for </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fce5cd; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 12.7968006134033px;"><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 12.7968006134033px;"><span style="background-color: #fce5cd; color: #990000;">three months</span><span style="background-color: white;"> if they experienced a sudden job loss, a medical emergency or another </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 12.7968006134033px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 12.7968006134033px;">financial crisis leading to a loss of stable income."</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: blue;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: blue;">How the Great Recession Became Great</span></b><br />
The Federal Reserve's Flow of Funds report, Table D.3 shows household debt, mostly mortgage debt, grew by 95% (nearly doubling) from 1996 to 2008, from 67% of GDP in 1996 to 97% in 2008. Today it stands at 85%. This indicates that the regression of the debt to wealth ratio is a phenomenon of financial wealth growth, not a decline relative to annual GDP output. Meaning aggregate household debt is still high in the U.S. -- for what that may be worth to the typical reader who reads this much of my blog essays. We are not out of the woods.<br />
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INCOME DISTRIBUTION<br />
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Income distribution is not as brutal as wealth. The top earning 1% of taxpayers, among 166 million tax returns, not 120 million households, earn about the same amount as the collective total income of the lower-earning 50%. The ratio holds true as well for households as for taxpayers. Both parties earn around 16%, and together they pull in 1/3rd of all income. About 60% of all pre-tax income goes to the higher earning 20% of households. About 50% pre-tax income goes to the top 10%. After-taxes and government transfers, the top 20% received 50% of all income.<br />
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16.4% of total income 23.7% of income 59.9% of income<br />
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0%--------------------------------------------------50%--------------------------------80%--------------100% <br />
average $35,000 $125,000 $324,000<br />
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The average at the top goes up drastically because the top one percent take in $1.6 million on average. (0.9% of taxpayers earn 16.7% of all income.)<br />
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Source: <a href="https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4568">Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation</a>, page 30, 2014<br />
The best source I've seen for distribution of income is from the CBO,<a href="http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/49440-Distribution-of-Income-and-Taxes.pdf"> here</a>.<br />
This Joint Committee page also shows that the top 5% of taxpayers pay 47% of federal taxes, and 70% of all income taxes, because they earn 32.3% of all income. The top one percent pays 45% of all income taxes with about 17% of total income. The Citizens for Tax Justice shows <a href="http://ctj.org/pdf/taxday2015.pdf">Who Pays Taxes In America</a>, breaks down the income distribution, and also indicates that the effective overall tax rate for the top 1% is about 33% of their total income. In the 1950s, under Eisenhower, the top marginal tax rate on income above $500,000 was 91%, not today's 44%. See <a href="http://eml.berkeley.edu/~saez/course/Labortaxes/taxableincome/taxableincome_attach.pdf">this chart</a>.<br />
The best investigation of income distribution may be that of the Congressional Budget Office, the CBO, <a href="http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/49440-Distribution-of-Income-and-Taxes.pdf">see here</a>. It shows average income for all households in 2011 was $93,900 after transfers and before taxes. The median in 2011 was $50,520, see <a href="https://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/acsbr11-02.pdf">here</a> page 1. <b><span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; color: blue;">Again, the average and the median are a stark mismatch. </span></b><br />
Worth noting on page 10, the lowest earning 20% of households, with a pre-tax income of $24,600 receives 19% of its income from government social safety-net transfers, including Medicaid and "Other cash and in-kind" benefits, a total of $4,674, about 1/5th of their income. Therefore, 4/5ths of their income comes from "Labor", Medicare, and Social Security. The report also states that the total social safety-net support equals 4% of national income, which would be today around $576 billion, which seems too small by $100 billion, by my count. The total wage income of half of U.S. workers, 78 million, is less than $900 billion, which is also less than 7% of 2013's national income, see the Social Security Administration report, <a href="http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2013">here</a>, and the <a href="http://bea.gov/">BEA.gov</a> report on national income. Ideally the EITC would dramatically increase while the minimum wage would slowly increase, to enable the poorest households to share the great prosperity of our nation --- $93,900 was the average household income in 2011, $685,000 is today's average household savings. Read "Raising America's Pay: Why It's Our Central Economic Challenge", <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/raising-americas-pay/">here</a>.<br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #4c1130;">The Rift Grows !!!</b></span><br />
If your income was over $161 million last year, you are very wealthy, and you have probably seen a 90% increase in income since 2003. If your income was over $1.3 million, your income since 2003 has increased by almost 50%. If you, along with 80% of U.S. taxpayers, had an income below $85,440, then your "average" income has fallen. All this at a recent article by David Cay Johnson,<a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/6/the-top-001-percent-are-different-from-you-and-me.html"> here</a>. Johnson has come out with a new book, <span style="color: orange; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #4c1130;">Divided: The Perils of Our Growing Inequality</b></span>, see<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Divided-The-Perils-Growing-Inequality/dp/1595589236/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1395025415&sr=8-2&keywords=DAvid+Cay+Johnston"> here.</a><br />
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I don't want to distract readers from this essay, but two exceptional analyses can be found <a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-08-21/stunning-charts-showing-just-how-much-richer-rich-have-gotten-while-poor-drown-debt">here</a> and <a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/research/exploding-wealth-inequality-united-states/">here</a>. The first from ZeroHedge has a lovely, colorful bar graph, third down, showing all the facets of wealth since 2004, that shows that real (or inflation adjusted) total private wealth has increased by about 40% since 2005, from $60 trillion to $83 trillion. (The Flow of Funds Account (FFA) states a 37% growth in total private wealth, 2005 to 2015 -- so the Zero Hoedge graph seems to draw its data from the FFA.) In the same period the median household's savings has fallen by 47%, to below 1969 levels according to<a href="http://www.colorado.edu/AmStudies/lewis/1025/incomestudy2012.pdf"> Edward Wolff. </a>Wolff, page 9, "<b><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #990000; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">Then between 2007 and 2010, median wealth plunged by a staggering 47 percent!
Indeed, median wealth was actually lower in 2010 than in 1969 (in real terms). The primary
reasons, as we shall see below, were the collapse in the housing market and the high leverage of
middle class families.</span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; vertical-align: 6pt;">10"</span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 8pt;"> </span>Reading down in the Zero Hedge article, it states that gap in wealth is widening among the U.S. households: "<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, sans-serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 17.333332061767578px;"><b><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Median net worth of households in the highest quintile was 39.8 times higher than the second lowest quintile in 2000, and it rose to 86.8 times higher in 2011. (Figure 2).</span></b><span style="font-size: x-small;">"</span></span><br />
Reader, is this a threat to middle class shared prosperity?<br />
The second, from the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, shows the portion of total wealth held by the lower-saving 90% has not been so low since 1941.<br />
I also suggest that the reader look at <a href="http://inequality.org/">Inequality.org</a> and <a href="http://inequality.com/">Inequality.com</a>. The first is a product of the Institute for Policy Studies, the second from Stanford University's <a href="http://web.stanford.edu/group/scspi/index.html">Center on Poverty and Inequality.</a> Glance at their <a href="http://web.stanford.edu/group/scspi/cgi-bin/facts.php">"20 Facts about Inequality."</a> Both sites have graphs and data related to wealth and other topics, very enlightening.<br />
Below in this essay you'll find a graphic of wealth distribution published in the Washington Post from data compiled by Edward Wolff.<br />
There are pie graphs of wealth distribution at various places, <a href="https://3d4k2r1b9zry49ki142owdm5-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/U.S._Distribution_of_Wealth_2007.jpg">here</a>, <a href="http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/02/the-wealth-gap-is-growing-too/?_r=0">here</a>, <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2014/04/08/wealth_inequality_the_99_percent_are_getting_poorer.html">here</a>.<br />
The most interesting variant is one that tries to incorporate Social Security payouts, <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/a-broader-view-of-americas-wealth-ineqaulity/">here</a>.<br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #fff2cc;">Inequality in the past 50 years</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CES0500000030">My favorite Federal Reserve graph</a> shows that <b><span style="color: blue;">82% of all workers</span></b>, called nonsupervisory workers, today receive <b><span style="color: blue;">4% less each week in wages than 51 years ago</span></b>. The BEA.gov, personal income, <a href="http://bea.gov/iTable/iTable.cfm?ReqID=9&step=1#reqid=9&step=3&isuri=1&904=1964&903=58&906=a&905=2015&910=x&911=0">here</a>, shows that "disposable <b><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">per capita income</span></b>" (meaning after-tax income) <b><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">has grown since 1964</span></b>, in chained or inflation adjusted dollars,<b><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"> by 175%, nearly tripling</span></b>, from $13,485 to $37,084. (See <a href="http://bea.gov/">BEA.gov</a>, personal income, 1964 to 2015, chained dollars disposable personal income per capita) If this does not convince you of stark unequal treatment of income, then nothing will convince you.<br />
For the Fed graph go <a href="https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CES0500000030">here</a>, then convert 1964's income of $95.50 a week into today's dollars, <a href="http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=95.50&year1=1964&year2=2015">here</a>, and it will convert to $735.16, the pay in 1964. Then compare it today's pay of $705.26 a week, on average. Annually, that is $36,660 in wage income for full-time and year-round workers.<br />
The U.S. Census, <a href="http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/data/historical/people/">here</a>, shows that income doubled, not tripled, between 1967 and 2013. The "per capita income" "in 2013 dollars" has increased since 1967 by 92%, from $15,026 to $28,829. The great problem with the U.S. Census report is that it misses about a third of the national income. When the total household number (124.58 million households) is multiplied by the average income ($75,738), the total national income appears to be $9.4 trillion. (See <a href="https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2015/demo/p60-252.pdf">here</a>, page 23) The Joint Committee on Taxation (see <a href="https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4568">here</a> page 30) reports a total income for 2014 of $12.736 trillion, and the BEA.gov reports an income of $14.4 trillion. The U.S. Census misses about a quarter of the total. <br />
But do not forget the first sentence above --- wages for 80% have actually dropped.<br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #fce5cd;">And while income either doubled or tripled for "per capita" it fell by 4% for 80% of the workers.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #fce5cd;">Is this inequality? </b></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><b>Wrong! -- Now I'll argue the opposite</b></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">The <a href="https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2014/demo/p60-249.pdf">U.S. Census report Income and Poverty</a>, September 2014, page 23, shows that between 1967 and 2013, the portion of households that earn over $100,000 a year has increased from 7.7% to 22.5%. Now between one in five and one in four </span>households are earning over $100,000. That is definite a step forward. And those earning below $35,000 has fallen from 39% to 34%. Everyone, the rich and the poor, are making more income! <span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #351c75;">That is shared prosperity!</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #fce5cd;">But Wait a Minute!</b></span><br />
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The top one percent received 88.5% of all growth between 1979 and 2012, according to <a href="http://www.epi.org/multimedia/unequal-states-interactive/">this report</a>.<br />
And they increased their (already oversized) income by 180%, while the lower-earning 99% increased their income be less than 3%. <a href="http://www.epi.org/multimedia/lopsided-income-growth-united-states/">Here's an "info-graphic"</a>, a snap-shot of the report:<br />
<br />
<a class="colorbox cboxElement" href="http://s4.epi.org/files/2014/unequal-states-infographic-02-20-2014a-01.png.948" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #80002f; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><img alt="" class="main-image" src="http://s4.epi.org/files/2014/unequal-states-infographic-02-20-2014a-01.png.948" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 718.390625px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
One of the authors holds two PhD.s in economics.<br />
Now who do you believe?<br />
<br />
<br />
A look at <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-income-table-2-6a-share-average-income/">State of Working America, Income, here,</a> shows that of all the income growth between 1979and 2007, 80.9% of it went to the top 5%, and 19.1% went to the lower 95%. And nearly 60% went to the top 1%.<br />
Hardly an equal sharing of the gains of growth.<br />
Who are the authors of this report? Saez and Picketty? Saez, a professor at University of California, Berkeley, can be found here, see his report <a href="http://eml.berkeley.edu/~saez/saez-UStopincomes-2014.pdf">Striking It Richer</a>, and Thomas Picketty is the author of the best selling economics book of 2014, Capital in the 21st Century. <br />
<br />
The reports from the Economic Policy Institute are the best. Send them a thank you is my suggestion.<br />
The OECD published a report comparing inequality among 34 developed nations. The U.S. ranked tied at fifth most unequal. The comparison between the 20th and 80th percentiles showed Mexico with the highest gap, 1 to 13.3, then Turkey 12.8, then Chile at 8.0, then the U.S. and Israel tied at 7.7. (Or see <a href="http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=IDD">here</a>, Measure: S80/S20 disposable income) Most European nations had a ratio of 1 to 4. (See <a href="https://data.oecd.org/inequality/income-inequality.htm">here</a> for a quick bar graph, and <a href="http://www.oecd.org/els/soc/OECD2015-In-It-Together-Chapter1-Overview-Inequality.pdf">here</a>, page 56, and <a href="http://www.oecd.org/social/inequality.htm">here</a>, and here. The OECD is concentrating on the ill effects of Inequality.)<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: #674ea7; color: yellow;">American Middle Class Budgets,</span> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"> <span style="background-color: #6fa8dc; color: yellow;">Incomes and Expenses</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
First look at the changes, 2000 to 2012, in the expenses of the family with two children.<br />
See page 8 of this report, <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/report/2014/09/24/96903/the-middle-class-squeeze/">The Middle Class Squeeze.</a><br />
<img alt="middleclasssqueeze-fig1.3" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-97522" src="http://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/middleclasssqueeze-fig1.3.png" height="582" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #990000; font-family: Calibri, 'Gill Sans', Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="620" /><br />
<br />
Page 8 shows that the median income for a 2 child and 2 parent family is $84,000, very high. According to <a href="http://www.whatsmypercent.com/">another web site,</a> this is the 74th percentile. But reasonable for adults of this age, mid forties with dependent children.<br />
<br />
In 12 years the income has increased a bare $600, virtually no growth. Expenses have offset each other: taxes down $4,400, consumer goods down $5,500. But five key or "pillar" expenses have jumped $10,600, these expenses are housing, college savings, health care, child care, and retirement savings.<br />
<br />
The 30 fastest growing occupations between 2012 and 2022 are listed <a href="http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_table_103.htm">here</a> at this report from the Department of Labor. The median for the all the 15.6 million new jobs predicted in the report is $34,750. In July, 2015, the median full-time year-round worker earned $40 050, see<a href="http://www.bls.gov/news.release/wkyeng.nr0.htm"> here.</a> So the future's faster growing occupations will add 15 million new workers earning about 12% less than today's median worker.<br />
<br />
Regarding the "Middle Class Squeeze" report, I quibble with their health care expenses. The <a href="https://kaiserfamilyfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/8465-employer-health-benefits-20131.pdf">Kaiser Family Foundation (here)</a> states that these expenses have doubled between 2002 to 2013. "<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 11pt;">Family premiums have increased 80% since 2003 and have more than doubled since 2002." (page 12) (This <a href="http://kff.org/report-section/2013-summary-of-findings/">KFF report</a> has a summary graphic.) </span><br />
<a href="http://kaiserfamilyfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/2013-ehbs-sof-a.png" style="border: 0px; color: #0990d1; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Exhibit A" class="size-kaiser-slide wp-image-82289" src="http://kaiserfamilyfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/2013-ehbs-sof-a.png?w=735&h=551&crop=1" style="border: none; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 11pt;">The average premium costs $16,351 of which the out of pocket cost to employee is $5,884 or 36% (this from the first report cited, page 12). This is a raise in total compensation of $10,467. This raise in compensation is not accounted for in the Middle Class Squeeze report. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT;"><span style="font-size: 15px;">The actual cost may be $8,600 to the Middle Class family of the example, but their total compensation is under-reported. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: ArialMT;"><span style="font-size: 15px;">Let's turn to another source, the Economic Policy Institute "Family Budget Calculator". </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 11pt;">I turn to Topeka, Kansas, because this locale has the median costs in the nation for 2013. Here we see the expense of health care is $1,342 a month or $16,104 a year. Consistent with the K.F.F. survey results. </span><br />
On August 26, 2015, the EPI updated their Family Budget Calculator, and they state, "<br />
<ul style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 1.5em; list-style-type: square; margin: 1em 0px 1em 2em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-image: url(http://s1.epi.org/wp-content/themes/epi/img/list-maroon-8px.gif); list-style-type: square; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #333333;">The basic family budget for a two-parent, two-child family ranges from $49,114 (Morristown, Tenn.) to $106,493 (Washington, D.C.). In the median family budget area for this family type, Des Moines, Iowa, </span><b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: blue; font-size: large;">a two-parent, two-child family needs $63,741 to secure an adequate but modest living standard.</span></b><span style="color: #333333;"> This is well above the 2014 poverty threshold of $24,008 for this family type. </span></li>
</ul>
This report is very helpful to assess the geographic price differences and the variations in household size, in fact 10 different family sizes are analyzed among 618 geographic locations.<br />
<div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="clearfix" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; margin: 20px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 20px 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;">
<div id="budget-receipt" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; float: right; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 400px;">
<div id="budget-receipt-middle" style="background-image: url(http://s1.epi.org/wp-content/themes/epi/img/calculator-family-budget/receipt-background.png); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 10px 40px 3em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<div class="bc-header" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.2em; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2em; outline: 0px; padding: 1.5em 0px 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
<h2 style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #990000; font-family: FakeReceipt-Regular, serif; font-size: 1.8em; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0.2em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Monthly costs</h2>
<span class="text-accent" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #888888; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">for a family with</span><br />
<h3 style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: jubilat, Georgia, serif; font-size: 1.4em; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 1.1; margin: 0.2em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="bc-result bc-number-parents" data-calculator-item="Parents" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2 parents</span> <span class="text-accent" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #888888; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">and</span> <span class="bc-result bc-number-children" data-calculator-item="Children" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2 children</span></h3>
<span class="text-accent" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #888888; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">in</span> <span class="bc-result bc-location" data-calculator-item="Area" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Topeka</span>, <span class="bc-result bc-location" data-calculator-item="State" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Kansas</span></div>
<table class="budget-calc-table" id="results" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: FakeReceipt-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 1.25em; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 320px;" summary="Monthly and annual family budget"><thead style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; letter-spacing: -0.0625em; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"></tr>
</thead><tbody style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; letter-spacing: -0.0625em; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><th style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle;"><i class="ss-home" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #007ab8; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></i> Housing</th><td class="bc-result" data-calculator-item="Housing" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #888888; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: middle;">$692</td></tr>
<tr style="border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; letter-spacing: -0.0625em; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><th style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle;"><i class="ss-apple" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #007ab8; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></i> Food</th><td class="bc-result" data-calculator-item="Food" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #888888; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: middle;">$754</td></tr>
<tr style="border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; letter-spacing: -0.0625em; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><th style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle;"><i class="ss-users" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #007ab8; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></i> Child Care</th><td class="bc-result" data-calculator-item="Child Care" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #888888; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: middle;">$1,181</td></tr>
<tr style="border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; letter-spacing: -0.0625em; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><th style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle;"><i class="ss-bike" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #007ab8; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></i> Transportation</th><td class="bc-result" data-calculator-item="Transportation" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #888888; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: middle;">$603</td></tr>
<tr style="border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; letter-spacing: -0.0625em; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><th style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle;"><i class="ss-medicalcross" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #007ab8; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></i> Health Care</th><td class="bc-result" data-calculator-item="Health Care" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #888888; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: middle;">$1,342</td></tr>
<tr style="border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; letter-spacing: -0.0625em; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><th style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle;"><i class="ss-tag" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #007ab8; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></i> Other Necessities</th><td class="bc-result" data-calculator-item="Other Necessities" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #888888; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: middle;">$370</td></tr>
<tr style="border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; letter-spacing: -0.0625em; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><th style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle;"><i class="ss-piechart" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #007ab8; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></i> Taxes</th><td class="bc-result" data-calculator-item="Taxes" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #888888; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: middle;">$339</td></tr>
<tr style="border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; letter-spacing: -0.0625em; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><th style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle;"><i class="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #007ab8; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></i>Monthly Total</th><td class="bc-result" data-calculator-item="Monthly Total" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: middle;">$5,280</td></tr>
<tr style="border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; letter-spacing: -0.0625em; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><th style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ba1b2f; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle;"><i class="" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #007ab8; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></i>Annual Total</th><td class="bc-result" data-calculator-item="Annual Total" style="background-image: url(http://s1.epi.org/wp-content/themes/epi/img/calculator-family-budget/annual-total-underline-smaller.png); background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0px 0.85em; text-align: right; vertical-align: middle;">$63,364</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div id="budget-receipt-bottom" style="background-image: url(http://s1.epi.org/wp-content/themes/epi/img/calculator-family-budget/receipt-background-bottom.png); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; height: 15px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
</div>
</div>
</div>
A look at the family's expenses shows that about a quarter are for child care and a quarter are for health care.<br />
<br />
Now we look a little further, to the table showing working age family incomes, courtesy of State of Working America, an Economic Policy Institute project.<br />
<br />
<br />
I'll be! The graph seems to<br />
come across onto this blog.<br />
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<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.epi.org/?p=70467&utm_source=epi_press&utm_medium=chart_embed&utm_campaign=charts_v1&view=embed&embed_template=charts_v2013_08_21&newest&chartoptions=showtable,showdata,showimagelink,showembed,hidelinkback" style="border-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="100%"></iframe><br />
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Median expenses: $63,634<br />
Median income: $65,577<br />
That means that about half the families of working age will have expenses greater than income,<br />
and half will not.<br />
What does that say for the "middle class", typical or iconic family in America?<br />
Half are struggling.<br />
Recently the <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/01/27/despite-recovery-fewer-americans-identify-as-middle-class/">Pew Surveys stated</a> that 40% of Americans self-described as low-income, 44% as middle class, and 16% as upper.<br />
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<img alt="FT_14.01.24_middleClass_line_420" class="alignright size-full wp-image-253887" src="http://www.pewresearch.org/files/2014/01/FT_14.01.24_middleClass_line_420.png" height="450" style="border: 0px; clear: right; float: right; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; line-height: 25.600000381469727px; margin: 5px 0px 15px 15px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="420" /><br />
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<span style="color: #f4cccc; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #660000;">Proposals and Solutions </b></span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow; font-size: large;">Sixteen for '16, by Salvatore Babones </span></b> --- a book of policy proposals.<br />
<br />
Mr. Babones contributes to the <a href="http://www.ips-dc.org/">Institute for Policy Studies</a>, a think-tank that sponsors the excellent monthly newsletter <a href="http://toomuchonline.org/">TooMuchonline.org</a>. <br />
<div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.ips-dc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Sixteen-for-16-Book-cover-260x400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Sixteen for 16 Book cover" border="0" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-37327" src="http://www.ips-dc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Sixteen-for-16-Book-cover-260x400.jpg" height="400" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Droid Serif', 'Libre Baskerville', Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 17px; height: auto; line-height: 31px; margin-top: 0.5em; max-width: 100%;" width="260" /></a><br />
The 16 solutions:<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow;">1. Government-led job creation</span><br />
(this is my #1 choice, and if you look through this blog you will find that I report several times on Philip Harvey's government job creation plan <a href="http://www.demos.org/sites/default/files/publications/Back_To_Work_Demos.pdf">"Back to Work"</a>, or the <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/the-peoples-budget-analysis-of-the-congressional-progressive-caucus-budget-for-fiscal-year-2016/">Congressional Progressive Caucus budget proposal</a> for a 3 year expense of $350 billion a year creating 8.5 million full-time year-round jobs, with additional support for later years. You will find references to plans and specifications that would return the nation to high employment, living wages and rising wages for all workers, and shared prosperity. Also look at the analysis of Bivens, <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/impact-of-infrastructure-investments/">here</a>, and of Scott,<a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/manufacturing-job-loss-trade-not-productivity-is-the-culprit/"> here</a>, of the EPI, detailing the effects of a $250 billion debt-financed infrastructure program. <br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow;">2. National infrastructure renewal</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow;">3. A rededication to public education</span><br />
(and I encourage readers to read Diane Ravitch's book Reign of Error)<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow;">4. Universal single-payer healthcare,</span><br />
often known as Medicare for All.<br />
Senator Bernie Sanders is sponsoring such a measure.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow;">5. Higher taxes on higher incomes</span><br />
Mr. Picketty, the best selling author of Capital in the 20th Century, whom I note above, supports a highest marginal income tax rate of 80% applicable to only income exceeding $457,000. The current rate on this high income is almost 44%. The Joint Committee on Taxation reports that only 0.9% of taxpayers earn over $500,000. Their share of total income is 16.7%, or one sixth of all income.)<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow;">6. Refinancing Social Security</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow;">7. Stronger bank regulation</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow;">8. The right to join a union </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow;"> 9. living minimum wage</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow;">10. 10 sick days, 10 holidays, and 10 vacation days</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow;">11. An end to the prison state </span><span style="background-color: white;"> Look at the incarceration rate change <a href="http://web.stanford.edu/group/scspi/cgi-bin/facts.php">at this site</a>, lower left graph. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow;">12. Secure reproductive rights</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow;">13. Making it easier to vote</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow;">14. Closing down the NSA</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow;">15. More humane treatment of refugees</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: yellow;">16. Addressing global warming</span><br />
<br />
I add some other reforms:<br />
instituting higher <b><span style="background-color: blue; color: yellow;">Earned Income Tax Credit</span></b>,<br />
creating <span style="background-color: blue; color: yellow;"><b>Individual Development Accounts</b></span>,<br />
supporting the proposals found in the book on <b><span style="background-color: blue; color: yellow;">The Bankers' New Clothes</span></b> by Admati and Hellwig,<br />
reducing the size of <b><span style="background-color: blue; color: yellow;">the U.S. military</span></b>,<br />
and creating publicly funded elections, <b><span style="background-color: blue; color: yellow;">outlawing campaign finance contributions</span></b>.<br />
And the concept of <b><span style="background-color: blue; color: yellow;">employee profit sharing and ownership sharing</span></b> needs a revival, as documented in the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Citizens-Share-Reducing-Inequality/dp/0300209339">The Citizen's Share</a>. Profit and ownership sharing was promoted in the 1880s and was very popular among capitalist titans in the 1920s, but today it has renewed appeal not to be dismissed. After all half of U.S. employees work in firms with more than 500 employees, and 75% work in firms with more than 20 employees.<br />
I realize I've smothered the readers with fact, reference and detail. The crux of my argument I find summed up best in the Introduction to Joan Tronto's book, A Caring Democracy, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Caring-Democracy-Markets-Equality-Justice/dp/0814782787/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1439315582&sr=1-1&keywords=caring+democracy">available for reading here. </a> She says, "what it means to be a citizen in a democracy is to care about citizens and about democracy itself. . . . What has gone wrong . . . is that we have lost sight of the other side of existence besides the world of the 'economy.'" Caring is the work of living. Take a look.<br />
<br />
Thank you Oakhurst Dems for inviting me to speak. </div>
</div>
Ben Leethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14058357566482675649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047544383372645090.post-19099555088968304402015-05-27T13:22:00.003-07:002015-07-25T16:50:36.495-07:00Trans-Pacific Race to Bottom<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;"> <b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: #990000;">The Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership ---</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> <b><span style="background-color: orange; color: #990000;">A Race to the Bottom and a Subversion of Democracy</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<a class="irc_mil" data-noload="" data-ved="0CAcQjRw" href="http://daxueconsulting.com/chinese-labour-market-electronics-industry/" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk" style="border: 0px; color: #660099; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 0px; text-align: center;"><img class="irc_mi" src="http://daxueconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/China-the-end-of-cheap-labour.jpg" height="467" style="-webkit-background-size: 21px; -webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; background-color: white; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; background-size: 21px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; margin-top: 33px;" width="700" /></a><br />
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<br />
Chinese assembly workers' average work week: 56 hours. Average income: $1.33 to $1.74 an hour, or $75 to $97 per week, or $3,900 to $5,100 a year. <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/45-billion-apple-shareholders-apple-workers/">Read the full report at Economic Policy Institute.</a> But other Chinese workers earn less than $0.50 an hour.<br />
In 2007 manufacturing costs in China were 4% of comparable labor costs in the U.S., or $1.36 an hour versus $34 an hour. (See <a href="http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2011/03/art4full.pdf">Labor Department publication here.</a>)<br />
For a BLS comparison among 33 countries <a href="http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ichcc.pdf">see here</a>. Mexico average, $6.48 an hour, U.S. $35.55 an hour. In Mexico 66% of workers earn less than 3 times the<a href="http://salariominimo.com.mx/salario-minimo-vigente/"> daily 2015 minimum wage of $4.58 per day</a>, meaning 2/3rds earn less than $15 a day (<a href="http://cam.economia.unam.mx/el-salario-minimo-en-mexico-de-la-pobreza-la-miseria-perdida-del-78-66-del-poder-adquisitivo-del-salario-reporte-de-investigacion-117/">see this report</a> section 5, table 1). $15 a day is about $75 a week or $3,900 a year. 40% of Mexican workers do not earn enough to maintain their families above the poverty line, <a href="http://www.jornada.unam.mx/ultimas/2014/08/05/salario-minimo-en-mexico-es-201cde-los-peores201d-en-america-latina-cepal-7839.html">see here</a>. These are our trading partners!<br />
_____________________________________________________<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">On May 14, 2015, The <a href="http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=114&session=1&vote=00180">Senate approved</a>, 65 to 33, “fast track” authority for the trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) among ten nations. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The vote fell out: Republicans 49 yes, 2 abstentions; Democrats 16 yes, 31 no; Independents 2 no. Senator Feinstein yes, Senator Boxer no. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This deal has been highly controversial. The group <a href="http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2012/0912bybee.html">Private Citizen, Global Trade Watch</a>, summed up their critique: “. . . the deal would extend the incentives for U.S. firms to offshore investment and jobs to lower-wage countries.” Also it would create expanded powers for foreign corporations to challenge protective regulations on finance, on the environment, and workplace safety. It does nothing to end "currency manipulation" <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/stop-currency-manipulation-in-the-trans-pacific-partnership-millions-of-jobs-at-stake/">according to Robert Scott</a> at the Economic Policy Institute, which if eliminated would create 2.3 to 5.8 million U.S. jobs. Currency manipulation is the "leading cause of these trade deficits" <a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/just-the-facts-trade-and-investment-deals-are-bad-for-working-families/">according to Scott</a>. Senator <a href="http://www.cepr.net/blogs/beat-the-press/the-true-myths-on-the-trans-pacific-partnership">Elizabeth Warren states</a> that the TPP would “tilt the playing field in the U.S. further in favor of big multinational corporations. Worse, it would undermine U.S. sovereignty.” (Both those reports, by Scott and Warren, are essential reading to understand this issue.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It is challenged by <a href="http://www.cepr.net/blogs/beat-the-press/the-true-myths-on-the-trans-pacific-partnership">economist Dean Baker</a> who says, “For example, if New York State wants to restrict fracking, a foreign gas or oil company could contest the ban in an investor state tribunal. . . . But the TPP is about corporate profits, not free trade.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A statement from <a href="http://ourfinancialsecurity.org/blogs/wp-content/ourfinancialsecurity.org/uploads/2015/04/AFR-Statement-The-Trans-Pacific-Partnership-and-Financial-Regulation.pdf">Americans for Financial Reform argues</a>, <span style="color: blue;">“Any bank from a TPP signatory country that claims disadvantage from a regulation . . . could bring a private challenge and claim compensation from U.S. taxpayers.”</span> The Fed could not increase the reserve requirements on banks without approval from the TPP. The U.S. banking system crashed our economy in 2008 bringing an 18 month recession, and we are still suffering from that disaster. This Great Recession occurred because between 1996 and 2008 <b><span style="color: #990000;">banking and credit expansion went wild</span></b>; in these 12 years the "debt outstanding" of the "domestic financial sector" (see <a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1.pdf">the Federal Reserve report, Table D.3</a>) grew at a rate 5.5 times faster than the economy grew, adjusting for inflation and population growth. Outstanding debt of the domestic financial sector increased from 59% of GDP to 116% of GDP. (see <a href="http://www.measuringworth.com/datasets/usgdp/result.php">here to calculate for yourself</a>). How can debt burden double over 12 years, expanding 5.5 times faster than overall growth per capita, without a train wreck resulting? This unregulated credit system caused the destruction of 15 million jobs (8.75 million permanently eliminated according to the BLS), the nose dive of the employment to population ratio,</span><img src="http://data.bls.gov/generated_files/graphics/latest_numbers_LNS12300000_2005_2015_all_period_M04_data.gif" /><span style="font-size: large;"> from which we are only 20% recovered after 6 full years, and the loss of family savings (a 40% loss at the median household from $135,400 to $81,200) and the loss of income combined with mortgage foreclosure for about 1 in 10 mortgage holders. In 2008, for the second time since 1933, the national income declined. Simultaneous to this bad news, the Federal Reserve bailed the banks with $30 trillion in temporary loans, and corporate profits are now at a historical high, and private wealth has increased by over 30% (adjusting for inflation and population growth). That 30% increase in private wealth, an increase of $24.6 trillion in 6 years, brings total private net worth to $83 trillion, and brings the average net worth of all U.S. households to $675,000. But the typical or median household owns $81,200. Median net worth dropped by 40.2% in the same 6 years, down from $135,000. (Both are Federal Reserve data, Flow of Funds report, page 2, and Fed Chartbook, which I hyper link to below.) The wealthiest Americans are the only group apparently benefitting from the self-destruction of the financial sector. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Most Americans are still up the creek. </span><span style="background-color: yellow; color: #990000; font-size: large;"> We still need stronger measures to reign in the banks, and the TPP undermines our own laws to protect ourselves. </span><span style="font-size: large;">(See my last essay for a fuller description.) Since 2007, Q4, economic growth, real GDP per capita, has slowed to its slowest rate since 1950, <a href="https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/A939RX0Q048SBEA">see the Fed's graph. </a> This is the consequence of the Bush era disregard for financial regulation, and Obama's preference to protect finance not the general working population. By extension, growth has not been this slow since the Great Depression. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">My take is that TPP would continue to lower wages. Presently the <a href="http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2013">collective wage earnings of the lower-earning half</a> (77 million) of all U.S. workers is less than 8 percent of total national income. Their average annual income is less than $10,000, while the <a href="http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/49440-Distribution-of-Income-and-Taxes.pdf">average income for all 155 million workers</a> is more than $80,000. This is a little complicated because only 68.2% of all income is from wage and salaries (see the next link below, page 26). But if we compare taxpayers, not workers, the top 1% of taxpayers earn one sixth of all income, more than 54% of lower-earning taxpayers. The top-earning 5% collectively earn more than the collective income of the lower 69% (see the report from the <a href="https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4568">Joint Committee on Taxation</a>, page 30). As for wealth, the portion of private wealth held by the poorer <a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/confirming-redistribution-wealth-upward/">50% of U.S. households is 1.1%</a>. These ratios are worse in Mexico and China. (<a href="http://www.oecd.org/els/soc/49499779.pdf">See here</a>, page 45, inter quintile ratios 20/80) Economists claim <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/china-trade-outsourcing-and-jobs/">3.2 million</a> (read the entire report by Robert Scott) to <a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/whats-wrong-with-the-tpp-this-deal-will-lead-to-more-job-loss-and-downward-pressures-on-the-wages-of-most-working-americans/">5 million U.S. jobs</a> have been lost due to trade with China since 2000. This is a race to the bottom. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">While trade could be a means to enrich low-income America, it has not, in fact incomes have increased almost only to the wealthiest in spite of greater trade and bigger trade deficits. See </span><a href="http://www.epi.org/multimedia/unequal-states-interactive/#/United%20States" style="font-size: x-large;">the EPI report</a><span style="font-size: large;"> that shows 2.9% gain in growth of income to the lower 99% of Americans while the top 1% gains 180.9%, 1979 to 2012, 33 years. </span><b><span style="background-color: #20124d; color: yellow; font-size: x-large;">The top triples its income in 33 years, while the rest of the nation see no gain. </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Our trade could and should promote inclusive prosperity, and it is possible.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">A radio interview dealing with the TPP with Roger Hickey, co-founder of the Economic Policy Institute, was aired on KPFA on May 24, <a href="https://kpfa.org/program/sunday-show/">listen to it here</a>. The Senate may be lost but the House of Representatives may still block passage.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Chinese labor classroom</span><br />
<a class="irc_mil" data-noload="" data-ved="0CAcQjRw" href="http://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/arbitrary-11192013163240.html" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk" style="border: 0px; color: #660099; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 0px; text-align: center;"><img class="irc_mi" src="http://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/arbitrary-11192013163240.html/china-labor-camp-june-2009.jpg" height="512" style="-webkit-background-size: 21px; -webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; background-color: white; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; background-size: 21px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; margin-top: 10px;" width="768" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">____________________________________</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">If the above essay was not long enough, here is a letter I wrote to Congressman McClintock's Facebook page. It follows:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Dear Mr. McClintock, </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">In the last 51 years, since January 1964, 80% of the nation's workers, called nonsupervisory workers, have seen their average weekly incomes (and by extension their annual incomes) <b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: #990000;">decline by 4%. </span></b>Adjusting for inflation, the $730.65 weekly earning in 1964 is now $704.33 in April 2015 --- a decline of 3.6%. In contrast, the disposable (after tax) income of average Americans has increased by 193% since 1964 — <b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: #990000;">this is almost a tripling</span></b> (from $13,048 to $38,211, <a href="https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/A229RX0">see the Fed graph here</a>). Why have 80% of the nation's workers been subject to a frozen income level while the nation's per capita disposable income has nearly tripled? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">See the Fed graph: <a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CES0500000030">http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CES0500000030</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">80% of U.S. workers are nonsupervisory. You claim that the trade pacts, TPP in particular, are good for the average worker. They are not. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Here's a quote about the TPP trade pact that you advocate:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">"Most (not all, but most) of the countries that would be included in the TPP are poorer and more labor-abundant than the United States. Standard trade theory has a clear prediction of what happens when the United States expands trade with such countries: total national income rises in both countries but so much income is redistributed upwards within the United States that most workers are made worse off. " See the full essay against the logic of your "free trade" proposal. Instead of issuing more baseless rhetoric, you should read the essay from the Economic Policy Institute, <a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/no-the-tpp-wont-be-good-for-the-middle-class/">http://www.epi.org/blog/no-the-tpp-wont-be-good-for-the-middle-class/</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="background-color: blue; color: yellow;">This is a disaster!</span></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">We send jobs to them, they send cheap products back to us. We lose jobs, they gain income. But on net, the savings from lower priced products do not match the loss of income from lost jobs, and the resultant depression in wage growth. We lose. It's that simple. (See the report, <a href="https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/MiddeClassSqueeze.pdf">The Middle-Class Squeeze</a>, page 9 to confirm that price increases have outpaced consumer price decreases.) Workers' average weekly and annual income have decreased by more than almost 4% since 1964 (see .stlouisfed link below). Working age families' median income has increased by 8% since 1979, while average disposable income has increased by 80%, <a href="http://www.bea.gov/iTable/iTable.cfm?ReqID=9&step=1#reqid=9&step=3&isuri=1&904=1979&903=58&906=a&905=2013&910=x&911=0">see here</a> and<a href="http://stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-income-figure-2b-real-median-income/"> here</a>. (BEA.gov).This is a disaster, clear and obvious. See the Federal Reserve graph and convert for inflation: </span><br />
<a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CES0500000030"><span style="font-size: large;">http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CES0500000030</span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Here is the Federal Reserve graph on the current account balance (foreign trade balance): </span><br />
<a href="https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/NETFI"><span style="font-size: large;">https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/NETFI</span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Dean Baker states, "<b><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="background-color: #fffcf5; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span style="background-color: #fffcf5; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">This is truly remarkable since </span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="background-color: #fffcf5; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="background-color: #fffcf5; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">the $500 billion plus annual trade deficit (@3 </span></span></b></span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #fffcf5; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">percent of GDP) is the main cause of the </span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #fffcf5; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #fffcf5; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">economy's weakness and continued high </span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #fffcf5; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #fffcf5; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">unemployment."</span></span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: #fffcf5; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #fffcf5; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #990000;"><b><a href="http://www.cepr.net/blogs/beat-the-press/a-stronger-dollar-means-a-larger-trade-deficit-and-more-qsecular-stagnationq">See here.</a><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Not since the early 1980s have we had a nearly balanced current account (foreign trade balance). G. W. Bush pushed the record foreign trade imbalance to the lowest limit, $858 billion in 2006. Today the trade deficit stands at $521 billion. When money leaves the country in foreign trade, workers' incomes drop. That $521 billion, in part, would have gone into workers’ income. Since 1980 we have been shipping money off-shore, like foreign aid, to cheaper labor markets. The wealthiest in all nations have become even wealthier, the poor workers not so. It’s a class war, and you are on the wrong side, the side of the world’s super-ultra-extremely-rich. You are advocating a continuation of this negative reality for American workers, whose wage income has declined since 1964 while total income has nearly tripled! </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Thank you for your e-mail in which you support the TPP, but please go back and do some real analysis. You are closer to a fantasy about trade than truly understanding it. I can help you understand this better if you would just ask for some further info I have available. </span><br />
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Ben Leethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14058357566482675649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047544383372645090.post-45797228140893172042015-03-16T13:23:00.001-07:002015-07-18T11:37:50.306-07:00All the Puzzle Pieces Together<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;">My Congressman, a Tea Party person, visited the local community. I handed him this essay because, I told him, he needed to take a closer look at the other side of his argument. This essay is both problem and solution; I hope readers will gather a useful, hopeful, and comprehensive overview.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="background-color: white;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: white;">A VIEW OF THE FUTURE </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #073763;"> Inequality Devastates Social Norms</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b><span style="color: blue;">What if </span></b>the total national income was $100 a year, and $50 went to just 10% of the population? What if $20 went to only 1% of the population? What if the lower-earning half, 50%, received just 16% of all income? Every worker, on average, contributed over $70,000 a year to the national income, but half received less than $28,000 a year and half also average less than $10,000 a year in wage income (that would include all the unemployed, part-time and partial-year workers)? What if half of U.S. workers earned in wage income less than 8% of the total national income? As for savings, what if the average household held over $650,000 in assets? And still, what if the lower-saving half of all households owned just 1.1% of total private net worth, about $14,000 per household, not the $650,000 average for all? What if 1 in 7 in the population survived through the charity of food coupons to purchase their food? What if 40% of the richest nation on earth reported their status as “low income or poor”? What if candidates for public office, both national and state, depended almost entirely on the wealthy minority to fund their election campaigns? What if only 4% of the national income was devoted in charity, through government programs, to the alleviation of poverty afflicting the elderly, the disabled, and poor children? (<a href="http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/49440-Distribution-of-Income-and-Taxes.pdf">see here</a>, Table 3, page 10) Here is the <a href="http://www.epi.org/multimedia/unequal-states-interactive/#/United States">Economic Policy Institute's report</a> on lop-sided income growth. This report states that in the past 33 years, 1979 to 2012, the top-earning 1% increased its income by 180%, the rest by 3%. <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa/">This graph</a> shows 9% income growth at the median while total economy growth was 72%, 1979 to present; while between 1949 and 1979 all income groups grew at the exact rate.</span><br />
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<a class="irc_mil" data-ved="0CAcQjRw" href="http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/10/income-inequality-is-not-a-myth/247389/" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk" style="background-color: #f1f1f1; border: 0px; color: #660099; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 0px; text-align: center;" wrc_done="true"><img class="irc_mi" src="http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/business/cbpp%20income%20inequality%202011.png" height="423" style="-webkit-background-size: 21px; -webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; background-color: white; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; background-size: 21px 21px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; margin-top: 57px;" width="558" /></a><span style="background-color: #f1f1f1; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 0px; text-align: center;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: blue;">The above describes the U.S.A in 2015.</span></b> Furthermore, what if much of the great private annual income and most of past savings were mostly diverted into a large international gambling casino with no productive purpose? For instance, JPMorganChase, one of the largest banks, reported that 46% of its assets were “trading assets” or stock brokerage accounts, not loans to business. Loans to business was less than 12%. Reputable economists (William Lazonick, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-lazonick/how-american-corporations_b_1399500.html">here</a>) report that between 2001 and 2010 corporate profits were not directed to improve productive facilities or research or to raise workers’ incomes, but that 94% of record profits went to shareholder dividends and stock buy-backs. From Lazonick's article, "</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><b>For 2001-2010, 459 companies in the S&P 500 Index in January 2011 distributed $1.9 trillion in dividends, equivalent to 40 percent of their combined net income, and $2.6 trillion in buybacks, equal to another 54 percent of their net income. After all that, what was left over for investments in innovation, including upgrading the capabilities of their workforces? Not much.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">How, then, can the majority of Americans appropriate the vast surplus, the non-productive gambling funds, and convert these resources into productive uses that would generate employment, create useful services and products, establish financial security for most households, and even provide more leisure and vacation time for the majority of the population? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: #990000;">“What is an economy for?”</span></b> is the general question. What is the goal of coordinated economic activity? Should it be coordinated? How? I argue that an economy should organize human talent and potential to serve society while preserving basic rights and freedoms. The economy should serve. It should raise minimum social standards gradually as techniques and tools, often called productivity, improves. Since 1964 the U.S. economy on a per person basis has increased its output by 155% (<a href="http://www.measuringworth.com/usgdp/">see here</a> and do your own calculation, from $19,455 to $49,584 per person), yet the weekly and yearly wage income of 80% of its workers, the non-supervisory workers, has actually increased by 3% — this is a Federal Reserve data fact. </span><br />
Median usual weekly real earnings: since 1979, wage and salary workers, employed full time<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/LES1252881600Q">http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/LES1252881600Q</a><br />
Median usual weekly nominal earnings, full time, wage and salary workers, since 1979<br />
<a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/LES1252881500Q">http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/LES1252881500Q</a><br />
<div>
Share of National Income going to Employees as wages and salaries<br />
<a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/W270RE1A156NBEA">http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/W270RE1A156NBEA</a><br />
Per capita disposable income<br />
<a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/A229RX0A048NBEA">http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/A229RX0A048NBEA</a><br />
This shows that while after-tax, or disposable, income has tripled since 1964, up almost 200%, the average wage income is up 3%, and the share of income going to wages and salaries has dropped from 50% to 42%, a difference of $11,000 or more to each of the 96 million households in the lower-earning 80%, those who are employees. Evenly distributed, this rebalancing would eliminate poverty.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="background-color: #674ea7; color: yellow;">The economy has not shared its prosperity.</span></b> The <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/income-inequality-by-state-1917-to-2012/">Economic Policy Institute reports</a> that in 28 years, 1979 to 2007, the top one percent increased its income by 200.5% (a tripling) while the average income of the lower-earning 99% increased by 19%. The per capita GDP expanded by 72% in this 28 year period (read the EPI report “The Increasingly Unequal States of America”). Only 5% of households matched the pace of the economy’s growth. There are many scholarly sources supporting this conclusion. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>To right the imbalanced distribution of income and wealth a practical first step would be to <b><span style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #990000;">tax financial transactions</span></b>, stocks and bonds, derivatives and futures trading -- (called an FTT). Since 75% of all financial assets are owned by 5% of the population this would not affect 95% of the population. Congressman Chris Van Hollen recently proposed this measure in February 2015 (see link below). Also income from capital and capital gains could be taxed at the nominal personal income tax rate, and the top income tax rate, say on income that exceeds $1 million a year, could be set at the level of all 8 years of the Eisenhower presidency, at 90%. During those Eisenhower years the economy grew rapidly and shared its prosperity. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Explaining the need for a FTT, the Chicago Political Economy Group recently <a href="http://www.cpegonline.org/2015/02/19/fantastical-finance-cpegs-bill-barclay-responds-to-sun-times-editorial/">wrote a reply</a> to an editorial in a local Chicago newspaper. Here's an excerpt: </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">The Sun Times endorses the notion that more trading </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">is always better, worrying that the LST [the FTT] </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">would drive </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: large; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;">trading volume down and/or away from </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: large; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: large; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;">Chicago. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">There is a huge amount of trading occurring on the </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Chicago derivative markets: more than $900 trillion </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">in underlying value in 2014. Bear in mind, world GDP </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">is $70 trillion and the US GDP is about $17 trillion. It </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: large; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;">is obvious that most of this trading is of the “socially </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: large; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: large; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;">useless” type described by Andrew Haldane, the </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: large; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: large; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;">leading UK regulator during the Great Recession. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: large; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: large; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;">Further, there is evidence that such misdirection of </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: large; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: large; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;">resources hampers growth in the real economy.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: large; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: large; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #20124d; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: large; line-height: 19.201921463012695px;"><b><span style="color: yellow;">Solution</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Without increasing the national debt a multifaceted<b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: #990000;"> public jobs program</span></b> could be initiated to end unemployment and under-employment. See the plan "<a href="http://www.lerner.udel.edu/sites/default/files/ECON/PDFs/RePEc/dlw/WorkingPapers/2014/UDWP2014-01.pdf">Stimulus Without Debt</a>" by University of Delaware economist Lawrence Seidman. And also see Rutgers University economist Philip Harvey's plan <a href="http://www.demos.org/sites/default/files/publications/Back_To_Work_Demos.pdf">Back to Work</a> to understand how at a price of about $30,000 per job, about 10 million jobs could be created for $300 billion per year. This would employ full-time all the unemployed and about half of those who are involuntarily employed in part-time work. About 20 million jobs are needed, but this $300 billion per year plan coincides with the Congressional Progressive Caucus plan. The Federal Reserve would advise the Congress on the ongoing danger of inflation growth. See the <a href="http://www.epi.org/nominal-wage-tracker/">Economic Policy Institute</a> on the the acceptable wage growth and inflation growth target.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Remember, <b><span style="background-color: #20124d; color: yellow;">1 in 4 (or 40 million) American workers</span></b> are either 1) out of work, 2) working involuntarily at part-time work, 3) dropped out of the labor market, or 4) working full-time and year-round at less than poverty level wage income. This should end. See the <a href="http://www.njfac.org/jobnews.html">National Jobs for All Coalition's report</a> on employment. Just as during the Great Depression, 1933 to 1937, when <b><span style="color: blue;">unemployment dropped from 25% to below 10%</span></b>, (<a href="http://www.rooseveltinstitute.org/new-roosevelt/real-lesson-great-depression-fiscal-policy-works">see the article supporting this finding here</a>) or during the war period 1940 to 1946 when the number employed increased by a near-miraculous 40% and annual output increased by an astounding and record breaking 75%, public employment is effective in spurring an economy. This would tighten the labor market which would raise wage income for over 80% of workers. Presently wage income as a percentage of total income stands at 42%, down 8% from its historical norm between 1950 and 1980. (<a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/W270RE1A156NBEA">see Fed. Reserve graph here</a>) This represent an income loss of about $13,000 per year for all employees (non-supervisory workers) in the lower-earning 80% of workers, perhaps $20,000 per household. If this difference were rectified and spread evenly among all households in the lower-earning 80%,</span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: blue;">then poverty would be eliminated</span></b></span><span style="font-size: large;">. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Capitalism must balance the distribution of its economic surplus, which is often called income or profits. Labor cannot receive excess income without destroying necessary corporate profits, and vice versa, excessive corporate profits decreases private purchasing demand, which in turn lowers employment. A balanced distribution is requisite, and presently corporate profits are at a historical high. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Many sidewalks in San Leandro are clearly marked “WPA, 1937”. Many public bridges, dams, electrical installations, roads, trails, national parks, court houses, airports and seaports, schools and universities that were built in the 1930s are still functioning. Today’s needs are no less than before. We need to convert our transportation system to a renewable energy source, electric or hydrogen. Providing subsidized home energy retrofitting for energy efficiency is needed nationally. Improved childcare, public education, and expanded services to the infirm elderly and disabled are needed. The reestablishment of municipal and local recreational departments would greatly improve the developmental opportunities of the nation’s youth. And if we should find a paucity of work to perform, vacation time could also serve to maintain high employment ratios. Presently the <a href="http://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet">labor force participation ratio</a> is at a 37 year low and the <a href="http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS12300000">employment to population ratio</a> is at a 31 year low. Today we are about 8 million jobs below the historical 20 year (1989 to 2009) average E/P ratio. The nation needs jobs. And surprisingly, by creating public jobs the demand for products and services increases, and this in turn reduces and removes the need for public jobs. See the Philip Harvey report, below.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>These goals are simple, comprehensible and within reach. The national debt need not be increased, either through the FTT or the Stimulus Without Debt approach. All capable adults could find employment, needed public services and infrastructure would be upgraded, financial security for most would cease to be an unobtainable dream, working paycheck to paycheck would disappear, and families would find time for leisure and vacation. This is </span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> <span style="background-color: #660000;"> </span><b><span style="background-color: #660000; color: #f4cccc;">the View of the Future.</span></b><span style="background-color: #660000;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large; white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Additional reading: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">For public job creation see </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.cpegonline.org/">Chicago Political Economy Group</a>, Working Papers, and Reports</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/budget-analysis-congressional-progressive/">“A Better Off Budget”</a> from the Progressive Caucus of Congress, at EPI.org </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Philip Harvey, <a href="http://www.demos.org/sites/default/files/publications/Back_To_Work_Demos.pdf">Back to Work</a>: A Public Jobs Proposal for Economic Recovery</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Nouriel Roubini, et al, <a href="http://newamerica.net/sites/newamerica.net/files/policydocs/NAF--The_Way_Forward--Alpert_Hockett_Roubini.pdf">The Way Forward</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.americanprogressaction.org/events/2015/01/05/103823/an-action-plan-to-grow-the-paychecks-of-all-not-just-the-wealth-of-a-few/">Congressman Chris Van Hollen’s proposal</a> for a Financial Transaction Tax at The Center for American Progress</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">See also my web page, Economics Without Greed </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Thank you for reading. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Ben Leet </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">________________________________</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.nationofchange.org/2015/03/16/four-numbers-that-show-the-beating-down-of-middle-america/">Here's a recent example of Paul Buchheit's writing</a>, where he states,</span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">1 "138,000 Kids Were Homeless while 115,000 Households Were Each Making $10 Million Per Year.</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">2. The Average U.S. Household Pays $400 to Feed and Clothe Walmart, McDonalds, and Other Low-Wage Workers</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">3. As $30 Trillion in New Wealth was being Created, the Number of Kids on Food Stamps Increased 70%</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">4. Despite the Decline in Food Security, the Food Stamp Program was Cut by $8.6 Billion and the Money Paid to Corporate Agriculture"</span></b></div>
Ben Leethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14058357566482675649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047544383372645090.post-79502954621610624542015-03-21T20:55:00.003-07:002015-05-30T17:27:56.235-07:00The GOP Budget Proposal, March 2015<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The Republicans in the House and Senate presented their budget for the next 10 years. I hope here to clarify the main goals. First you can read my summary and then I explain a second time with a few details about the Progressive Caucus budget, also released this past week. The last deserves more discussion. One commenter said that she searched Google for articles and found five references for it, while the Republican plan got over 1,300. You can read the Progressive Caucus budget <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/the-peoples-budget-analysis-of-the-congressional-progressive-caucus-budget-for-fiscal-year-2016/">at this site</a>.<br />
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Hold the Presses.<br />
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;">The Best Summary and Advice Essay to Appear in Years </span></b><br />
can be found at the Economic Policy Institute, <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/how-to-raise-wages-policies-that-work-and-policies-that-dont/">here</a>, titled<br />
<b><span style="background-color: #20124d; color: yellow; font-size: large;"> "How to Raise Wages". </span></b><br />
Also look <a href="http://www.epi.org/pay/">here </a>for the rest of the program from EPI. The first one I linked to describes things to do as well as things to avoid; this is foundational to understanding how everything fits together. I found this one day ago, so it is new. It is not difficult reading; it shows the entire economic plight of our nation, in about 15 pages.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: blue;">Why the Republican budget plan is objectionable</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Because </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">1) It <a href="http://www.offthechartsblog.org/house-budget-chairs-priority-tax-cuts-for-well-to-do/">cuts the tax burden for the richest 1%</a> of households by about half. (Also <a href="http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3114">see here</a>.) This trickle down magic has not worked in the past. The 2000 to 2010 period brought the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-sum/ringing-out-the-old-year-_b_802711.html">slowest growth in 70 years</a>. The top-earning 1% managed to accrue over 50% of all growth during the past 3 decades. See <a href="http://stateofworkingamerica.org/who-gains/#/?start=1952&end=1953">here</a> and <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/raising-americas-pay/">here</a>. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"> </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #ead1dc;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 21px;">"</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 21px;">The top 1 percent of earners saw cumulative gains in annual wages of 153.6 percent between 1979 and 2012—far in excess of economy-wide productivity."</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">2) It is Robin Hood in reverse. To adjust for the loss of revenue due to the large tax cut to the richest, they eliminate government programs that serve the poorest. <a href="http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=4122">Two thirds of programs cuts</a> come from programs that serve the poor. (And see <a href="http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=5289">here</a>.) </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">3) It doesn’t balance. The revenue cuts are greater than the program cuts, so tax deductions called tax </span><span style="font-size: large;">expenditures must be eliminated. But the Republicans refuse to specify which deductions will </span><span style="font-size: large;">be abolished. “We’ll show you how later,” is their position. The CBO has stated that the national debt </span><span style="font-size: large;">would rise to 150% of GDP by 2050 as no new revenues compensate the net loss derived from the tax cuts. </span><span style="font-size: large;">While their main selling point is a balanced budget, their budget does not balance. At the CBPP its president <a href="http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=4115">stated last year</a>, </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">"</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #434749; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><b>No one should take seriously its claim to balance the budget in ten years."</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">4) Obamacare is repealed. In the past year 24.4 million American adults between ages 18 and 65 obtained health insurance coverage — either through the expansion of Medicaid or through subsidies towards health insurance or through being connected to their parents’ insurance plan until age 27. (<a href="http://obamacarefacts.com/2015/03/16/obamacare-enrollment-numbers-as-of-march-2015/">See the facts at Obamacare Facts.</a>) In 2012 47 million such adults had no insurance, so Obamacare has reduced that number in half. The Republican plan would eliminate that improvement. </span><span style="font-size: large;">The revenue funding that pays for the ACA coverage originates mostly from a surtax on high income households, </span><span style="font-size: large;">those whose incomes have tripled in the past 30 years. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">5) Social Security and Medicare will be substantially altered. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">6) It doesn’t address the economic needs of the nation. The chronic decline in wage income affecting </span><span style="font-size: large;">80% of workers who are non-supervisory employees would worsen. Their average weekly and annual income </span><span style="font-size: large;">has grown by 3% in the 50 years since 1964, while the nation’s per person disposable income and worker </span><span style="font-size: large;">productivity have increased by 155%. After-tax income, called disposable income, <a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/A229RX0A048NBEA">has increased by 177%</a> since 1964, average wages by 3%. The wealthiest have more than tripled their incomes. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Prosperity has left the majority of the nation behind. Rewarding the rich with tax cuts and ignoring the </span><span style="font-size: large;">needs of the lower-income majority is bad policy in the era of record high corporate profits and increasing inequality. (See the previous essay for a list of graphs from the Federal </span><span style="font-size: large;">Reserve making this point.) </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Some sources I draw upon are the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, the <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/budget/news/2015/03/18/109236/congressional-republican-leaders-claim-to-support-the-middle-class-but-their-budgets-only-work-for-the-wealthy-few/">Center for American Progress</a>, the <a href="http://ourfuture.org/20150319/a-moral-document-gop-budgets-again-target-social-security-medicare">Campaign for America’s Future</a> (and <a href="http://ourfuture.org/category/featured-stories/peoples-budget">here</a>), and the <a href="http://www.epi.org/">Economic Policy Institute </a>that has just released the 2016 budget proposal of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. The last source describes a different vision from the voodoo economics of the Republican plan. </span><br />
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________________________________________<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Here's <a href="https://beta.prx.org/stories/145839">a radio interview</a> that summarizes the budget issue, also at Between the Lines online . org. --- <a href="http://btlonline.org/">btlonline.org</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">An excellent comparison study comes from The <a href="https://www.nationalpriorities.org/blog/2015/03/20/competing-visions-what-budget-proposal-best-matches-americans-priorities/">National Priorities Project</a>. It compares four budget plans (Obama's, the Republican Senate and House plans, and The People's Budget) with a survey of popular priorities. <a href="https://www.nationalpriorities.org/analysis/2015/competing-visions-2015/">This link</a> takes you directly to the comparison. For example:</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">"<span style="font-family: Cambria, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6;">For example: 67% of Americans say improving the job situation is a key priority. Here's how each of the four major budget proposals tackles job creation:</span></span><br />
<ul style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Cambria, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; list-style-position: outside; margin: 0px 0px 1.25rem 1.5625rem; padding: 0px;">
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.6; list-style: circle; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">President Obama would invest $478 billion over six years into job creation initiatives.</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.6; list-style: circle; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">The House Budget includes no new funding for job creation.</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.6; list-style: circle; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">The Senate Budget includes no new funding for job creation.</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.6; list-style: circle; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">The Congressional Progressive Caucus would invest $1.3 trillion over 10 years in job creation initiatives."</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: circle; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 38px;">And an inspiring 12 minute <a href="https://www.nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/peoples-guide/" style="color: blue;">video about the national budget, here.</a></span></span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.6; list-style: circle; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">___________________________________</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.6; list-style: circle; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">___________________________________</li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: blue; color: yellow;">A second explanation:</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The economy generates about $73,000 of income per worker per year. (This $73,000 figure comes from <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/49440#title2">this report</a>, page 2. I converted average income for all households, $93,900 before tax income, into the average for all workers, $73,000.) Yet half of U.S. workers earn less than $28,031 a year according to <a href="http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2013">the Social Security Administration</a>. <b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: blue;">Half of U.S. workers earn in annual wage income less than 8% of the national income</span></b> -- you can add the amounts from the SSA report and divide by the national income amount obtained here: BEA.gov (personal income). The $73,000 figure derives from this <a href="http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/49440-Distribution-of-Income-and-Taxes.pdf">CBO report on income for 2011</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">The national debt is <b>not the problem</b>. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Distribution of income and wealth <b>is our problem</b>. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Without healthy growth, the federal debt problem is hopeless, absolutely beyond help. Healthy growth involves re-employment, and the economy must grow employment directly through direct government job creation, and finance that by a Fed/Congress "dual-mandate transfer" as recommended by</span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Lawrence Seidman's "<a href="http://www.lerner.udel.edu/sites/default/files/ECON/PDFs/RePEc/dlw/WorkingPapers/2014/UDWP2014-01.pdf">Stimulus Without Debt</a>" proposal. </span><span style="font-size: large;">(Read the essay that is linked. Seidman is a professor of economics at University of Delaware. I'll write more about this in future posts.) To fund the employment of millions we need not resort to either borrowing (and more government debt) or raising taxes. We may fund the program without risk of higher inflation through a joint process with the Congress and the Federal Reserve of "direct money creation" to fund the program, what Seidman calls a "dual-mandate transfer", involving Congress and the Fed. This argument in the coming years will reeducate us all on the possibilities of managing the economy. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">This is similar to the <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/the-peoples-budget-analysis-of-the-congressional-progressive-caucus-budget-for-fiscal-year-2016/">Congressional Progressive Caucus budget</a> that would directly employ the under- and unemployed. Direct job creation has been shown to be 10 to 20 times more effective than a tax cut at getting money into the economy. The Bush era tax cut resulted in the slowest 10 year growth period in 70 years. Direct jobs provides more employment per dollar spending. Since 1964, 51 years ago, non-supervisory workers have increased by 3% their average weekly wage income while the economy has grown by 155% per person. Prosperity has by-passed lower-paid workers. Wages have been frozen while the top 1% of households has tripled its income. The 3% figure comes from the Federal Reserve, </span><a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CES0500000030">http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CES0500000030</a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The GOP budget cuts the highest income tax rate from over 40% to 25%. It also reduces taxes on capital income, and all in all reduces the burden by half. In short, the top-earning one percent minority tripled their incomes and now the GOP reduces their taxes by about half. This GOP budget reduces all federal expenditures (excluding Social Security) by about 20%, and this means that programs serving the poor are reduced by about 25%; two-thirds of the program cuts come out of programs serving the poor <a href="http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=5289">according to the CBPP.org</a>. Medicaid will be cut by 26%. But the budget still does not balance, and they plan to cut some tax deductions, but they refuse to specify which will be cut. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: orange; font-size: large;"><b><span style="background-color: black;">The plan is Robin Hood in Reverse.</span></b> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Healing the economy will involve revamping income distribution more equitably. Here's an example of this imperative need, the <a href="http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/table-3-inequality-adjusted-human-development-index">United Nations' Human Development Index Adjusted for Inequality</a>. Note that the <b><span style="background-color: blue; color: yellow;">U.S. is ranked #5 before adjusting for inequality, and then drops 23 places to #28 after adjusting.</span></b> Then look at the Gini Coefficient, 40.8, in comparison with other countries, and look at the "Inequality of Income" column (fifth from the right), and compare, again, with other countries. Iran is the only country among 184 countries that exceeds the drop of 23 places; Iran drops 34 places. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Another <a href="http://www.oecd.org/els/soc/49499779.pdf">study, by the OECD</a> (page 23), shows that in 33 years, 1995 to 2008, annual income in the U.S. increased by 0.9 overall, but the lowest 10% increased their income by 0.1%, the highest 10% by 1.5%. And comparing (on the final page of the report) the ratio between the 20th percentile and the 80th, the "Inter-quintile share ratio 20/80", <b style="background-color: yellow;">shows among 34 nations </b><span style="background-color: yellow;"><b>the U.S. tied with Israel for 3rd worst place, only Turkey and Mexico being more unequal</b></span>. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Greater income equality will in turn help re-employ <b style="background-color: #c27ba0;">those who want full-time work, about 20 million workers.</b> This assertion is open to argument, but the main issue is whether the economy is meant to serve the society or the other way around, society and humans are meant to serve, fit in, and submit to the capricious demands of the capitalist economy that serves the most avaricious who live in the society; and that wages should be a race to the bottom so as to promote greater profits. It is a subject worthy of debate. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">There are also about 12% (or 18 million) who work full-time and year-round for less than poverty wages. In all, <span style="background-color: yellow;"><b>about 25% of the work force are either 1) unemployed, 2) under-employed, 3) dropped-out and discouraged, or 4) working full-time year-round for poverty wages --- 25%, or 40 million out of 160 million.</b></span> (see the link to <a href="http://njfac.org/employment">njfac.org/employment</a> below) About 80% (or 128 million) are poorly payed. Remember that $73,000 is near the average worker income for all 160 million in the workforce, which includes all unemployed, under-employed, partial year, dropped out and discouraged workers. Half the workers earn less than $28,031 and less than 8% of total income. Multiplying $73,000 by 160 million yields $11.6 trillion, while total national income is almost $13 trillion. (See <a href="https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4568">Joint Committee on Taxation</a>, page 30) So the $73,000 average income figure is likely below actual average income. Full employment, or jobs for all, will raise the wage income of all employees and better achieve fair distribution of total income. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Healing this economy will take major reforms, and it will require massive citizen involvement, and reconceptualizing basics ideas about how to make the economy the servant not the master will take precedence. It will take decades. The GOP budget is a diversion from real improvements that must be done, and it appears to be fraudulent in that its principal aim is to enrich the wealthiest (who are campaign donors). Make the wealthy even wealthier is the main objective, don't be fooled. Its victims are the poorest who are elderly, disabled and children. It is confusing because they are afraid that you, the citizen, might understand it. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The <a href="http://www.njfac.org/">National Jobs for All Coalition</a> (njfac.org)identifies the unemployment numbers I cite here, and it proposes full employment plans. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">______________________________</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The other posts below are helpful to fill out the story of the economy and I recommend them. </span><br />
<br /></div>
Ben Leethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14058357566482675649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047544383372645090.post-91144250613078061992015-02-16T18:14:00.004-08:002015-04-17T13:56:19.666-07:00Where did $25 Trillion Go?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;"><b>Where is that $25 Trillion?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">The private wealth of the nation increased by $25 trillion since 2008. Did you get some of it?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">OK, it was only $24.8 trillion. Where did it go? <a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1.pdf">See the Federal Reserve report here, page 2.</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">(How this relates to <b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: #990000;">the Ryan-Republican budget plan</span></b> follows below this discussion of $25 trillion.) </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">How much is $24.8 trillion created over a six year period? It is $77,500 per citizen or </span><b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: blue; font-size: x-large;">$200,000 per household</span></b><span style="font-size: large;"> <b><span style="color: blue;">of new or additional wealth</span></b>. (Divide $24.8 trillion by 320 million citizens). That's how much </span><b style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #990000;">more</span></b><span style="font-size: large;"> wealth each American has since 2008. Every family of four will have $315,000 </span><b style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #990000;">more</span></b><span style="font-size: large;"> savings since 2008 to add to their previous savings. Now the <b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: blue;">average family has almost $700,000 in total assets</span></b>, not bad is it? It is a gain in national wealth of over 44% since 2008 while most families were struggling with declining home values, unemployment, loss of wages, and the worst economic collapse in 75 years. The </span><b style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #990000;">per capita GDP between 2006 and 2012 increased by all of $3</span></b><span style="font-size: large;">, from $48,905 to $48,908 (</span><a href="http://www.measuringworth.com/datasets/usgdp/result.php" style="font-size: x-large;">see this site to check</a><span style="font-size: large;">). The national income, a composite of everyone's income, declined in 2008 for only the second time since 1933. But wealth began to skyrocket -- check the Federal Reserve report cited above. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Now the average wealth per human being in the U.S. is $254,000, and each household has $676,000 in savings, on average. But, in actual fact, only about 10% are average or above. Most of the $25 trillion went to just 5% of the households. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The lower-saving 50% -- half of America -- own just 1.1% of all savings (<a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/confirming-redistribution-wealth-upward/">see here</a>) and their average savings is below $14,000, not the average for all of $676,000. Inequality is the structural problem of our nation's economy, and our society. We must ask, does this affect the life opportunities of everyone, including the reader? Are we all poorer as a result of such extreme inequality? Is there an immense and immoral human suffering because many have <b><span style="color: #990000;">NO access and many have little access</span></b> to the immense resources that the nation possesses? </span><span style="font-size: large;">Are </span><span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;"><b>we</b></span><span style="font-size: large;"> ignorant, heedless, or uncaring that we allow this distribution of resources to remain so one-sided. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I have difficulty explaining the economy. My friends and those I share my concerns with do not get it. The economy's main problem is that the immense "surplus" has not been shared adequately; the poor receive too little for their contributions, and the very wealthy seemingly hog most of the surplus. The result is a horrible distribution of total wealth that is beyond moral justification. Yet the most vociferous among us are silent, as though they must ignore this stupendous inequality. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Together the economy is a collective effort, but 40% of the workers only receive 4% of the annual income in wage income, check out the <a href="http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2013">Social Security Administration's report</a> on wage income. The annual surplus, which we call savings, profit, net worth, more-than-we-need-to-use-this-year, mostly goes to waste in excess savings of the very wealthiest. In order to save $25 trillion over a six year period when total output was around $90 trillion, some 28% of the output had to be saved. How else can one explain a gain of $25 trillion? (25 is 28% of 90) And during this period most were experiencing crushing wage decline, job loss, and housing value collapse. The median family lost 39% of its life savings according to the <a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/bulletin/2012/pdf/scf12.pdf">Federal Reserve</a> (see page 2 and page 17), a drop from $124,000 to $77,000. But the national increase in net worth resulted from a splurge of wealth pouring into capital markets inflating financial assets, creating a bubble condition. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">The new $24.8 trillion of savings increases each household's savings by </span><span style="font-size: large;"> $200,000, on average. Or $101,000 per adult. How many readers actually experienced this gain? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">In contrast, about 47 million out of about 320 million Americans (about 1 in 7) cannot buy their food with money, instead they rely on the charity of food stamps (or its equivalent SNAP credits). They get $1.40 per meal, </span><span style="font-size: large;">or $30.05 per week or</span><span style="font-size: large;"> $130 per month. What is a normal food expenditure per household? Let's look to the basic <a href="http://www.epi.org/resources/budget/">family budget analyzed by the EPI</a>. It is $188.50 per month per person, or $43.50 per week per person, for a family living in Topeka, Kansas, the median expense location in the nation. The SNAP food budget is almost a third less than the basic frugal food budget. Instead of three meals a day, maybe food stamp recipients eat just two meals daily? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">As a nation are we concerned about those one in seven American citizens, 47 million humans, who must rely on that $30 a week for food? How do we explain this failure in the wealthiest nation on the planet? Are these Americans stuck in a state of dependency on the government? Or is there a structural reason for their poverty, such as perhaps chronically low wages and inadequate job opportunities? </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Lawrence Mishel published <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/23/opinion/even-better-than-a-tax-cut.html?emc=eta1&_r=1">in the New York Times</a> an op-ed that targets low wages as the primary source of the economy's troubles. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Here's an excerpt:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">WASHINGTON — WITH the early stages of the 2016 presidential campaign underway and millions of Americans still hurting financially, both parties are looking for ways to address wage stagnation. That’s the good news. The bad news is that both parties are offering tax cuts as a solution. What has hurt workers’ paychecks is not what the government takes out, but what their employers no longer put in — a dynamic that tax cuts cannot eliminate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Wage stagnation is a decades-long phenomenon. Between 1979 and 2014, while the gross domestic product grew 150 percent and productivity grew 75 percent, the inflation-adjusted hourly wage of the median worker rose just 5.6 percent — less than 0.2 percent a year. And since 2002, the bottom 80 percent of wage earners, including both male and female college graduates, have actually seen their wages stagnate or fall."</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">There is an solution, a way to reverse the trend. Briefly, you can go to <a href="http://other98.com/bernie-sanders-12-commandments-save-americas-soul/">Bernie Sanders' statement</a> on the 12 proposals to turn the national economy in the correct direction. Or you can read on further in this blog, or review the blog list to the right here, particularly the EPI and its <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/budget-analysis-congressional-progressive/">proposal of the Progressive Caucus budget</a>. Sample idea: "</span><br />
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<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-image: url(http://s1.epi.org/wp-content/themes/epi/img/list-maroon-8px.gif); list-style-type: square; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 0em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Make necessary public investments</b>. The [P C] budget finances roughly $485 billion in job creation and public investment measures in calendar year 2014 alone and roughly $1.35 trillion over calendar years 2014–2016.<span class="footnote-id-ref" data-note_number="3" id="_ref3" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 0; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/budget-analysis-congressional-progressive/#_note3" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #800030; font-weight: bold; line-height: 0; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">3</a></span> This fiscal expansion is consistent with the amount of fiscal support needed to rapidly shrink the “output gap” and restore the economy to full health.</span></li>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The economic solution lies in taxing the unused surplus that the wealthiest have coopted and waste in financial speculation and employ at a living wage in public jobs the capable but un-employed and under-employed and under-paid, which is about one in every four adult American workers -- </span><b><span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;">one in four</span></b><span style="font-size: large;"> (I explain this 1 in 4 in the most recent posts. It is over 40 million workers.). Yes, we can be proud of our history, our heritage, our patriots, etc., but surely we can do better. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I could go on in detail about the means to spread prosperity, to spread the vast resources at hand, to spread the amazing $254,000 per citizen of personal savings or the near $700,000 per household savings, on average. Easily we all could have access to living wage employment. The CBO shows that the average market income per household is $93,900 per year (<a href="https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/49440-Distribution-of-Income-and-Taxes.pdf">see page 2, here</a>), and that translates into $72,000 per worker (on average) including all the unemployed workers. Each worker, even the unemployed and the part-timers, contribute $72,000 to the total national income. Yet 40% of all workers earn less than $20,000 a year and most of that 40% earn less than half that amount. The average wage income for the 40% (or 62 million workers) is just over $8,000 a year -- not $72,000. We could easily devise a way to share more equally these resources -- a true ownership society. (I explained this in a recent posting.) Figure it out, reader. We have plenty --- $81 trillions in savings, and over $12.7 trillion in annual income, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation, and $14 trillion according to the BEA.gov --- but millions are destitute and suffering, truly suffering. About <a href="http://scorecard.assetsandopportunity.org/2013/measure/liquid-asset-poverty-rate">44% of citizens </a>live in households where a $1,000 emergency expense is a disaster. And <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/01/27/despite-recovery-fewer-americans-identify-as-middle-class/">40% of the adults self-identify</a> as "lower or lower middle class". Soon the majority will self-identify as poor. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Most citizens are sleeping. We should be clamoring for real redistribution of resources. But the society is adrift, tragically unconcerned or unperplexed, often caught in a dog-eat-dog mentality, and cannot see its great potential. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Wikipedia's article on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_inequality_in_the_United_States">Income Inequality in the U.S.</a> is an excellent and detailed reference that covers the full scope of the issue. It's an example of the power of "wiki". I highly recommend it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I looked at the <a href="http://s2.epi.org/files/2012/ib339-us-poverty-higher-safety-net-weaker.pdf">EPI article on international comparisons</a> of "safety net" support for the poor, also an excellent reference. It concludes that the U.S. has a greater differential from low to middle to high incomes, and it also supports low income the least. I'm not convinced the report proves the last statement.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The U.S. Census finds that 48% of citizens are low-income or poor, from <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/15/census-shows-1-in-2-peopl_1_n_1150128.html">an article at Huffington Post</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Pew Research finds that 69% of Americans believe that government should do more to reduce inequality. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: yellow;">The Ryan-Republican Budget Plan</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The Ryan budget, which is supported by all Republicans, would reduce by half the taxes on the wealthiest who earn more than $400,000 a year, and raise taxes by $788 on households earning $40,000 (<a href="http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=3114">see here</a>, page 2 and 5). Tax increases would be served to three out of four Americans. Halving the tax rate on the wealthiest is hare-brained, to say the least, given that <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/income-inequality-by-state-1917-to-2012/">research shows</a> that in the 28 years, 1979 to 2007, the <b><span style="color: #990000;">top one percent has</span></b> <b><span style="color: #990000;">increased its income by 200%</span></b> (a tripling) while the <b><span style="color: #990000;">average weekly earnings of the lower 80% of earners has</span></b> <b><span style="color: #990000;">decreased by 2%</span></b>(see here, <a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CES0500000030">Federal Reserve chart</a> and convert for inflation, <a href="http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm">using this site</a>).</span><span style="font-size: large;">The per capita GDP expanded by 72% in this 28 year period, </span><a href="http://www.measuringworth.com/datasets/usgdp/result.php"><span style="font-size: large;">see here. </span></a><span style="font-size: large;">An excerpt from </span><a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/income-inequality-by-state-1917-to-2012/"><span style="font-size: large;">the cited report</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><b>"The average inflation-adjusted income of the bottom 99 percent of taxpayers grew by 18.9 percent between 1979 and 2007. Over the same period, the average income of the top 1 percent of taxpayers grew by 200.5 percent. This lopsided income growth means that the top 1 percent of taxpayers captured 53.9 percent of all income growth over the period."</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">An <a href="http://www.epi.org/multimedia/unequal-states-interactive/#/United%20States">updated report shows</a> that between 1979 and 2012 households in the lower 99% had 2.6% income growth and the top 1% had 180.9% growth. Does this mean its time to cut the taxes of the 1%? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">According to Ryan and the Republicans, yes.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Ryan's budget would cut total tax revenues by 22% to 28%, and to compensate for the drop in revenue it would eliminate government programs serving the poor. About 69% of the cuts in program benefits eliminate serves to the poor elderly, the poor disabled, and poor children --- the politically defenseless. <a href="http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=4122">Read the report</a>. The Tax Policy Institute predicts that since no new revenues are specified the national debt would climb from around 60% of GDP to 175% by year 2050. Ryan's budget would totally eliminate Medicaid, it would convert Medicare to a poorly funded voucher system, and it would privatize Social Security as well as raise the retirement age to 69. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I'll write a more detailed analysis someday. References for the above info can be found <a href="http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=4120">here</a>, and <a href="http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=3453">here</a> and <a href="http://www.offthechartsblog.org/the-ryan-budgets-skewed-tax-cuts/">here</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Here's an income perspective from <a href="https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4568">the Joint Committee on Taxation, 2014</a>, see page 30:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The wealthiest 5.2% of tax filers, earning over $200,000 yearly, earn 32.3% of all income, pay 70.0% of all income taxes, and 46.7% of all combined income and Social Security taxes. Most of Ryan's tax cuts would benefit the top-earning 5 percent. The fact that they earn almost a third of all income, own 75% of all financial assets, and more than half of all wealth -- that's the status quo that is anti-democratic and harmful. The Ryan Budget is a pay-off to the rich (campaign contributors) who make most of the campaign contributions. Two-thirds of all contributions came in amounts greater than $200 from just 0.5% of all U.S. adults -- <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/bigpicture/donordemographics.php?cycle=2012">see here</a>. The wealthiest exclude, effectively, any candidate who would raise their taxes and reward those who would cut them in half. The Ryan budget is also an insult to intelligence, as it does not balance out as the proponents claim. It is Robin Hood in Reverse. </span><br />
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Ben Leethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14058357566482675649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047544383372645090.post-25239837124199880892014-12-03T15:04:00.001-08:002015-02-27T18:24:16.719-08:00Two Stories -- Obamacare Results, and Unemployment Demographics<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><br /><img src="http://bluecanyonproductions.com/images/HealthCareHoller-Cartoon2.gif" height="385" width="510" /></b></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I present </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;"><b>two stories</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> today: <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Obamacare results, to date</span></b>, and E/P, the <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Employment to Population story</span></b>. The second is for nut-cases like me who can't quite unravel the mystery of the decline in the share of adults who are employed. The official versions are unconvincing, and here is an argument why. But first, </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Here's some info about the Obamacare, or ACA, that relies on this <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/29/upshot/obamacare-who-was-helped-most.html?_r=1&abt=0002&abg=1">New York Times article</a>, "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Obama's Health Law: Who Was Helped Most</span>", and several other sources. I live in Mariposa County, so it is addressed to my neighbors, but not exclusively.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">In Mariposa County the percentage of people without health insurance dropped from <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">18%</span></b> in 2013 to <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">10%</span></b> in 2014, according to the New York Times article of October 29, 2014.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The article begins, </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"We know that about <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">10 million </span></b>more people have insurance coverage this year as a result of the Affordable Care Act." The national picture improved from <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: yellow; color: #990000;">16.4%</span></b> not covered to <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: yellow; color: #990000;">11.3%</span></b>, which also represents <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">32 million and 22 million</span>, respectively. The NYTimes article continues, "The areas with the largest increases in the health insurance rate, for example, include rural Arkansas and Nevada; southern Texas; large swaths of New Mexico, Kentucky and West Virginia; and much of inland California and Oregon."</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Unlike poor American children, poor American adults, age 18 to 65, do not automatically qualify for Medicaid support; each state determines their eligibility according to annual income. But Obamacare, or ACA, replaces the state limits and covers all adults whose incomes fall below 138% of the federal poverty threshold. But states must opt to expand Medicaid coverage, the additional costs are 90% covered by the federal government. <a href="https://www.statereforum.org/Medicaid-Expansion-Decisions-Map?gclid=Cj0KEQiAhvujBRDUpomG5cq_mI0BEiQA7TYq-ki5yNYb-RMtuo79MUfAAWpUidZu1yXcMaS33xhZeOIaAjGC8P8HAQ">Here's a map of all states</a> showing the 22 that rejected Obamacare, the 5 that have a hybrid plan, and the 23 that expanded. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The biggest winners due to Obamacare are ethnic African Americans and Hispanic Americans. The graph at the bottom of the NYTimes article shows nationally, state-by-state, the areas where lack of health insurance is both highest and lowest. The majority of Southern states, most of whom rejected Obamacare expansion, still have greater than 16% of their adult populations without coverage. The states with Medicaid expansion comprised 68% of all enrollees, and those that rejected it comprised 32% (according to <a href="http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/2014/MarketPlaceEnrollment/Apr2014/ib_2014apr_enrollment.pdf">this HHS report, page 5</a>, April 2014. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">California reduced its rate of uninsured from 22% to 11%, according to <a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/healthcare/la-fi-health-law-uninsured-california-obamacare-20140709-story.html">this LATimes article</a>, </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The article also states: "Texas, which didn't expand Medicaid, saw its uninsured rate among adults fall from 34% to 22%. Florida saw a smaller decline, from 30% to 26%." States in the South have the highest percentage of employees earning the minimum wage: Texas 6.4% vs. California 1.3%, and the median hourly earnings vary accordingly, Texas $11.99 an hour, California $13.11. <a href="http://www.governing.com/gov-data/economy-finance/minimum-wage-workers-by-state-statistics-2013-totals.html">See this report</a>.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">To read an article about different states' decisions to expand or not Medicaid to poor adults, you can<a href="http://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/resources/primers/medicaidmap"> read this article</a>. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">In Texas, a couple earning more than $4,900 a year is excluded from Medicaid. In Minnesota, adults in families with over $40,000 still qualify for Medicaid. And the Texas legislature and governor rejected Obamacare expansion, along with 22 other states, which would have increased eligibility to an income equal to 138% of the federal poverty level, or $27,310 for a family of three. <a href="http://prospect.org/article/cruelty-republican-states-one-chart">See a table chart</a> of other states, mostly in the South, that rejected Medicaid expansion, and the maximum income exclusions still in place excluding about 4 million adults from health insurance. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Here's <a href="http://kff.org/health-reform/issue-brief/the-coverage-gap-uninsured-poor-adults-in-states-that-do-not-expand-medicaid-an-update/">an illustration from the Kaiser Family Foundation</a>: </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://kaiserfamilyfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/8659-figure-1.png" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #0990d1; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><img alt="In states that do not expand Medicaid under the ACA, there will be large gaps in coverage available for adults. " class="size-kaiser-slide wp-image-134124" src="https://kaiserfamilyfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/8659-figure-1.png?w=735&h=551&crop=1" style="border: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></a></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Figure 1: In states that do not expand Medicaid under the ACA, there will be large gaps in coverage available for adults.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">How We Treat the Poorest</span></b></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">In Texas, for instance, a couple with an income over $4,900 per year is denied Medicaid, but in the above chart the "Median (for all states) Medicaid Eligibility Limits" is $9,900 for a family of three. Adults in families earning between $9,900 (or above $4,900 in Texas, or $9,393 in Georgia, or $4,699 Alabama) and $27,186 are denied Medicaid coverage. The article also states, "</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">and in nearly all states not expanding, <b>childless adults will remain ineligible</b></span>."</span></span><sup style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0990d1; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: relative; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; top: -5px; vertical-align: top; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a class="footnote-link" href="http://kff.org/health-reform/issue-brief/the-coverage-gap-uninsured-poor-adults-in-states-that-do-not-expand-medicaid-an-update/view/footnotes/#footnote-134093-2" id="endnote_link_134093-2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0990d1; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" title="Of the states not moving forward with the expansion, only Wisconsin provides full Medicaid coverage to adults without dependent children as of 2014."><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">2</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">" </span></sup><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">This KFF article (linked above) states that 4 million adults fall into this "coverage gap" and 86% of them are in the South, and 2/3rds are working adults</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></b></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></b></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">The Cost of Medical Insurance in the U.S. </span></b> </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">From the <a href="http://www.milliman.com/uploadedFiles/insight/Periodicals/mmi/pdfs/2014-mmi.pdf">Milliman Medical Index report</a>: </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Executive Summary</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: yellow;">$23,215</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">. That's how much is spent in 2014 on healthcare for a typical American family of four covered by an average employer-sponsored health plan according to the 2014 Milliman Medical Index (MMI). And yet while the amount has more than doubled over the past 10 years, growing from $11,192 to $23,215, the 5.4% growth rate from 2013 to 2014 is the lowest annual change since the MMI was first calculated in 2002. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">According to the <a href="http://www.epi.org/resources/budget/">Family Budget Calculator at EPI.org</a>, the cost of "health care" in the median-priced locale in the U.S., which happened to be Topeka, Kansas, in 2013, was </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: yellow;">$16,104</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> for a family of four, or 25% of their basic, frugal budget. The FBC says in "Rural" California the cost is $17,928 or 28% of the annual budget, and in Madera County it is 16,992 or 27%. I suggest the reader play around with this family budget calculator, it's fun. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">2013 Costs: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: yellow; font-size: x-large;">$9,255</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> per person in the U.S</span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">This NYTimes article, Dec 7, 2014, states, "</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #ffd966; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 23px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Spending on health care in the United States grew in 2013 at the lowest rate since the federal government began tracking it in 1960, the Obama administration said Wednesday."</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">That is still 17% of GDP. The graph shows that healthcare has risen by 15.6% in the past 6 years, and over the same period median household income has been down from 7% to10% of its 2008 high. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><b>An expanded <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/27/us/is-the-affordable-care-act-working.html#/">New York Times article</a></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"> answers 7 major questions</span></b>. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">A <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/27/us/affordable-care-act-personal-stories.html#joanna-james">companion story tells</a> the story of a 27 year old woman in 2008 who develops extensive numbness, weakness and fatigue. Her symptoms disappear, but as a result she is denied insurance because of this pre-existing condition. Later her problems resurface and she is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She obtains coverage through the ACA in January 2014 and runs up a medical bill for $65,000 but her monthly premium stays at $66 a month. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 23px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-size: large;">“It’s great coverage,’’ she said. “It’s affordable for me. It has changed the trajectory of my life for the next 10 years. I feel very, very blessed.’’</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><b>Individual Enrollees Plan</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">About the 7% of ACA enrollees who purchase individual plans, this <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anthony-w-orlando/finally-someone-explains-_b_5574329.html">article is enlightening</a>: </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">From the article: </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"Last month the government announced that 87 percent of shoppers received a subsidy on the federal exchange, bringing their average monthly premium down from $346 to only $82!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">That's a 76-percent reduction, and it more than makes up for the 14- to 28-percent premium increase, which may not be much of an increase after all if you include people who didn't buy insurance in the past.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Bottom line: On average, Obamacare clearly lowered the cost of health insurance.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Sure, some people will pay higher rates, but you have to remember that those people only paid low rates in the past because insurers were discriminating against sick people. The new market is much fairer and more affordable for more people -- a fact that you might want to point out to Republicans on the campaign trail this fall."</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><b>High Cost and Poor Results of U.S. Medical Services</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">No conversation about health costs is complete without the following comparisons: See <a href="http://www.oecd.org/unitedstates/49084355.pdf">this report from the OECD</a>. Average costs for U.S. citizens is almost $8,000 a year, in the rest of the developed nations it is around $3,200. We spend over 17% of GDP on health, others spend 9.6%. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">It is past time to institute what all others have, a comprehensive system that limits expenses. We are wasting our incomes on exorbitant costs that other people have learned to control. Our system does not work well. Out of eleven nations we rank last, <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/danmunro/2014/06/16/u-s-healthcare-ranked-dead-last-compared-to-10-other-countries/">see this report</a> or this <a href="http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/fund-reports/2014/jun/mirror-mirror">Common Wealth Fund report</a>. Or <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-care/were-no-26-us-below-average-most-health-measures-f2D11635080">this article</a> citing an OECD study of 26 nations. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">We spend double and our results are the worst !</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><a class="irc_mil" data-ved="0CAcQjRw" href="http://www.globalgiants.com/archives/food_health_beverages/index4.html" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #f1f1f1; border: 0px; color: #660099; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><img class="irc_mi" src="http://www.globalgiants.com/archives/fotos/AUSTIN-COLLEGE-PAUL-FARMER.jpg" height="345" style="-webkit-background-size: 21px; -webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; background-color: white; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), -webkit-linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; background-size: 21px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; margin-top: 50px;" width="450" /></a></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;"><b>Employment to Population, </b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;"><b> a nuanced report </b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: yellow;">25.1% of U.S. workers</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> are out-of-luck, about 41 million adults. The out-of-luck rate includes those who are <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><b>unemployed</b></span>, plus the <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">under-employed</span></b> involuntary part-timers, plus "<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">working-full-time-but-still-in-poverty" employed</span></b> -- and the rate is 25.1%, according<a href="http://njfac.org/jobnews.html"> to the NJFAC.org</a>. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">(Find similar figures at this site: <a href="http://www.cepr.net/index.php/events/events/bipartisan-briefing-modernizing-americas-unemployment-rate?utm_source=CEPR+feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+cepr+%28CEPR%29">click here.</a>) </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">That means 13.8% are unemployed or underemployed and another 11.3% are working full-time and year-round for wages less than the poverty level for a four-person family, <a href="http://www.njfac.org/jobnews.html">see here</a>. Personal income for every citizen (babies, infants, toddlers, children, teen-agers, adults, seniors, everyone) after paying federal taxes is over $40,000 according to the BEA.gov. And average household income is above $95,000 according to the recent CBO report on income distribution in 2011. This means only 23% of Americans are average, 77% are below average (<a href="http://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2014/demo/p60-249.pdf">see here</a>, page 23). But still, incredibly, a quarter of workers are getting shafted, and half are making less than $28,031 per year in wages. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">As I've pointed many times, <a href="http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2013">the Social Security Administration shows</a> that the wage income of half of U.S. workers is 7.9% of total U.S. personal income. Workers are inadequately paid in this country. The recent <a href="http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/49440-Distribution-of-Income-and-Taxes.pdf">CBO report</a> (page 26) on income distribution in 2011 places the Gini coefficient of inequality at 0.59, which is high. A comparison of the U.S. with other countries is found here at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_equality#Gini_coefficient.2C_before_taxes_and_transfers">Wikipedia</a>, we compare unfavorably with other developed countries. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">On December 11, 2014 the Chicago Political Economy Group, CPEG, issued their report on the Unemployment report. This graph below shows in simplest form the conclusion. <a href="http://www.cpegonline.org/2014/12/11/commentary-on-the-november-2014-bls-jobs-report/">Be sure to read the report</a> as well. It is the most reasonable report I've read. </span><br />
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<a href="http://www.cpegonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/NOV2014-2.png" style="border: 0px; color: #213d86; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="NOV2014-2" class="aligncenter wp-image-599" src="http://www.cpegonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/NOV2014-2.png" height="319" scale="0" style="border: none; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; margin: 10px auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="500" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Here's how I interpret the graph: We had the largest collapse of jobs since the 1930s, note that the E/P, the employment to population ratio, dropped by more than double all other recessions. And the important part for today, it's only half way recovered. The graph's creators factored into it the demographics of age cohorts -- something I do not understand completely, but the St. Louis Fed has lots of data on this, as well as the U.S. Census. I think we have a 40% recovery just looking at the E/P for the age 25 to 54 group, and a 20% recovery looking at the "all groups" E/P. But the demographics are that the imaginary bucket had a hole in the bottom as well as a flow-line at the top, and the hole enlarged while the flow-line constricted a little, the net result is a demographically adjusted interpretation of the E/P ratio. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><b>We have half a recovery</b></span> after 5 and a half years, according to the above graph, but the impact of the recession was double the impact of all other recessions. That's simple and accurate. Whatever more I've written, below, you might as well ignore. But it is an exercise in this topic. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I used think that we could substitute the E/P ratios for 2007 or January 2000 and use them as benchmarks. If we did that, then today's U3 unemployment would be 11.2% or 13.0%, respectively. I used to think that there was a hidden demand for work not captured by the BLS figures. But apparently, but not fully convincingly, the demographics matter, there is no hidden army of workers, they have aged-out. But the U3 employment is close to 9% I would guess -- a true recession. At EPI.org, <a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/recovery-turns/">see link here,</a> Heidi Sheirholz said, July 3, 2014, that the U3 would be 9.6% if "missing workers" were reinserted into the workforce. So today December 2014 it would be 9.2%, according to me and this expert.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Recession -- does this meet the specs? </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: yellow; color: blue;">And 25.1% -- the out-of-luck rate.</span> Like a depression. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;"><b>__________________________________</b></span></div>
<b style="color: #990000; font-size: xx-large;">Why Did the Employment to Population Ratio Drop by 5% between 2008 and 2010, from about 80% to 75%, among the group 25 to 54 Years Old?</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px;"><table bgcolor="#DDDDDD" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #dddddd; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; width: 1072px;"><tbody>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Best to look at this chart at St. Louis Fed:<a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?id=LREM25TTUSM156S"> click here</a>. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The CBO and the OECD say the retirement of Baby Boomers accounted for half of this drop. The FRB of Atlanta says 1/4 was the cause of retirement. The EPI.org says 1/3. Who is correct? </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The graph below shows the decline for all citizens over 16 active in the labor force, the LFPR, the participation rate, between 1999 and 2013. To view the Federal Reserve, Atlanta <a href="https://www.frbatlanta.org/chcs/LaborForceParticipation">report, see here.</a> </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><img src="http://data.bls.gov/generated_files/graphics/latest_numbers_LNS12300000_1999_2014_all_period_M10_data.gif" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 14.578125px; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The above is the Employment to Population chart for everyone in the Civilian Non-Institutional Population, or those age 16 and above (<a href="http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS12300000">from the BLS)</a>. Then, below, just for those age 25 to 54: </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14.578125px;"><img src="http://data.bls.gov/generated_files/graphics/latest_numbers_LNS12300060_1999_2014_all_period_M10_data.gif" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 14.578125px; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, clean, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">According to the chart at Atlanta Fed, the age 25 to 54 group, comprises 51% of the CNP, and their participation rate is much higher than that of the full CNP, around 81% instead of around 60% for the full population. The age 25 to 54 group has recovered about 35% of its loss since 2007, and only 27% of its loss since April 2000. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;"><b>I call this a 35% Recovery.</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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Employment</span></h1>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Employment-to-Population Ratio, SA (Seasonally Adjusted), 16+ non-institutionalized population, is the ratio of the number of employed persons to the number of 16+ non-institutionalized population, times 100.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey (CPS).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">This Employment to Population chart comes from FRB New York, <a href="http://www.newyorkfed.org/labor-conditions/">see here</a>. It places the total population E/P at 59.01% which is just 20% above the drop-off since 2007, a 20% recovery. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">And from April 2000, when unemployment hit 3.8%, the recovery is only a 14% recovery. But due to demographic shifts, the above 35% recovery is more accurate. I wish I had never looked into this issue, it's too confusing, but that's the best I can do! </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I recommend readers go to the FRB Atlanta site and explore their reasons, and then read this report by Michael Cassidy, "<a href="http://apps.tcf.org/uncovering-the-labor-market-recovery">Uncovering the Labor Market Recovery</a>", at The Century Foundation, plus <a href="http://www.usnews.com/opinion/economic-intelligence/2014/11/12/the-unemployment-rate-leaves-the-underemployed-invisible">this article by Cassidy</a>. He writes clearly and adds the human touch to this dry story. At the end of the first report he shows that wage income as a percentage of total "gross domestic income" has dropped from 50%, between 1948 and 1974, to 42% of GDP. (See this <a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/W270RE1A156NBEA">Fed Reserve graph</a> to confirm.) An 8% drop is equivalent to $1,120 billion (or $1.12 trillion). If we could add that 8% back to wage income, lost since 1974, and evenly distribute it, then all households would receive an additional $9,333. </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;">This would eliminate poverty in the U.S. </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The average income for the lower-earning 20% of households is around $15,500. It could be $24,500 if we had a distribution curve similar to the 1948 to 1974 era. Then the redistribution of income would be a minor issue. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: yellow;">Wage Growth, 1964 to 2013 -- </b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: white;"> </b><b style="background-color: yellow;">Compared with Disposable Income per capita Growth</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">In 1964 the average wage for <b style="background-color: #93c47d;">non-supervisory workers</b> was $2.50 per hour, which translates to today's $19.15 an hour adjusting for inflation. In 2014 the average wage is $20.48. (See this <a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/AHETPI/">St. Louis Fed graph</a>) Non-supervisory workers make-up about<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #93c47d;"> <b>80% of all workers</b></span>, they are called employees. So average wages have increased by $1.33 in 50 years. That's </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;"><b>a 7% wage increase in 50 years</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> (not much a raise is it?). The "real" (meaning adjusted for inflation) GDP per capita has increased by </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;"><b>155%</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> (using </span><a href="http://www.measuringworth.com/datasets/usgdp/result.php" style="font-size: x-large;">this source</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">). Or, "real" disposable personal income per capita increased by </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;"><b>177%</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">, nearly tripling, (using <a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/A229RX0A048NBEA">this Federal Reserve source</a>). Where did the extra surplus go? Not to workers. If the (inflation adjusted) average wage of $19.15 had increased at the rate of GDP per capita, then today's average would be</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;"><b> $48.80 per hour</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">, not $20.50 and hour. This is why an increase in minimum wage is just a beginning of a process of sharing prosperity. This corresponds to my article that places the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;"><b>minimum wage at $22.81</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> an hour, <a href="http://benl8.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-2281-per-hour-minimum-wage.html">read it here. </a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-large;"> I like this last paragraph, it summarizes 50 years of economic history. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: yellow;">The Birth Rate Issue -- Did the Baby Boomers Stop Working?</span> </b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The following section is complex. Sorry. In fact, I'd prefer that you don't read it. It will just annoy you, it annoys me, but I want to keep the data on the web page! </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">An Analogy</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Visualize a can of water with a flow hose at the top and a hole at the bottom, and a thirsty dog. Water pours in, the dog drinks, the hole empties. The dog is the main reason the E/P decreased between 2008 and 2010 (look at the graphs above again, if you must). Think of the population group 25 to 54 over time. It's like a can of water with a flowing hose at the top </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">and a hole at the bottom. Both have valves to increase and decrease according to birth rates. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The hole gets bigger and smaller depending on the population size at the bottom. The flow increases and decreases depending on the flow rate at the top. This is too complex. The dog gets thirstier as the economy tanks. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The U.S. birth rate between 1975 and 1990 dipped. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">In the mid '70s the rate dipped. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Here is <a href="http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0005067.html">a site with the birth rates</a> for the U.S. Many claim that the "retiring baby boomers" is the major factor of the E/P ratio. The age 25 to 54 group in October 2014 is the same as 8 years ago, May 2006. It has decreased by 1.4 million since 2007, <a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/LNU00000060">see here, FRB St. Louis graph</a>. The principal reason for the 5% decline in employment to population was the Recession. The second reason has to do with the birth rate issue, and lastly the retiring baby boomers contributed to the fall in E/P. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The <a href="https://www.frbatlanta.org/chcs/LaborForceParticipation.aspx">Atlanta Fed, referenced above</a> is a good overview. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I've taken a closer look at <a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/">graphs from St. Louis Fed</a> to analyze the unemployment question. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Here's the core of my findings. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">In 1998 </span></b>approximately <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">95.4 million</span></b> were employed among the working population age 25 to 54 years old, the prime working years. This total population was 117.4 million in 1998. In October 2014, 16 years later, <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">still 95.4 million are employed</span></b> but total population has increased by 7.2 million to 124.6 million (call it 125 million). Of that 7.2 million increase, normally about 80% would be employed, or <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">5.7 million</span></b>. (I argue that we could add at least 10 million more jobs with public employment, and another 414,000 private sector jobs would added. <a href="http://benl8.blogspot.com/2014/08/symbiosis-in-economy-households-and.html">See this essay</a>, the part "14 million new jobs".) So, <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">95.4 million</span></b> are working, <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">5.7 million</span></b> more should be, a total of 101.1 million out of the total population of 25 to 54 year-olds in their prime work years using the approximate LFPR between 1988 and 2008. Meanwhile, the older group aged 55 years and above has increased its LFPR from 30% to 40% since 1996, so they have cushioned the drop in employment and lack of slow population growth among the core age, 25 to 55 year old group. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The other irregularity is that between 2000 and 2014, </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">total U.S. population has increased by <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">12.4%</span></b>, or 35 million, </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">the age 25 to 55 group has increased by <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">3.2%</span></b>, or 3.9 million, </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">and the group above 16 and above, the Civilian Non-Institutional Population, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">the "working age population" has increased by <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">17.0%</span></b>, or 36 million. We old folks are living longer. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">(Note, CNP stands for Civilian Non-Institutional Population, who are citizens 16 years old and older. Core Age CNP (CA-CNP) are those 25 to 54 years old.):</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Between 1980 and 1990</span></b> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> CNP grew by 25.3%, increase of 21.3 million; </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>CA-CNP grew by 32.6%, increase of 21.7 million. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Between 1990 and 2000</span></b> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> CNP grew by 15% or 15.5 million;</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>CA-CNP grew by 14.8%, increase of 13.1 million. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Between 2000 and 2010</span></b> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> CNP grew by 11.8%; increase of 25.0 million. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>CA-CNP grew by 3.0%, increase of 3.6 million. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Between December 1998 and October 2014</span></b>, about 16 years, the </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> CA-CNP population grew by 6% or 6.8 million (from 117 to 125 million)</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Between April 2007 and January 2010</span></b> </span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> CA-CNP </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">employment </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><b>decreased</b></span> by 6.3 million !!!!!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> Since January 2010, CA-CNP has added 1.3 million jobs, </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> an increase of 21%, a 21% recovery. BUT ----</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Between January 2010 and November 2014</span></b> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> While total CNP increased by 5.0% or 11.8 million,</span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>CA-CNPopulation (age 25 - 54) <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">decreased</span></b> by 600,000 and </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> employment <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><b>increased </b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">by 1.8 million, the E/P <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">increases</span></b> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> by 1.6%. After dropping 4.9% it gains back 1.6%, still need 3.3%</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> for Recovery -- it's a 33% recovery for this age group !!!!!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> OK. That's all. Read <a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/nominal-wages-continue-to-indicate-how-far-the-economy-is-from-full-recovery/#more-76116">Elise Gould's reports</a> at EPI.org, several reports, for more. But, again the CPEG report below the first graph at the top is the best report. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">___________________________________________</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;"><b>In 16 years</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">, there has been </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;"><b>a net zero increase</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> of employed, age 25 to 54, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">between December 1998 and Oct. 2014 -- 95.8 million both dates !!!!! (<a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/LFEM25TTUSM647S">See here</a>, St. Louis Fed graph. This Fed graph shows the next set of comparisons.) </span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">But between Jan.2000 and Oct. 2014</span></b> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> CA-CNP employment is down 2.6 million.</span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In 2000, with a total population (age 25 to 54) at 120.7 million, E/P was 81.3%, <b>98.1 mn.</b> employed. By 2007 <b>100.5 million</b> employed.</span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In 2014, total population of age 25 to 54, 124.6 million, E/P is 76.8%, down to <b>95.4 mn</b>. employed, down 2.7 million in almost 14 years, and down 5 million in 7 years. </span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Between 2000 to 2014</span></b>, CA-CNP number employed drops by 2.7 million, while its total population increases by 3.9 million of which normal about 80% are employed or 3.1 million. So -- add the 2.5 mn. plus the 3.1 mn. -- <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">5.8 million in CA-CNP should be employed who are not</span></b>, out of total population of 124.6 million. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">See these Federal Reserve or BLS sites: </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/LNU00000060">CA - CNPopulation age 25 -54</a> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/LFEM25TTUSM647S">CA - CNPop. Employed age 25 - 54</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CNP16OV">CNP, Civilian Non-Institutional Population</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/LREM25TTUSM156S">http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/LREM25TTUSM156S</a> </span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">There are some obvious patterns here: the CA-CNP growth rates slow, and then becomes negative. </span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Between January 2000 and October 2014</span></b> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> CNP increased 17.6% or 37 million;</span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>CA-CNP increased 3.6% or 4.4 million. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> And total employed for CA-CNP from 1999 to 2015, unchanged, </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">no growth in spite of population growth of 6.8 million. Surely there are some needed infrastructure projects that could employ these millions. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-size: large; white-space: pre;"> </span><b style="font-size: x-large;">Private sector employment also had very slow growth, </b><span style="font-size: large;">it </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">increased by 6.6% or 7.3 million in 14 years, 2001 to Oct. 2014, or about 0.5% per year increase. </span><b style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Between December 2000 and April 2012</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> (11 years 5 months) </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;">private sector employment </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;"><b>growth was a net zero</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">, see below. In 11 years, between December 2000 and April 2012,<b> it decreased</b> from 111.9 mn. to 111.8 mn. </span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">See <a href="http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CES0500000001">the bls page</a>: http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CES0500000001</span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><img src="http://data.bls.gov/generated_files/graphics/latest_numbers_CES0500000001_1999_2014_all_period_M10_data.gif" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 14.578125px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>Total employment</b> (not just private sector employment) increased 5.3% or 7 million in almost 14 years, between Jan 2001 and October 2014. ---- that is<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: yellow; color: #990000;"> total employment since 2001 has</span></b> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: yellow;">increased by 500,000 per year (42,000 a month) on average. Doesn't that seem slow? </b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><img src="http://data.bls.gov/generated_files/graphics/CES0000000001_95934_1417649936638.gif" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 14.578125px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">You should access this St. Louis Fed <a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/LNU00000060">graph again to see</a> the slow growth of age 25 to 54 population, only 3.6 million growth between Jan 2001 and Oct. 2014. Of that about 80% would normally be employed, or 2.9 million, or <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: yellow; color: #990000;">again 206,000 per year</span></b>. This is why I'm not convinced with the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Baby-Boomers-Dropping-Out-of-the-Labor-Force</span> argument. Yes, they dropped out, but the faucet flow at the top of the can decreased as well. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Core age, 25 to 54, population shrunk by 1% after 2007 (<a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/LNU00000060">see the graph here</a>), but it did not shrink by 5%, while the employment rate for older workers after 2007 dropped by 2% (<a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/LREM55TTUSA156N">see the graph here</a>), not by 5% as the E/P shrank. The Recession was the major cause of the drop. </span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I hope you didn't read any of that. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">___________________</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I thought I was done. But I wrote a <a href="http://www.economonitor.com/dolanecon/2014/12/06/as-jobs-surge-term-structure-of-unemployment-remains-distorted/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+economonitor%2FOUen+%28EconoMonitor%29">comment here</a> on Sunday 12.7.14. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Let's look at employment in private enterprises between January 2000 to Nov 2014, 15 years. (I'm taking data from two bls sites, <a href="http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CES0500000001">here</a> and <a href="http://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cpseea01.htm">here</a>.) The adult population increased by 17%, but employment in private sector work increased by only 7%. Normally the two rates will match, both would grow by 17%. So private sector growth is 10% lower than normal, over a 15 year period. Or 7.7 million found private sector work, a growth rate of 43,300 a month, or a 7% increase over 15 years (save two months). In 15 years, 36 million people joined the working age population, but only 7.7 million (or 21% instead of 50%) found employment in private sector work. Normally, 50% of 36 million would have found private sector employment. Another way of saying it is that of the 17.9 million expected to obtain private sector employment, only 43% (or 7.7 million) found private sector employment work and 57% (or 10.2 million) did not find employment whatsoever over a nearly 15 year period. The official list shows 9.1 million as unemployed. To this 9.1 million add the 10.2 million I've just discovered, then the total becomes 19.3 million unemployed. </span><b style="background-color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;">The actual U3 unemployment arguably is 11.6%, not 5.8% --</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">it is</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">double the official rate</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: yellow;">. </span> In this calculation I have accounted for the 17% who would normally be employed by <b>all levels</b> of governments. (I used </span></span><a href="http://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cpseea01.htm" style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;">this BLS web page</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"> for some of the calculations. And the data bls private sector employment web page.) </span><b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: #990000;">We are still in RECESSION. </span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">______________________________</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><b>Why has the Recovery been so disappointing? </b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/recovery-is-nowhere-near-accomplished-and-the-fed-shouldnt-tighten-policy-until-it-is/fed2/" rel="attachment wp-att-76275" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 94, 153); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(239, 207, 207); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #cd4065; font-family: myriad-pro, sans-serif; font-size: 12.666666984558105px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19.19791603088379px; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><img alt="fed2" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-76275" src="http://s4.epi.org/files/2013/fed2.jpg" height="661" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="910" /></a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">This <a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/recovery-is-nowhere-near-accomplished-and-the-fed-shouldnt-tighten-policy-until-it-is/#more-76273">graph from EPI's Josh Bivens</a> argues that the Republican filibuster in the Senate crushed all attempts to recharge the economy with federal spending. In the past the government has led the way out through spending. "Spending" is not the problem, it's the answer. Even Reagan knew this, see the above graph. In the 1940s government spending for the war, WWII, increased GDP by 75% in 6 years, and increased employment by 40%. During 1933 to 1937 spending reduced the unemployment rate from 25% to 9.6%. And Bivens' graph shows the same relationship. The financial system increased its debt by 49% in 10 years, 1998 to 2008, while the economy, GDP per capita, grew by 17%. (see "Credit Market Borrowing by Sector", "Domestic Financial Sectors", <a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1.pdf">Federal Reserve data here</a>, Table D.2, page 4, and see <a href="http://www.measuringworth.com/datasets/usgdp/result.php">GDP/capita data here</a>.) All that private sector debt spending, not government spending, was unsustainable. George Bush was President mostly, Alan Greenspan was Chair of the Fed. Bush cut taxes and raised spending, the public debt under his term increased from 55% to 83% (see here). <a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/GFDEGDQ188S">http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/GFDEGDQ188S</a> And see this <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/09/government-debt-isnt-the-problemprivate-debt-is/379865/">Atlantic Monthly article</a> (I just read it myself, it's excellent, much like Dan Alpert's book The Age of Oversupply.) that provided this graph: </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><big><b>Crisis of 2007-2008: U.S. GDP, Public Debt, and Private Debt (in Billions)</b></big></span></div>
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<figure style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; position: relative; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><img alt="" src="http://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/posts/2014/09/Screen_Shot_2014_09_09_at_10.11.53_AM/a73aa9e86.png" height="252" style="border: 0px; max-width: 100%;" width="570" /><figcaption class="caption" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #242b30; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14px; margin: -6px 0px 0px !important; padding: 0px; width: auto;">GDP data comes from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, private-debt data from the Federal Reserve, and Federal-debt data from the Treasury. (Richard Vague)</figcaption></span></figure><br />
<hr style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border-top-color: rgb(216, 216, 216); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">When payments came due, foreclosure and default resulted, private sector spending collapsed, corporations contracted and employees were let go, unemployment more than doubled, government aid to the unemployed kicked in, personal income for the second time since 1933 decreased -- the greatest recession in 75 years ensued! And the richest are richer than before as 95% of recent growth goes to just 1% of households who are under-taxed and unscathed. Their share of national income was 8% in 1979, now it's around 17%. Their taxes are lower, and much lower than 1940 to 1983 when the economy did its best. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Government spending was the only method to restore consumption and production and employment. We have a 33% recovery after 5 and a half years. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">______________________________</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">L. Randall Wray has an article about <a href="http://www.economonitor.com/lrwray/2014/12/02/the-answer-to-the-unemployment-problem-is-more-jobs/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-answer-to-the-unemployment-problem-is-more-jobs">public jobs, here</a>. It just appeared, 12.3.15, at EconoMonitor. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Laura Tyson <a href="http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/cost-of-us-income-inequality-by-laura-tyson-2014-11?utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Project+Syndicate%27s+Economics+Update&utm_campaign=20141128_m123317447_Project+Syndicate%27s+Economics+Update&utm_term=The+Rising+Costs+of+US+Income+Inequality">writes about inequality here</a>, "The Rising Costs of U.S. Income Inequality". </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: yellow; color: blue;">Paul Buchheit writes the most important journalism today</span> often focusing on extreme inequality <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/author/paul-buchheit">at Common Dreams</a>. Did you know that 14 individuals' combined income exceeded the "food stamp" federal budget for 50 million poor Americans? <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2014/10/06/it-happened-again-how-14-people-made-more-money-entire-food-stamp-budget-50000000">Read here</a>. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">In the U.S. 33% of the population live in rental properties and 52% pay more than 30% of their income on rent. And here is a portrait of net worth by Race/Ethnicity for 2011. Both available in this <a href="http://www.prb.org/pdf14/united-states-inequality.pdf">report by Population Reference Bureau</a> (and <a href="http://www.prb.org/pdf14/united-states-inequality.pdf">here</a>). Black or African Americans are 13% of the population, Hispanics are 17%, for a total of 30% who have approximately $3,000 in net worth exclusive of home equity. <a href="http://scorecard.assetsandopportunity.org/2013/measure/liquid-asset-poverty-rate">Liquid asset poverty can also been seen here</a>, showing 44% of U.S. population has less than $6,000 available for emergencies. This <a href="http://www.cuna.org/Stay-Informed/Press-Room/Press-Releases/2014-Press-Releases/CUNA-CFA-Holiday-Spending-Survey/">survey from Credit Union National Association (CUNA</a>) says that 83% of households with incomes below $25,000 a year "</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: HelveticaNeueLTStd55Roman; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: large;"> said they did not have extra funds available to pay for an unexpected expense of $1,000."</span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: HelveticaNeueLTStd55Roman; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> (I found this info at <a href="http://toomuch.online/">TooMuch.online</a>, December 8, 2014) In 2012 one in four Americans lived in households, or some 24.7% of households, had income below $25,000 (according to <a href="http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/p60-245.pdf">the U.S. Census report </a>on Poverty Income and Health Insurance, page 33). And for all households, "</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: HelveticaNeueLTStd55Roman; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: large;">When asked whether they have extra funds available to pay an unexpected expense of $1,000, the proportion who said no fell from 49 percent in 2013 to 47 percent this year." </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The mean <b>average</b> -- you know, <b>average for all 120 million households</b> -- for household net worth is about $627,000,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.international-adviser.com/ia/media/Media/Credit-Suisse-Global-Wealth-Databook-2013.pdf"> see here</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> page 89. And the Federal Reserve says it is $678,000 (<a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1.pdf">see here, page i</a>) Sixty-two percent of Americans are "white alone" and half of them have less than $33,408 in liquid funds. How long can one live on that amount? I guess it's paycheck to paycheck for many people.</span></div>
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Ben Leethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14058357566482675649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047544383372645090.post-76898657452559545732015-01-11T13:38:00.001-08:002015-01-30T11:11:40.211-08:00America's Inequality<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: #ea9999;">The Profile of Inequality of</span></span><span style="background-color: #ea9999; font-size: x-large;"> Income and Wealth</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I read an article by Lawrence Mishel at <a href="http://prospect.org/article/why-your-wages-are-idling-neutral">the American Prospect</a> and left this comment. My comment:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: #990000;">Income Shares --- Are they Healthy?</span></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">"The lower-earning 45% of U.S. households all with incomes below $40,000 a year, earns in market income about <b><span style="color: #990000;">11.5%</span></b> of all income, while the top-earning 20%, all with incomes above $100,000, earn <b><span style="color: #990000;">60.0%</span></b> of all income. This comes out of the Congressional Joint Commission on Taxation (see <a href="https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4568">here</a>, page 30). When I convert this to average income per household, it means that the lower 45% have <b><span style="color: #990000;">one dollar</span></b> of income while the higher 20% have <b><span style="color: #990000;">$11</span></b>. This <b><span style="color: #990000;">1 to 11 ratio</span></b> between nearly half and the better earning 20% is an unhealthy balance. Living standards for half are strained. And then I looked at <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/49440">the CBO report</a> on income distribution for 2011 (see page 2) and see the same ratio. The market income disparity is relieved by government transfers and taxation, but the final disparity is glaring, <b><span style="color: #990000;">1 to 6 instead of 1 to 11</span></b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: #990000;">International Comparisons</span></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">We are becoming like Mexico, which has the greatest inequality between the 20th and 80th quintiles, and our social ambience will become like Mexico’s as we continue down this line. The <a href="http://www.oecd.org/els/soc/49499779.pdf">OECD places the U.S. income inequality at 4th</a> worse out of 34 advanced nations (see page 45, "inter quintile share ratio 80/20). Mexico's 20th to 80th quintile average income ratio is 13.0 while the U.S. has 7.7. Lawrence Mishel says (at article cited above) that for 70% of the workers wages have been flat for almost 40 years, while the economy’s growth per human has more than doubled since 1964, by a factor of 2.6 times, a percentage of 160%. It's a stunning loss of income for the vast majority of Americans. <a href="http://epi.org/">"Raising America's Pay"</a> is the call of the EPI, which also presents a wage calculator where one can discover what one's income would be if wages and productivity had matched. Not to be missed is the article <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/charting-wage-stagnation/">"Wage Stagnation in Nine Charts"</a> from the EPI. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: #990000;">Wealth Disparity</span></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Wealth disparity is far worse. Professor <a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/research/exploding-wealth-inequality-united-states/">Saez released a report</a> showing that one in 1,000 has as much savings as 900 in a 1,000, both have about 23% of all wealth. (And <a href="http://gabriel-zucman.eu/files/SaezZucman2014Slides.pdf">read more here</a>) <a href="http://neweconomicperspectives.org/2014/12/twelve-step-program-restore-prosperity-bernie-sanders-plan.html">Bernie Sanders</a> seems to be the only politician speaking out about cures." More to come. But of course you could read the 2014 posts on inequality and capture most of what I have to say. </span><br />
<a data-ved="0CAcQjRw" href="http://www.thehealthculture.com/2011/03/" id="irc_mil" style="border: 0px; text-align: center;"><img src="http://www.thehealthculture.com/wp-content/uploads/img/economic-inequality.jpg" height="196" id="irc_mi" style="-webkit-background-size: 21px; -webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; background-color: white; background-image: linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)), linear-gradient(45deg, rgb(239, 239, 239) 25%, transparent 25%, transparent 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 75%, rgb(239, 239, 239)); background-position: 0px 0px, 10px 10px; background-size: 21px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098) 0px 5px 35px; margin-top: 148px;" width="300" /></a><br />
<img alt="Figure 9: Productivity and Wages, 1970-2013" src="http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2014/TopTen--figure-9--458x268.gif" height="268" style="border-style: none; float: none; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="458" /><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: yellow;">Weekly Wages Today Are Lower than </b></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: yellow;">1964 Wages for 80% of Workers Even Though the Economy Is Two and a Half Times More Productive Per Worker </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Dollars and Sense magazine <a href="http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2014/1214topeleven.html">published this graph</a>, but the article is not on the web. (They also published 11 graphs at the end of 2014 well worth our time to contemplate,<a href="http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2014/1214topeleven.html"> here</a>.) Total compensation rose by 40% because insurance companies charged employers more for medical insurance. Employees never experienced a raise. Average hourly wages have gone up by 8% <b><span style="color: #990000;">since 1964</span></b> while average <b><span style="color: #990000;">weekly wages have declined by 4%</span></b>, see the graphs below from the Federal Reserve. Wage income as a share of national income has declined from 51% to 42%, an amount equal to today's $1.26 trillion; and if the former 51% share went to wages then 80% of households would have $10,000 plus income, and poverty would not exist (because I'm distributing the $1.26 trillion equally to all households in the lower-earning 80%). </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The Federal Reserve graphs show that average weekly wage earnings for nonsupervisory employees since 1964 have decreased by 4%. Here are a few Fed graphs showing how poorly the economy has served employees --- <a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/AHETPI/">here,</a> <a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CES0500000030">here,</a> <a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/A229RX0A048NBEA">here</a>, and <a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/W270RE1A156NBEA">here</a>. Use the BLS inflation calculator, <a href="http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm">here</a>, and you can learn that incomes have stayed flat. Lawrence Mishel says, in the article cited above, that for 70% of workers, all employees, wages have not budged since 1970. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The <a href="http://www.epi.org/multimedia/unequal-states-interactive/#/United States">EPI details lopsided income growth</a> since 1979, the net result is "Change in Income" for top 1% = <b><span style="color: #cc0000;">180.9%</span></b>, for the bottom 99% = <b><span style="color: #cc0000;">2.6%</span></b>,</span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> <b><span style="background-color: #f4cccc; color: #660000;">Top 1% share of all income growth, 88.5% over 33 years</span></b></span><span style="font-size: large;">. At Measuring Worth we see in those 33 years GDP per capita increased by 70.3%, from $28,725 to $48,908. Again, 88.5% of that growth went to the top 1%. The difference between the 1% and the average 99% is 30 times. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: yellow;">One in Four Workers Are Out-of-Luck</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">_____________________________________</span><span style="font-size: large;">One in four U.S. adults who would like to work are either not working, working only part-time and want full-time, or are working for poverty wages full-time and year-round. One in four is 25% or about 40 million adults. Now I'll try to prove it: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Look at National Jobs for All Coalition's monthly employment report, <a href="http://njfac.org/">njfac.org</a>. They state that 21.9 million are 1) not at work or 2) not working full-time but want full-time. Then they state that 18.5 million workers are 3) working full-time, year-round at less than poverty wages which they put at less than $23,850. This comes out to less than $11.50 an hour. A total of 40.4 million out of a workforce of 156 million (<a href="http://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cpseea01.htm">see here</a>) is more than 1 out of 4. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I could argue that this number is greater, but I won't. Who would read it? It was larger a year ago, about 28% of the labor force. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">So, things are improving. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I read the December 2014 <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2014-12-year-in-review-update.pdf">report of the Council of Economic Advisers</a>, and I am upbeat, at last. Things are improving. But, one in four either working poor or not working? And 45% earning just 11.5% of all income while the top 20% earn 60.0%? A ratio of 1 to 11. And the top 1 in a 1,000 owning more than the lower 900 in 1,000? We have quite a long, long road before we reach upbeat. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: #990000;">The System Is Not Working</span></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">_______________________________________</span><span style="font-size: large;">When I think 1 in 4 workers are either not working, not working enough, or being paid a sub-poverty wage, I think this system is not working. Today I saw an old campaign poster for the local Tea Party winner, and it said "Freedom Works". For whom? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The nation needs to get voters to vote. And to get money out of political campaigns. And to create public employment to drive up wages, while reforming laws pertaining to labor unions. I've gone over this in previous reports. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">In a more real way, we are witnessing a collective movement of hearts. A very slow awakening of the importance of the economy, a shift of the old story of freedom to one of cooperation. Caring will at last form the basis of voting. Since there is so much wealth and income --- it is absurd to think that for long we can hold the natural instincts down with fear, paranoia, class animosity, and demagoguery. We are reasonable and understanding. "We'll come to understand that we like each other more than we thought we did," was my answer to "How will it ever change?" We'll come to care more and apply our strengths to making equal opportunity and more-or-less equal outcomes happen. I can't say it clear enough. Too many of my friends insensitively and arrogantly predict calamity. I disagree, but the future will be difficult, both good and bad will come forth. The good will be much more powerful. But that matters little, each person will have to demonstrate his convictions and act. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Here's a nice read about inequality in movement, <a href="http://toomuchonline.org/two-insightful-egalitarian-spirits/">from Too Much</a>, again. Two British epidemiologists discuss the powerful insights about inequality, disease and health outcomes, and the reaction to their story, "</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">Pickett: Actually, I don’t think people find what we’re talking about all that difficult at all. I think they find that what we’re saying, about the impact of inequality, is intuitively making sense of their own experiences. So the most common reaction we see among audiences when we’re talking is nodding." </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">________________________________________</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: #990000;">Maryland Congressman with a Bold Plan</span></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">A news report Congressman Chris Van Hollen's plan for a $2,000 tax credit for middle class couple's taxes (an income increase of $1.2 trillion over ten years to about 50% of households), a Financial Transaction Tax, and for a fine on corporations that boost only CEO pay while employee pay falls. See <a href="http://pacificaeveningnews.blogspot.com/">KPFA's Pacifica Evening News</a>, January 14, 2015. The video of Van Hollen at the <a href="https://www.americanprogressaction.org/events/2015/01/05/103823/an-action-plan-to-grow-the-paychecks-of-all-not-just-the-wealth-of-a-few/">CAP is here</a>, 58 minutes. I watched the entire 58 minutes, I feel I should watch it again. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #351c75; color: white; font-size: x-large;">The nation's surplus is going to waste. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">$25 trillion of new savings has been created in the past 6 years, since 2008 (<a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1.pdf">see Federal Reserve report,</a> page 2). An increase of $78,000 per human, or a 30% increase per capita. It's a stunning increase. Haven't you noticed how much better things are, how much new construction is happening, how strained we are to meet the influx of all the new demand? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">No? Why not? Because all that surplus is going to waste, that's why. Van Hollen's plan, and others like it would put the surplus to productive use. Since 2008 the economic output, GDP, has been $90 trillion, and savings has increased by $25 trillion, and that's an amazing amount of savings. Too bad it goes to absolute waste. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The <a href="http://www.cpegonline.org/documents/Reviveoureconomy.pdf">CPEG program</a> purports to raise close to $1,000 billion a year while Van Hollen's plan only $120 billion. CPEG recommends: "<span style="background-color: #ffd966; color: blue;"><span style="font-family: GillSans;">c) As we exploit our (greatest remaining economic “asset” - rentierism) we need to shrink it and
eventually eliminate it. A straightforward way to do both (exploit and gradually eliminate) is to impose a
financial transaction tax on all financial trading in the U.S. and with European collaboration (the EU
parliament has already recommended this) worldwide.</span><span style="font-family: GillSans; vertical-align: 2pt;">11 </span><span style="font-family: GillSans;">It is indicative of the degree of economic
distortion of our rentier economy, that this one tax has the potential to raise up to $ 1 T a year and
fund up to 25 M living wage jobs over 5 years (Barclay, 2005) (CPEG, 2009,2011). This should be
immensely politically popular, would directly repress rentier activity, and if used for a jobs program,
directly redevelop the productive side of our economy."</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Van Hollen video is a convincing public display by a knowledgable Congress Representative, and it should have a durable impact as he seeks to publicize it. Watch it. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Also, here's a short <a href="http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/fixgov/posts/2014/11/12-cbo-report-household-taxes-galston">piece from the Brookings Institute</a> on <a href="http://www.cbo.gov/publication/49440">the CBO report</a> that has caught my attention. To quote: "</span><b><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">Between 1979 and 2011, CBO calculates, inflation-adjusted market income for the bottom 20 percent of households rose by 16 percent. For the middle three quintiles of households (the 21</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">st</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;"> to the 80</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">th</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">percentile, this income also rose by 16 percent. For households between the 81</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">st</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;"> and 99</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">th</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">percentile, it rose by 56 percent. And for the top 1 percent of households, it rose by 174 percent." </span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">See the web page</span><a href="http://www.measuringworth.com/datasets/usgdp/result.php"> Measuring Worth</a><span style="font-size: large;"> and calculate as I did that the per capita growth of the nation increased by 70.2% between 1979 and 2011. Not 16%, 70%. Michel's article covers this too. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The CBO report mentioned in the Brookings report will be the topic of a soon to be posted essay here.</span><br />
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Ben Leethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14058357566482675649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6047544383372645090.post-33276430056664603122015-01-23T11:49:00.002-08:002015-01-27T12:41:08.984-08:00The Best Radio Show <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: blue; color: yellow; font-size: x-large;">Richard Wolff's Economic Update</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I just finished an hour's listening to Economic Update, January 23, 2015. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It was </span><b><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">the best show</span></b><span style="font-size: large;"> I've ever heard (</span><a href="http://www.rdwolff.com/articles/audio">click here</a> - Audio/Jan. 23, or<a href="http://www.kpfa.org/archive/show/54209"> click here</a>, KPFA radio which carries Wolff's program<span style="font-size: large;">), especially the final half when Wolff's wife, psychologist Dr. Harriet Fraad, describes the dangerous plight of our nation's youngsters. I seldom describe the human side of bad economics; this show is refreshing and will enlighten you. One in six youngsters, below 18 year's old, suffers food insecurity and hunger perhaps daily. Half of the children attending public schools now qualify for free lunch, meaning their family has less than $43,000 income. (If you wish, you can check: the <a href="http://www.nccp.org/tools/frs/budget.php">Basic Needs Calculator</a>, the <a href="http://www.epi.org/resources/budget/">Basic Family Budget Calculator</a> at EPI - Topeka, Kansas is the median expense city in the nation, the <a href="http://livingwage.mit.edu/places/2017771000">MIT calculator</a>, and <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-income-table-2-1-average-family-income/">State of Working America,</a> and <a href="http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/chart/swa-income-table-2-1-average-family-income/">here</a>, if you wonder if $43,000 is too high an income to qualify for food assistance.) In 1995, 20 years back, </span><i><b><span style="font-size: large;">only</span></b></i><span style="font-size: large;"> 33% qualified. Our system of after-school care and infant childcare is lamentable and will destroy our nation ultimately. Other nations provide these services far better. Many, many children arrive at school hungry and need breakfast, and teachers often provide morning snacks out of their own savings. I taught in public schools in east Oakland for over 10 years, I testify that this is a reasonable assertion. Run-away and throw-away children are on the increase since the beginning of the recession. This radio show is a disturbing program, but it highlights the personal effects of an economy and society dangerously out of touch. Too often ordinary people claim that others who have money problems have made bad decisions and now survive parasitically on the rest of society. Good people seem to make this erroneous assertion regularly, and they should learn better by listening to this radio show. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I also read Robert Kuttner's article </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">about the error of believing in the myth of the free market and that government doesn't work, but that <b><span style="color: #990000;">"Freedom Works"</span></b> as my Tea Party Congressman states on his campaign billboards. <b><span style="background-color: blue; color: #9fc5e8;">"Don't Vote for Anarchy, Anarchy Doesn't Work"</span></b> is my response. Kuttner's article, "<span style="color: #cc0000;">The Libertarian Delusion</span>", is a convincing rebuttal. It will eventually be posted by American Prospect Magazine. (And I'll provide a hyper-link. <a href="http://prospect.org/authors/robert-kuttner">Here's his home at A.P.</a>)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">On January 26, 2015, Economic Policy Institute published a report </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">that <a href="http://www.epi.org/multimedia/unequal-states-interactive/#/United States"> details lopsided income growth</a> between 1979 and 2012, 33 years, the net result is "Change in Income" for top 1% = <b><span style="color: #cc0000;">180.9%</span></b>, for the bottom 99% = <b><span style="color: #cc0000;">2.6%</span></b>,</span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> <b><span style="background-color: #f4cccc; color: #660000;">Top 1% share of all income growth, 88.5% over 33 years</span></b></span><span style="font-size: large;">. At Measuring Worth we see in those 33 years GDP per capita increased by 70.3%, from $28,725 to $48,908. Again, 88.5% of that growth went to the top 1%. The income difference between the 1% and the average 99% is 30 times. The wealth difference? I'd like to know, it must be around 1 to 1,000. The lower-saving 50% owns but 1.1% of all wealth (<a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/confirming-redistribution-wealth-upward/">see here</a>). Of the $25 trillion in new wealth since 2008, that is $78,000 per human nationwide of additional savings, most of it went to the top 1% (<a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1.pdf">see here</a>, page 2). </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Complementary to the above is my posting below that shows that freedom is not working for many Americans. </span></div>
Ben Leethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14058357566482675649noreply@blogger.com0