Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Rich Getting Even Richer, Even Faster

Gap between super wealthy and rest of US grows even bigger

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 15, 2007 4:17 PM CST

(Newser) – America’s economy is great, the New York Times says, if you’re already super rich. Between 2003 and 2005, America’s top 1% saw a meteoric 42.6% jump in income. The rest of us? Well, the middle fifth earned an extra 4.3%,... Read full story »

COMMENTS

Read the comment policy

You need to Log in to Newser to comment. Don't have an account yet? Sign up now!

There are no comments

A snapshot of the day's best news stories.

View Larger Grid

All Today Yesterday Pick a Date

What's Popular Now on Facebook

Cops Shoot Naked Guy Eating Man's Face on Highway

Japanese Artist Serves Up Own Cooked Genitals

New York Times (Source Grid »)

Clinton, Buffet denounce income gap
Associated Press

The tax debate that isn't happening
New York Times

Money • Lifestyle

ultra rich • wealth • US economy • income disparity

More Newser Stories

Millionaires Have 39% of the World’s Money

Less than 1% of the world's population controls almost half of the money

(NEWSER) - If you're wondering where all your money has gone, odds are a millionaire added it to his or her pile. Although millionaires make up just 0.9% of the world's population, they control 39% of its wealth—up 2% since 2009—according to a report by Boston Consulting Group. Their collective wealth has risen from $41.8 trillion to $47.4 trillion, according to the Wall Street Journal . More»

Welcome to Our Post-Materialist World

David Brooks: We're getting happier, but not wealthier

(NEWSER) - America is rapidly transforming into a post-materialist world—and that’s put a screeching halt to our economic growth, argues David Brooks of the New York Times . To prove the point, he imagines two men. The first lived from 1900 to 1974, watching the world move from horse-drawn buggies to Chevys. With all those material changes around him, this man worked hard, created, say, a brakes business, because to improve his life, he needed to create wealth. More»

For the Rich, Sleep a Status Symbol

Young heirs feel no need to look busy

(NEWSER) - Looking industrious has fallen out of favor among America’s upper crust. Jamie Johnson, who covers the lifestyles of the rich for Vanity Fair , writes that it’s fashionable for today’s wealthy heirs to lounge in bed until 4 or 5 in the afternoon—any stigma once associated with such sloth has vanished. “Ironically, wiling away hours in a state of blissful unconsciousness has become, of all things, a status symbol,” he writes. More»

Middle Class Morphs Into 'New Poor'

Ever more Americans heading downward

(NEWSER) - At first, it seemed the financial crisis wouldn't leave the US deeply scarred, that's we'd ultimately emerge from it with renewed energy—until Americans stopped to look around and realized that somewhere along the way the middle-class had atrophied, leaving a small super-rich elite and swelling ranks of the poor. Some 40% of Americans who would call themselves middle-class believe they won't be able to maintain that status, Der Spiegel reports. More»

With Health Bill, Obama Ends the 'Age of Reagan'

Marks biggest assault on wealth inequality since the '80s

(NEWSER) - The health care reform bill was the government’s biggest attack on economic inequality in more than 30 years, a period of time that’s seen government policy and market forces consistently push the opposite direction. That’s why Barack Obama fought so hard for it, writes David Leonhardt for the New York Times . “Beyond the health reform’s effect on the medical system, it is the centerpiece of his deliberate effort to end the age of Reagan.” More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Rich Getting Even Richer, Even Faster

Gap between super wealthy and rest of US grows even bigger

ultra rich • wealth • US economy • income disparity

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

Millionaires Have 39% of the World’s Money

Less than 1% of the world's population controls almost half of the money

Welcome to Our Post-Materialist World

David Brooks: We're getting happier, but not wealthier

For the Rich, Sleep a Status Symbol

Young heirs feel no need to look busy

Middle Class Morphs Into 'New Poor'

Ever more Americans heading downward

With Health Bill, Obama Ends the 'Age of Reagan'

Marks biggest assault on wealth inequality since the '80s

About Us

Site

Community

Site Maps

Tools

More News

What is Newser?