The Average American Household Was Poorer in 2013 Than It Was in 1983
Matthew Yglesias, Vox: The Average American Household Was Poorer in 2013 Than It Was in 1983 - Vox
US net worth rose considerably over that period, which is what you would expect to see. Technology has improved and productivity increased, so society has a greater capacity for wealth building. America was also quite a bit older on average in 2013 than it was in 1983, so average wealth should have gone up.
But all of these gains went to the top 20 percent of the population. It’s worse than that, actually. Over 100 percent of the gains went to the top 20 percent, because the bottom 60 percent of the population got poorer.
Decades of union busting and outsourcing have made the 1% fabulously wealthy by screwing almost everyone else. Its far past time that some of that wealth be shared with the people working for it.