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Higher taxes, soaring food prices, and gasoline expected to exceed $5 a gallon by spring will hit hard.
Declining middle class income is hugely important. Inequality defines today's America. The wealthiest 1% gained enormously.
Today's fundamental cause of dire economic conditions is "long-term and continuing growth of income inequality," says Rasmus. Unprecedented wealth disparity figures reflect it.
Economist Joseph Stiglitz says America's top 1% gets around one-fourth of all annually generated income. In 1979, it was 8%. In 1928, it was 22%. It's more extreme now than ever.
It "continues to grow worse at an accelerating rate," says Rasmus. From 1993 - 2000, America's wealthiest 1% got 45% of all income growth.
From 2000 - 2008, it was 65%. In 2010, it was 93%. It comes from high pay, bonuses, capital gains, dividends, interest, rents, and other capital income forms.
At the same time, corporate profits soared. In 2011, they exceeded pre-recession 2007 levels. They've been rising at the fastest rate in 31 years.
Pre-tax, they doubled their 2008 recession low by March 2011. Achieving them involved more than increased sales. Job cuts, lower wages, fewer benefits, less working hours, other employee hardships, lower taxes, and faster depreciation rules produced them.
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