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Understanding the chart

The bar chart compares several economic variables at points in time: 1979, 2007, and 2015 (or most recent available, generally 2012-2014). The 1979 starting point represents the end of the relatively egalitarian 1950-1979 period, when the top 1% earned roughly 10% of the income. After the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, the share of income earned and wealth owned by the top 1% began to grow. Taxes have fluctuated, with Republican Presidents cutting them while Democratic Presidents reversed some of those cuts.

Politically, conservatism (the political "right") represents capital (the 1%), while liberalism (the political "left") represents labor (the 99%). The share of wealth and income has generally moved in favor of capital since 1979, with some offset during the Clinton and Obama presidencies, mainly due to income tax increases on higher income earners.

Sources:

• Wealth share of top 1%: Emmanuel Saez "Wealth Inequality in the United States since 1913" Excel tables Figure 6b^[1]
• Bottom 50% share of wealth: CBO "Trends in Family Wealth, 1989 to 2013" supplemental data.^[2]
• Top 1% share of pre-tax income; top 1% share after-tax income; bottom 50% share of after tax income. Saez,Zucman, Piketty^[3]
• Top 1% share after-tax income: Alternate version (not shown) available from CBO, "The Distribution of Household Income and Federal Taxes, 2013, Supplemental Data Table 3.^[4]
• Corporate Profit % GDP: FRED database.
• % Workers in unions: BLS "Union Members Summary" (1/2016 and 1/2008)
• % Persons without health insurance: CDC "National Health Statistics Reports - July 2009" and CDC^[5]

Sources

Summary

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