Wealth not being spread (or, inequality still matters)

Max Sawicky runs through the economy and finds that all is not well, particularly in terms of growing income inequality. For example, even though the DOW is currently sitting at record highs, less than half of Americans own any stock at all, and 80% of the population has only 10% of all stock market wealth.

Another major problem that the Bush administration would like to gloss over in their rosy view of the economy is the fact that 40 million Americans currently have no health insurance. Also, fewer employees are currently receiving health insurance from their employers now than they have in the past–coverage has declined from 61.5% in 1989 to 58.9% in 2000 and down to 55.9% in 2004. And Sawicky adds: “Less well-known is the fact that those who still receive employer-provided coverage are now paying a larger share of those insurance costs. From 1992 to 2005, this share has risen from 14 to 22 percent.”

There’s also the fact that the ratio of pay between CEOs and average workers has risen from 7100% to 26,200% (in 1979 and 2005, respectively), the fact that adjusting for inflation, the median earnings of full-time workers have fallen since 2001 (no thanks to the Bush administration and GOP Congress tax cuts).