Eat the Rich

The rich are richer than ever, but don't ask them for help

By Tom Robbins 
Wednesday, Feb 2 2011
http://www.villagevoice.com/2011-02-02/columns/eat-the-
rich?utm_source=Newsletters&utm_medium=email

If you want a true picture of New York's current economic
plight, take a look at a remarkable graph showing the
share of income going to the top 1 percent of earners over
the past 100 years.

The chart is the product of the Fiscal Policy Institute,
the labor-backed group that is one of the lone voices
trying to be heard over the ever-growing roar demanding
that wages and benefits for workers be knocked down as low
as possible...


The numbers on the chart show that nationally, America's
top earners are now taking in 24 percent of the income,
back to where they were just before their gluttony crashed
Wall Street in 1929. But they are pikers compared to New
York. Our state's most privileged class holds 35 percent
of the dough. Here in the city, the fat cats do even
better, with a whopping 44 percent. This is why New York
State ranks last in terms of the income gap between rich
and poor. And it is why New York City is the most
polarized of the nation's 25 biggest urban areas.

"If New York City were a nation," reports James Parrott,
economist for the institute, "its level of income
concentration would rank 15th worst among 134 countries,
between Chile and Honduras. Wall Street," he adds, "with
its stratospheric profits and bonuses, sits within 15
miles of the Bronx—the nation's poorest urban county."

to read the rest of this column, and access the graphics
mentioned, go to
http://www.villagevoice.com/2011-02-02/columns/eat-the-
rich?utm_source=Newsletters&utm_medium=email

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