2001 May

Progress

The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. This is very terrible. But in fact it is way worse. Here the facts [Doug Bandow, Sr Fellow Cato Institute]:

- The top 1% of taxpayers pay about 1/3 of income taxes
- The top 5% pay more than 1/2
- The top 10% pay nearly 2/3
- The top 25% pay more than 4/5

In other words: 95% of the population is actually subsidized for their healthcare, retirement, safety, transportation, ...

Is it getting better? Unlikely. Consider the fraction of students that graduate from high school. Whites have a depressing graduation rate of only 82%. An unnamed segment of the population (unnamed to spare the sensitivities of the reader) - which was the fastest growing according to the census - had a graduation rate of only 55%.

Can we perhaps argue that the situation is improving nevertheless, say because "the rising tide raises all boats"? Forget it: per capita real income has decreased since 1970. Green per capita income, where income is corrected for ecological damage, increased incarceration rate, decreased natural resources, etc. will show an even more unpleasant picture.

Homework for next week: Devise a political program to reverse the worldwide detoriation. Sorry: Negative progress.