Separate and Unequal

Excess Income Inequality is Self-Defeating and Stupid

A recent report from the CBO found that, from 1979 to 2007, the average real after-tax household income for the 1 percent of the population with the highest incomes rose 275 percent. For the rest of the top 20 percent of earners, it rose 65 percent. But it rose just 18 percent for the bottom 20 percent.

And a report released by the OECD found that the gap between rich and poor in OECD countries has reached its highest level in over 30 years.

Finally, a report from two IMF researchers found that growing income inequality has a negative effect on economic expansion.