>X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 16:01:59 -0400 >Carl Iddings <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >>Subject: [Fwd: Fw: "Booming" US Economy (Fwd)] >>>>Facts About The "Booming" U.S. Economy >>>> >>>>In the 1970s, the top 1 percent of households had about 20 percent of the >>>>national wealth. This was widely considered excessive. Today, the number >>>>is over 40 percent and climbing. >>>> >>>>Thirty years ago, about 10 percent of American households were broke, with >>>>a net worth of zero or less. fifteen years ago, the number was about 15 >>>>percent. Today the number is almost 20 percent. >>>> >>>>Adjusting for inflation, blue-collar workers are making less than >>>>they did a quarter-century ago. The U.S. savings rate is now >>>>negative 0.5 percent, the lowest level since the early Depression. >>>> >>>>Most Americans have a lower net worth than they did 15 years ago, >>>>when the greatest stock market rally in history began. the bottom >>>>two-fifths of households have lost about 80 percent of their average >>>>net worth. The middle fifth has lost about 11 percent. The richest >>>>1 percent of America owns more wealth than the entire bottom 95 >>>>percent combined, and the inequality is increasing. >>>> >>>>Twenty years ago, a typical big-time corporate CEO was paid about 40 times >>>>what an average worker received. CEOs today are paid almost 420 times as >>>>much. As CEO of Genreal Electric, Jack Welch has eliminated 128,000 jobs. >>>>But GE stock has appreciated about 40-fold, even adjusting for inflation. >>>>So Jack Welch is paid $83.6 million. >>>> >>>>Meanwhile, after what economists will soon call the longest economic >>>>expansion in U.S. history, 20 percent of all American children now >>grow up >>>>in poverty. And Money magazine can write "Everyone's Getting Rich!" in >>>>giant letters across the cover... >>>> >>>>(This is snipped from an article by Bob Harris in the new issue of >>>>Extra!, the quarterly magazine published by Fairness and Accuracy in >>>>Reporting. [ http://www.fair.org ] The figures come from the economic >>>>watchdog group United for a Fair Economy, whose reports can be found >>>>online: http://www.stw.org >>>>__________________________________________________________________________ >>__ >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> >+ >
