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Old 07-27-2010, 05:23 PM   #268 (permalink)
Baraka_Guru
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aceventura3 View Post
I have little experience outside of the US, but the current standard of living in this country is as high as it has ever been and the trend line has been consistently up. In this country "rich" people get rich, but everyone benefits. I don;t think there is any basis for your statement as it applies to the US. In corrupt nations or nations with corrupt leaders, I know this is not always true.
This might be true for many, and it certainly looks that way if you look at averages. If you parse the data, you have something that looks like this:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._1947-2007.svg

You will notice that those in the bottom 20th percentile has seen barely an increase in overall income since the '70s. Those in the 40th percentile have seen a modest increase. Those in the 60th are doing pretty well. However, if you're in the 80th and especially the 95th percentile, you've clearly seen the most growth.

So I guess you could say an overall increase has happened. However, the bottom 20th looks dangerously like a flat line. I wonder what the numbers look like since 2008.
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