The Dangers of Inequality in the U.S.
February 24, 2011
© University of California-Berkeley
Americans suffer from some of the same economic ills that drove hundreds of thousands into the streets to demand change this year. But Americans don’t like to confront inequality in their daily lives, even though it affects each of their lives (unless you’re in that magic top one-hundredth of one percent).
We all feel it. We know what’s going on. Will it finally drive us into the streets, as it has in Wisconsin?
Here are some facts about inequality in the U.S. today:
- Difference in the hourly earnings of high-paid and low-paid employees: 364% (Source).
CEOs during the 1960s earned on average $42 for every $1 earned by wage workers. Today, that ratio is $344:1. (Source).
“It’s the Inequality, Stupid” explains everything that’s wrong with America in eight charts: for example, Wall Street profits up 702 percent, while unemployment is up 102 percent. (Source).
Learn more: 20 facts about inequality from the Stanford Center for the Study of Poverty and Inequality.
