Look: I am eager to learn stuff I don't know--which requires actively courting and posting smart disagreement.

But as you will understand, I don't like to post things that mischaracterize and are aimed to mislead.

-- Brad Delong

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Friday, November 19, 2010

We Are Become Argentina . . .

. . .    Only WORSE!

My point was that the wealthiest plutocrats now actually control a greater share of the pie in the United States than in historically unstable countries like Nicaragua, Venezuela and Guyana. But readers protested that this was glib and unfair, and after reviewing the evidence I regretfully confess that they have a point.
That’s right: I may have wronged the banana republics. 

You see, some Latin Americans were indignant at what they saw as an invidious and hurtful comparison. The truth is that Latin America has matured and become more equal in recent decades, even as the distribution in the United States has become steadily more unequal. 

The best data series I could find is for Argentina. In the 1940s, the top 1 percent there controlled more than 20 percent of incomes. That was roughly double the share at that time in the United States.

Since then, we’ve reversed places. The share controlled by the top 1 percent in Argentina has fallen to a bit more than 15 percent. Meanwhile, inequality in the United States has soared to levels comparable to those in Argentina six decades ago — with 1 percent controlling 24 percent of American income in 2007.

This is what 30 years of Reaganomics has done for to us.



H/T to B/T.
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2 comments:

BadTux said...

It's even worst than that... we've become Argentina... and our population LIKES it. At least, that's the only conclusion I can come to, given that they keep re-electing the same bastards year after year who've done this to us...

In celebration of our future, I am now working on a cookbook for the rest of us after the Catfood Commission finishes making even catfood too expensive for us to afford. Rat: It's the other white meat.

- Badtux the "Yes, WASF" Penguin

nanute said...

Slightly OT, but not, your favorite topic is back in the spotlight: http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2010/11/guest-post-the-fed-is-saying-one-thing-but-doing-something-very-different.html
And, for an interesting take on what's behind QEII see this: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22014
Sorry your boys took a beating yesterday.