{"id":83,"date":"2011-03-28T12:08:46","date_gmt":"2011-03-28T19:08:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/factleft.com\/?p=83"},"modified":"2011-03-28T12:08:46","modified_gmt":"2011-03-28T19:08:46","slug":"the-demise-of-the-american-middle-class-in-numbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/factleft.com\/?p=83","title":{"rendered":"The Demise of the American Middle Class In Numbers."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Demise of the American Middle Class In Numbers. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Over the past 60 years the American dream has gradually disappeared. The process was slow, so most people didn’t notice. They just worked a few more hours, borrowed a little more and cut back on non-essentials. But looking at the numbers and comparing them over long time periods, it is obvious that things have changed drastically. Here are the details:<\/p>\n

1. WORKERS PRODUCE MORE BUT THE GAINS GO TO BUSINESS.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over the past 63 years worker productivity has grown by 2.0% per year.<\/p>\n

But after 1980, workers received a smaller share every year. Labor’s share of income (1992 = 100%):<\/p>\n

1950 = 101%
\n1960 = 105%
\n1970 = 105%
\n1980 = 105%\u00a0 – Reagan
\n1990 = 100%
\n2000 =\u00a0 96%
\n2007 =\u00a0 92%<\/p>\n

A 13% drop since 1980<\/strong><\/p>\n

2. THE TOP 10% GET A LARGER SHARE.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Share of National Income going to Top 10%:<\/p>\n

1950 = 35%
\n1960 = 34%
\n1970 = 34%
\n1980 = 34% – Reagan
\n1990 = 40%
\n2000 = 47%
\n2007 = 50%<\/p>\n

An increase of 16% since Reagan.<\/strong><\/p>\n

3. WORKERS COMPENSATED FOR THE LOSS OF INCOME BY SPENDING THEIR SAVINGS.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The savings Rose up to Reagan and fell during and after.<\/p>\n

1950 = 6.0%
\n1960 = 7.0%
\n1970 = 8.5%
\n1980 = 10.0% – Reagan
\n1982 = 11.2% – Peak
\n1990 = 7.0%
\n2000 = 2.0%
\n2006 = -1.1% (Negative = withdrawing from savings)<\/p>\n

A 12.3% drop after Reagan.<\/strong><\/p>\n

4. WORKERS ALSO BORROWED TO MAKE UP FOR THE LOSS.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Household Debt as percentage of GDP:<\/p>\n

1965 = 46%
\n1970 = 45%
\n1980 = 50% – Reagan
\n1990 = 61%
\n2000 = 69%
\n2007 = 95%<\/p>\n

A 45% increase after 1980.<\/p>\n

5. SO THE GAP BETWEEN THE RICHEST AND THE POOREST HAS GROWN.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gap Between the Share of Capital Income earned by the top 1%
\nand the bottom 80%:<\/p>\n

1980 = 10%
\n2003 = 56%<\/p>\n

A 5.6 times increase.<\/strong><\/p>\n

6. AND THE AMERICAN DREAM IS GONE.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Probably of Moving Up from the Bottom 40% to the Top 40%:<\/p>\n

1945 = 12%
\n1958 =\u00a0 6%
\n1990 =\u00a0 3%
\n2000 =\u00a0 2%<\/p>\n

A 10% Decrease.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Links:<\/p>\n

1 = ftp:\/\/ftp.bls.gov\/pub\/special.requests\/pf\/totalf1.txt<\/a>
\n1 = https:\/\/www.clevelandfed.org\/Research\/PolicyDis\/No7Nov04.pdf<\/a>
\n1 = http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_Zh1bveXc8rA\/SuddUhLWUaI\/AAAAAAAAA7M\/iU2gefk317M\/s1600-h\/Clipboard01.jpg<\/a>
\n2 – http:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/omb\/blog\/09\/04\/27\/CongratulationstoEmmanuelSaez\/<\/a>
\n3 = http:\/\/www.demos.org\/inequality\/images\/charts\/uspersonalsaving_thumb.gif<\/a>
\n3 = http:\/\/www.bea.gov\/national\/nipaweb\/TableView.asp?SelectedTable=58&Freq=Qtr&FirstYear=2008&LastYear=2010<\/a>
\n4 = http:\/\/www.prudentbear.com\/index.php\/household-sector-debt-of-gdp<\/a>
\n4 = http:\/\/www.federalreserve.gov\/releases\/z1\/current\/<\/a>
\n5\/6 = http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/15-charts-about-wealth-and-inequality-in-america-2010-4?slop=1#slideshow-start<\/a><\/p>\n

Overview = http:\/\/www.ourfuture.org\/blog-entry\/2010062415\/reagan-revolution-home-roost-charts<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the past 60 years the American dream has gradually disappeared. The process was slow, so most people didn’t notice. They just worked a few more hours, borrowed a little more and cut back on non-essentials. But looking at the numbers and comparing them over long time periods, it is obvious that things have changed drastically. Here are the details:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/factleft.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/factleft.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/factleft.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/factleft.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/factleft.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=83"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/factleft.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/factleft.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=83"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/factleft.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=83"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/factleft.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=83"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}