[Lamplighter]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

<snip>
Critical thinkers don't casually dismiss evidence that suggests they are wrong.
Being wrong is not a bad thing to a critical thinker. It's an opportunity to get closer to the truth.<snip>

I'm personally not interested in philosophical arguments about
what does or does not meet a definition of "critical thinking".
I requested clarification about the point you making in your post
on this thread (Wall Street Protests)
So far, UT, you have avoided making your point.

If, --- pls note the "If" --- your point is the graph plot and/or it's coordinants
(%share, or whatever that is vs time), that's one thing.
If, your point is the interpretation of the data, it's another.
I (and others) have assumed you were speaking to the latter,
and responded accordingly to our own politics.

You hypothesized the graph would be steeper in the most recent years.
From the data perspective, would the following article (data) support that hypothesis ?

Wall Street Journal
Robert Frank
6/22/11

U.S. Has Record Number of Millionaires

If further proof were needed of the two-speed recovery–the rich and the rest
–now comes news that America has a record number of millionaires.

According to the annual World Wealth Report from Merill Lynch and Capgemini,
the U.S. had 3.1 million millionaires in 2010, up from 2.86 million in 2009.
The latest figure tops the pre-crisis peak of three million.

Merrill and Capgemini define millionaires as individuals with $1 million or more in investible assets,
not including primary home, collectibles, consumables and consumer durables.
The wealth held by these millionaires also hit a record.

North American millionaires had a combined wealth of $11.6 trillion, up from $10.7 trillion in 2009.

Merrill and Capgemini define millionaires as individuals with $1 million or more in investible assets, not including primary home, collectibles, consumables and consumer durables.
The wealth held by these millionaires also hit a record.

North American millionaires had a combined wealth of $11.6 trillion, up from $10.7 trillion in 2009.
The number of Americans with $30 million is still slightly below the pre-crisis peak.
In 2010 there were 40,000 North Americans with $30 million or more, up from 36,000 in 2009.

This article even suggests a reason or two as to why these numbers have improved recently...
the financial markets have improved significantly.

Since the wealthy have a larger share of their fortunes in stocks, they would have benefited most.

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