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Inequality in the US is the worst it’s ever been, but it looks like people are still unaware of just how bad it really is. However, it’s understandable. The human brain has a hard time putting billions and trillions into perspective. We need comprehensive references to fully grasp such high numbers. Luckily, CBS This Morning decided to do this for us. A couple of days ago, they aired a segment that illustrated American inequality by using slices of pie. And it went viral.
The creative approach, presented by the show’s co-host Tony Dokoupil, allowed people to visualize how Americans are sharing $98 trillion of wealth they collectively possess.
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Image credits: AnandWrites
Image credits: CBS This Morning
Image credits: AnandWrites
Nine pieces (90% of the pie) went to the wealthiest 20% in the country, according to a National Bureau Of Economic Research study of household wealth trends in States from 1962 to 2016. What makes it sound even worse, four of those nine slices belong to just the top 1%.
The upper-middle-class and the middle class shared one piece (about 10%), and the lower middle class got a few crumbs (.3%). The poorest people, Americans in the bottom 20%, didn’t even get anything since on average, they are more than $6,000 in debt.
The sad news is that America’s humongous wealth gap keeps widening. And while a steady economic expansion and historically low jobless rate masks problems in income and wealth, in reality, families live in very different financial situations.
Image credits: AnandWrites
Image credits: tonydokoupil
People were shocked to see how bad inequality has gotten after visualizing it
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What do you think ?
Eirik Johnsbråten 4 years ago
If wealth is the result of hard work, how come a single mom working three jobs is still poor?
Thomas Martin 4 years ago
Easy, the main point everybody seems to miss is that it gets easier to amass money the more you have. Companies like Amazon pay little taxes and can borrow money at prime or less. The average person is lucky if they can get a loan at 10%.
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Death Metal Kitty 4 years ago
I always thought that expanding the pie made no sense. An increase of 10% of 0.00001% (of the the pie) is a pittance, whereas a 10% increase in 90% (of the pie) would be an absurd amount. Whenever I raised this point in Economics, I always get manplained the "expand the pie argument" (and I'm a guy). The richest have brained-washed the intelligentsia to keep us peons in line, and they're doing a damned fine job of it.
Eirik Johnsbråten 4 years ago
If wealth is the result of hard work, how come a single mom working three jobs is still poor?
Thomas Martin 4 years ago
Easy, the main point everybody seems to miss is that it gets easier to amass money the more you have. Companies like Amazon pay little taxes and can borrow money at prime or less. The average person is lucky if they can get a loan at 10%.
Load More Replies... Death Metal Kitty 4 years ago
I always thought that expanding the pie made no sense. An increase of 10% of 0.00001% (of the the pie) is a pittance, whereas a 10% increase in 90% (of the pie) would be an absurd amount. Whenever I raised this point in Economics, I always get manplained the "expand the pie argument" (and I'm a guy). The richest have brained-washed the intelligentsia to keep us peons in line, and they're doing a damned fine job of it.
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