User:AdnanMehmedovic/sandbox

In America, income distribution has become a topic of fierce debate. The topics of the growing wealth gap, income inequality, and the issue of wage stagnation since the mid 1970s are topics of the most importance when discussing our economy and the future of our country and the global community as we see a world more tied than ever through globalization and technology.

Charts from the Board of Governors Federal Reserve. Income Share by Income group show where the income and wealth is going in this country in a nut shell. Income distribution is being distributed on a far higher level to the top 5% of earners in America while the bottom 95% struggle for the rest.

The same applies for the charts from the Board of Governors Federal reserve on Net Worth share by Net Worth group. Another alarming piece of data that is brought to our attention from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors brings to our attention new worth based on group again between the top 5%, Next 45%, and bottom 50%.  This chart alerts us that the top 5% have seen their net worth continue to grow even throughout the great recession. The bottom 50% continue to barely scrape by and have been brought to there knees as a result of the great recession. The next 45% have seen slow declines in new worth throughout the 2000s and into the 2010s. Basically this data is showing us that most of the country is getting weaker in financial health and the bottom 50% or half the nation is basically on life support in terms of financial health. Liabilities are increasing for everyone while for the top 5% they are decreasing.

Another alarming chart from the Federal Reserve is the share of all financial assets by Net Worth Group.

Sources:

Federal Reserve

Pew Research Center

Thomas Piketty - Capital in the 21st Century

Morgan Stanley - Report on Inequality and Consumption in the United States

United States Bureau of Labor Statistics