> > > 13 pithy comments from an author on the ramifications > > > of the OWS protestors storming the ramparts. > > > > > 5 reasons why income inequality is a myth: > > authfriend: > Reprising my post from last Tuesday, which > Willytex apparently didn't see... > > Thoroughly refuted here, with links: > So, if inequality had really exploded during the past 30 to 40 years, why did American politics simultaneously move rightward toward a greater embrace of free-market capitalism?
> http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2011/10/yes-indeed-income-inequality-really-growing > > Money quote from Matt O'Brien after talking to the > economist whose paper was (mis)used at Willytex's > link to attempt to discredit income equality: > > "Consider the research and writing of Robert Gordon, a professor of social > sciences at Northwestern University. He has done pioneering work questioning > the > extent of the aforementioned gap between productivity and median wageswork > that > Pethokoukis misappropriates to claim that income gains have been shared > 'fairly > equally.' Gordon found that the productivity gap may be about a tenth the size > as what is commonly thought, but, as he told me, that doesn't negate the story > about runaway wealth at the top of the income distribution. > "The evidence on the long-term increase of inequality within the bottom 99 > percent is ambiguous and complex, but what stands out like a searchlight is > the > unprecedented and increasing inequality between the bottom 99 percent and the > top 1 percent," Gordon told me. > > > "If inequality had really exploded during the past 30 > > to 40 years, why did American politics simultaneously > > move rightward toward a greater embrace of free-market > > capitalism? > > > > Shouldn't just the opposite have happened as beleaguered > > workers united and demanded a vastly expanded social > > safety net and sharply higher taxes on the rich? What > > happened to presidents Mondale, Dukakis, Gore and Kerry? > > > > Even Barack Obama ran for president as a market friendly, > > third-way technocrat. > > > > Nope, the story doesn't hold together because the > > financial facts don't support it..." > > > > '5 reasons why income inequality is a myth and Occupy > > Wall Street is wrong' > > http://tinyurl.com/63f6ukv > > >
