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Here's why if you don't like inequality, you should support unions

If you need to work to live in America, you're pretty much screwed—middle class, working class, poor. Productivity is rising dramatically, while pay isn't:



In fact, median family income has been stagnant for a decade:



Income inequality has risen to ridiculous levels:



Measure after measure after measure shows us how bad it is. The old saying is that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer,
but you don't have to be poor to feel the squeeze any more. It's hitting the vast majority of Americans. So what does all this have to do with Labor Day? With unions? Well:



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More charts here:

"The top ten percent of earners in the United States took home more than 50 percent of all income in 2012, the highest amount ever recorded since data was first collected in 1917, according to an updated report from economists Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty.
While the wealthiest took a big hit during the financial crisis, they’ve almost fully recovered. Last year, income for the top 1 percent of earners “increased sharply,” the report notes, growing by nearly 20 percent, while the bottom 99 percent only saw money rise by 1 percent. “In sum,” the authors write, “top 1% incomes are close to full recovery while bottom 99% incomes have hardly started to recover.”

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/0 ... nequality/

Map: How the world’s countries compare on income inequality (the U.S. ranks below Nigeria)



Excerpt:

"The United States doesn't come out of this comparison looking great. It's ranked 44th out of 86 countries, well below every other developed society measured. It's one spot below Nigeria, which has some of the worst political corruption in the world and in 2012 saw nationwide protests over perceived income inequality. The United States' Palma ratio ranks it just beneath Nigeria but above Russia and Turkey -- all countries that have experienced heavy political unrest in recent years.
The data offer a reminder that the United States might enjoy greater economic equality than much of the world, but it is at the bottom end of the developed world. And the Palma ratio actually shows the United States in a more positive light than does the Gini coefficient, which ranks it even lower."

LINK

The most important video on wealth inequality in America:

Wealth Inequality in America

Wealth Inequality in America

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM

Three minute video showing wealth inequality in the world.

There's Around $223 Trillion In The World. Here's Who Owns Most Of It.

Video here

"Here's a chart showing what's happened during every economic expansion since World War II, and what portion of it went to the wealthiest 10 percent and the poorest 90 percent of households. As you can see, income growth every expansion has delivered more of its benefits to the top and less to the bottom 90. The drop in the bottom 90 percent's share really started to plummet in the 1982-1990 period, thanks to Reaganomics. Moreover, the real (inflation-adjusted) incomes of the bottom 90 dropped for the first time in the "recovery" we're now in.
In other words, this is not a business cycle problem. We're dealing with the underlying structure of the economy, which is tilting ever more in the direction of the top and away from the vast majority. This is not sustainable. The choice is either fundamental reform or social unrest." --Robert Reich



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"It's the Inequality Stupid"
Eleven charts that explain what's wrong with America.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/201 ... hart-graph