Wall Street Protests

[Undertoad]

(phew)

But does the graph tell us anything interesting?

Yeah, it does so in a back-handed sort of way. Just as the home run graph would rise faster during the steroid era, we see that this graph actually has downturns in the top 1%. From 1986-1988 it saw a drop-off which is actually quite stunning. Since this graph is measuring cumulative numbers, it's telling us that the top 1% made very little during those years, a lot of them probably took a loss; and again from 2000-2003.

The gain from 2003-2007 is rather large, but if we continue this graph from 2007-2011, I assure you the drop-off will be similarly massive.

The economics reason for this is simple:

During good times, everybody gets richer, but the rich get richer at a much faster rate. During bad times, everybody gets poorer, but the rich get poorer at a much faster rate.

So when you want to prove income inequality, it's easy: just start your graph at a point where good times BEGIN, and end your graph at a point where good times END.