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Daily Archives: September 18, 2011

EPI – Huge disparity in share of total wealth gain since 1983

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Huge disparity in share of total wealth gain since 1983, By Lawrence Mishel | September 15, 2011

  • “It is widely acknowledged that wealth declined substantially between 2007 and 2009 as the housing bubble burst and stock prices fell. This wealth shrinkage was especially hard on the middle class and those groups (such as African Americans) whose house is their primary source of wealth. It is far less appreciated that this is a long-term trend, and that wealth is now lower for the typical household than it was a generation ago in 1983, while the wealth at the upper end expanded a great deal. The disparity of changes in wealth over the last generation is portrayed in the figure, which shows the shares of the wealth gains for various wealth classes. All of the gains in wealth accrued to the upper fifth, with 40.2 percent of the gains going to the upper 1 percent and 41.5 percent going to the next wealthiest 4 percent of households. This translated to gains of $4.5 million per household in the richest 1 percent and a gain of roughly $1.2 million per household in the next richest 4 percent of households. In other words, the richest 5 percent of households obtained roughly 82 percent of all the nation’s gains in wealth between 1983 and 2009. The bottom 60 percent of households actually had less wealth in 2009 than in 1983, meaning they did not participate at all in the growth of wealth over this period.”
  • Related postings on financial system

    • Service to America Medal Recipients

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    News release: “The nonprofit Partnership for Public Service [presented] nine Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals (Sammies) at a Washington, D.C. gala on September 15 to outstanding public servants who are making high-impact contributions to the health, safety and well-being of Americans. Celebrating its tenth anniversary, the Sammies have earned a reputation as one… Continue Reading

    HHS Federal Health Information Technology Strategic Plan 2011 – 2015

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    Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), Federal Health Information Technology Strategic Plan, 2011 – 2015. In developing and executing the federal health IT strategy, the government strives to “Put individuals and their interests first. In order to enhance the health and well-being of all Americans, the government must meet the needs… Continue Reading

    Social Media and Disasters: Current Uses, Future Options, and Policy Considerations

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    CRS: Social Media and Disasters: Current Uses, Future Options, and Policy Considerations, Bruce R. Lindsay, Analyst in American National Goverment, September 6, 2011 “In the last five years social media have played an increasing role in emergencies and disasters. Social media sites rank as the fourth most popular source to access emergency information. They have… Continue Reading

    FTC Seeks Comment on Proposed Revisions to Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule

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    News release: “The Federal Trade Commission is seeking public comment on proposed amendments to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule, which gives parents control over what personal information websites may collect from children under 13. The FTC proposes these amendments to ensure that the Rule continues to protect children’s privacy, as mandated by Congress, as… Continue Reading

    CBO – The Medium-Term Budget Outlook and Policy Options

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    The Medium-Term Budget Outlook and Policy Options – CBO Director Doug Elmendorf’s presentation to the Macroeconomic Advisers’ Washington Policy Seminar, September 14, 2011 “The past combination of policies cannot be repeated when it comes to the federal budget: The aging of our population and the rising cost of health care have changed the backdrop for… Continue Reading

    UNC LifeTime Library – Now Offering Library Science Students Perpetual Online Access

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    Alex Campbell: “Incoming students at the University of North Carolina’s School of Information and Library Science this year are getting a new kind of welcome-to-campus perk: Free data storage, for keeps. The service, called LifeTime Library, works on students’ personal computers, allowing them to automatically archive files and folders. The data are preserved on the… Continue Reading

    An Econometric Study of Occupational Wage Inequality and Productivity

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    Kampelmann, Stephan and Rycx, Francois, Are Occupations Paid What They are Worth? An Econometric Study of Occupational Wage Inequality and Productivity. IZA Discussion Paper No. 5951. Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit, Institute for the Study of Labor [download via SSRN] “Labour economists typically assume that pay differences between occupations can be explained with variations in… Continue Reading