It's the Inequality, Stupid

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Note: The 2007 data (the most current) doesn't reflect the impact of the housing market crash. In 2007, the bottom 60% of Americans had 65% of their net worth tied up in their homes. The top 1%, in contrast, had just 10%. The housing crisis has no doubt further swelled the share of total net worth held by the superrich.

Winners Take All

The superrich have grabbed the bulk of the past three decades' gains.

Out of Balance

A Harvard business prof and a behavioral economist recently asked more than 5,000 Americans how they thought wealth is distributed in the United States. Most thought that it’s more balanced than it actually is. Asked to choose their ideal distribution of wealth, 92% picked one that was even more equitable.

Capitol Gain

Why Washington is closer to Wall Street than Main Street.

member max. est. net worth Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) $451.1 million Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) $435.4 million Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) $366.2 million Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) $294.9 million Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) $285.1 million Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) $283.1 million Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.) $231.2 million Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) $201.5 million Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) $136.2 million Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) $108.1 million combined net worth: $2.8 billion

Congressional data from 2009. Family net worth data from 2007. Sources: Center for Responsive Politics; US Census; Edward Wolff, Bard College.

Who's Winning?

For a healthy few, it's getting better all the time.

YOUR LOSS,THEIR GAIN

How much income have you given up for the top 1 percent?

WANT MORE CHARTS LIKE THESE?

See our charts on the secrets of the jobless recovery (link is external), the richest 1 percent of Americans (link is external), and how the superwealthy beat the IRS (link is external). Some samples:
 

YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BUT YOUR GAINS

Productivity has surged, but income and wages have stagnated for most Americans. If the median household income had kept pace with the economy since 1970, it would now be nearly $92,000, not $50,000.

MEET THE ELITE

ONLY LITTLE PEOPLE PAY TAXES

Sources

Income distribution: Emmanuel Saez (link is external) (Excel)

Net worth: Edward Wolff (link is external) (PDF)

Household income/income share: Congressional Budget Office (link is external)

Real vs. desired distribution of wealth: Michael I. Norton and Dan Ariely (link is external) (PDF)

Net worth of Americans vs. Congress: Federal Reserve (link is external) (average); Center for Responsive Politics (link is external) (Congress)

Your chances of being a millionaire: Calculation based on data from Wolff (link is external) (PDF); US Census (household (link is external) and population (link is external) data)  

Member of Congress' chances: Center for Responsive Politics (link is external)

Wealthiest members of Congress: Center for Responsive Politics (link is external)

Tax cut votes: New York Times (Senate (link is external); House (link is external))

Wall street profits, 2007-2009: New York State Comptroller (link is external) (PDF)

Unemployment rate, 2007-2009: Bureau of Labor Statistics (link is external)

Home equity, 2007-2009: Federal Reserve, Flow of Funds data, 1995-2004 (link is external) and 2005-2009 (link is external) (PDFs)

CEO vs. worker pay: Economic Policy Institute (link is external)

Historic tax rates: Calculations based on data from The Tax Foundation (link is external)

Federal tax revenue: Joint Committee on Taxation (link is external) (PDF)

Read also: Kevin Drum on the decline of Big Labor, the rise of Big Business, and why the Obama era fizzled so soon. (link is external)

More Mother Jones charty goodness: How the rich get richer (link is external); how the poor get poorer (link is external); who owns Congress? (link is external)